
The Sessions
Sien Versteyhe / BE, 2025 / 71 min.
A young student undergoes trauma therapy for an act of sexual violence committed by someone she trusted. She lives with the consequences of this trauma every day, while her rapist appears to get away with what he has done.

A young student undergoing trauma therapy recounts how she was raped by someone she trusted. The camera focuses on the therapist’s face, and we never see the anonymous speaker. The Sessions unfolds almost entirely in this space, where the young woman speaks openly about the impact of the rape. Outside the therapy room she doesn’t dare speak to anyone else about it—only her boyfriend knows what happened.
Throughout this period, her rapist is being questioned by the police. We don’t see these interrogations taking place, but we do hear about them in phone calls between the young woman and the court. They can tell her very little, and the police also prove to be of little help to her.
While she suffers every day from what was done to her, it looks like he’s going to get away with it. Her conversations with the therapist and the legal system provide insight into the long and difficult healing process that follows sexual violence.
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Details
Director
Sien Versteyhe
Production year
2025
Country
BE
Length
71 min.
Language
Dutch
Subtitles
ENG
Format
DCP
Part of
IDFA 2025
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is once again bringing an exciting selection of the world’s best documentaries to Eye this year, from 13 through 23 November.

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