Un serment

Un serment is about 4 minutes of fantastic drama. This film proves to be much more than a simple short film exercise. Driven by a strong aesthetic ambition and an intimate reflection on justice, the film directed by Valentin Szezepaniak is a genuine exploration of the tensions between social role and inner truth.

The project began with a simple but dizzying question: how do you defend the indefensible?
This reflection, fuelled by a phrase heard in the legal profession: “a lawyer does not defend an act, but a person”, became the starting point for the film.

The character of Mathilde, a young lawyer, embodies this shift. She can no longer subscribe to this idea, and sees her role crack at the very moment when she should be carrying it with the most strength. This inner crisis becomes the backbone of the film, both narratively and visually.

The appearance of the victim in the courtroom is undoubtedly the most disturbing element of the film. Yet the film’s brief is clear: this is no ghost.

This presence is a mental projection, an embodiment of doubt and guilt. It acts as an inner mirror, forcing Mathilde to confront her own contradictions.

The staging accompanies this shift: the realistic courtroom is gradually transformed into an abstract, empty, almost theatrical space. The lighting itself changes, evoking a stage set, as if to remind us that everyone is playing a role: judge, lawyer, defendant.

The sound treatment plays a central role in this deconstruction. At the beginning, the sound environment is dense, almost oppressive, overwhelming Mathilde’s voice.

Then, as the character wavers, the sound recedes. A heavy silence sets in, paradoxically liberating. The emptiness of the sound allows the spoken word to change its nature: no longer controlled, it becomes a confession.

Mathilde’s voice ceases to be a professional tool and becomes an intimate cry.

An ambitious production despite a short format

Shot over two days at the Domaine de Pierresvives, the Domaine de Méric and Studio Clapas in Montpellier, the film is based on rigorous organisation.

The technical set-up is particularly meticulous for a student project:

• Lumix GH5 camera with Samyang cinema lenses
• Complete lighting set-up (Skypanel, Astera tubes, softbox)
• Precise work on the machinery and camera movements

The use of around fifteen extras in the courtroom reinforces the realistic setting, contrasting with the mental dimension of the story.

Art direction: restrained and symbolic

With Un Serment, the team has come up with a coherent project, in which every technical, narrative and aesthetic choice responds to a strong intention.

This collective effort, supported by a complete team (image, sound, set design, direction, post-production), bears witness to a real understanding of the challenges of directing and a desire for cinema that is already mature.

A short film that, behind its reduced format, explores with precision and sensitivity human failings, and those of the system that claims to judge them.