Simonne’s Journey of Pain
We are releasing a new film, we titled it Simonne’s Journey of Pain. Simonne’s experience from the moment she auditioned for a role in a film through the callbacks, the tests and rehearsals before Monxa Mala. It includes clips from Monxa Mala, Seditiosa and exclusive scenes from the up and coming film 69 Année Érotique
This is the story in the film:
In 2018, our production company was preparing two films: Monxa Mala and The Cage, a project that would later be retitled 69 Erotic Year after extensive script changes. Simonne entered the casting process without fully knowing what it would require. From the moment she stepped in front of the camera, beneath the hot lights of a dark and ominous set, the experience became a Via Crucis of her own: a difficult journey marked by uncertainty, pressure, and pain.
The audition process began simply and in a straightforward way. Simonne was wearing a sleeveless black dress given to her for the test and followed the directions she was given, gradually adjusting to the atmosphere of the set and the demands of the callback.
One of the films under consideration, The Cage, included Mr. Hyde in the story. During the callback, the actresses were asked to improvise and respond to Jac’s direction as the scene developed.
Simonne responded to a series of physical and dramatic cues: her wrists were bound, her arms were opened and hooked to chains at either side in a cross-like position, and Jac continued directing her through comments and actions. As the scene progressed, he loosened her hair and used a dagger as a prop near her neck and face, heightening the tension of the improvisation.
Simonne completed the exercise, but she felt uneasy throughout the process. She still had reservations when Jac explained that the scene required him to pull the dress down.
On the next call, Simonne took part in a test scene designed to gauge how she and Katherine, another new actress, responded to difficult and uncomfortable material. Simonne wore a rough covering over her naked torso while observing Katherine, as she performed a demanding sequence on a medieval wheel. The purpose of the exercise was to understand how both actresses handled the emotional and physical demands of the scene
After the initial tests, Simonne decided she was willing to take on more demanding material, which required to wear a garment that left her torso exposed. The scenes ahead were challenging and unfamiliar, placing her in situations she had never performed before. Although she did not know exactly what to expect, she chose to continue and trust the process.
During the first session, Simonne was positioned in front of a wooden post with her arms set behind it. Facing the camera, she held a defiant expression and stayed focused as the scene began. Her performance felt realistic because it combined prepared reactions with instinctive responses. She understood the general direction of the scene, but not every detail of what would happen next, which gave her reactions a natural immediacy. As the action unfolded, she followed the circumstances of the scene and responded to the cruel punishment of the lash with conviction.
After Simonne struggled and suffered the whip at the post, Jac released her and led her to the nearby stocks that had been used in Justine. The move shifted the scene into a new physical setup while keeping the same demanding atmosphere. Simonne adapted quickly to the change. Despite the discomfort of the stocks, she remained composed and responsive as the whip fell on her back over and over, giving the moment the same natural immediacy that had marked her earlier performance.
After experiencing the discomfort of the stocks and the pain of the lash on her back, Jac released Simonne from the wooden restraint and moved her to the medieval wheel where Katherine had performed a difficult scene there not long before in front of her, so the setting already carried a strong sense of tension and challenge. By this point, Simonne was becoming more accustomed to the environment and to the demands of the scenes planned for Monxa Mala. The shift to the wheel marked another step in that process, testing her ability to remain focused while adapting to increasingly difficult staging while, again, suffering the lash on her naked chest.
After suffering the torments of the medieval wheel sequence, Simonne was brought back to the post where her performance had begun. This time, her wrists were tied with ropes and her arms were raised above her head, but she had enough freedom to move around the post and react physically to the scene. Jac instructed her to move as though she were trying to avoid the dangers surrounding her. As the session continued, Simonne responded with striking realism and commitment to the intense flogging convincing Jac that she would be a strong fit for one of the principal characters in Monxa Mala
Dress Rehearsal and Visual Inspiration
As preparations for the shoot began, the actors were called in for a dress rehearsal. Jac asked Simonne to pose for photographs with the performers cast as her family. Little was required of her beyond wearing a hooded garment and presenting the quiet strength and saintly composure the role demanded. That image of Simonne stayed with Jac.
When he later began planning a film centered on the Female Christ, he remembered the impression she had made during the rehearsal. Her look, presence, and restrained intensity matched the Christ-like figure he envisioned for that project
Opening Rehearsal Scene
When rehearsals began, Simonne and Mila were called in to work through some of the most important and demanding scenes in Monxa Mala. The film opens with Simonne’s character being chastised by the Enforcer, a disciplinary nun played by Mila.
The scene takes place before the other nuns and the monastery’s head priest, immediately establishing the strict religious world in which the story unfolds.
During rehearsal, Mila guided Simonne through the severe ordeal described in the script. The sequence required a series of lashes, each tied to an offense Simonne’s character was accused of committing.
During the rehearsal, Simonne endured the punishment while gripping the post, using it to steady herself while Mila was behind her administering the lashing.
After the opening scene was completed, Simonne and Mila exchanged places. In the world of the film, the Enforcer is not exempt from punishment; any of the other nuns may be called upon to carry it out.
During this rehearsal, that responsibility fell to Simonne. She guided Mila through a similar ordeal, repeating the severity she had just endured while reversing the power dynamic between them.
Mila was placed with her back to the post and her arms bound behind it while Simonne carried out the lashing. The exchange turned the earlier act of discipline back on the character who had first imposed it.
Dungeon Cross Rehearsal
Later, Simonne and Mila rehearsed some of the film’s most difficult and intense scenes. These sequences centered on a cross set up in the monastery dungeon, where several principal characters endure severe trials as part of the story.
The rehearsal began with Simonne in the role of the suffering character while Mila carried out the scene opposite her. Simonne was placed in an extremely uncomfortable position: her arms were stretched upward, her hands were bound to the ends of the crossbar, and her body rested on a small wooden support attached to the central pole.
Her feet hung above the ground in shackles, adding to the severity of the staging. Despite the discomfort, she sustained the emotional and physical intensity of the moment and performed the demanding material with convincing realism.
The sequence continued with Mila striking Simonne repeatedly as the scene built in intensity. Once Simonne appeared exhausted, the action culminated with Mila pressing a heated iron against her sweat-covered skin, completing the ordeal described in the script.
After Simonne’s cross rehearsal was completed, she and Mila changed places again. Mila took her position on the cross, resting uneasily, even painfully, on the small wooden support attached to the pole, with her arms stretched outward, her wrists bound to the ends of the crossbar, and her feet secured behind the pole and above the ground.
Simonne then stepped into the opposing role and carried out the punishment sequence described in the script. Echoing the actions Mila had performed earlier, she lashed her with the severity the scene required and followed with the heated iron, intensifying the reversal between them.
When the sequence ended, Simonne left the scene, leaving Mila alone on the cross and completing the role reversal that had shaped the rehearsal
Ready for Production
After the separate rehearsals were complete, Simonne and the rest of the cast were ready to begin work on Monxa Mala, with Simonne taking the leading role.
Her character’s journey centered on intense and seemingly endless suffering at the post of woes, a structure that soon came to resemble a cross. As the story unfolds, all of the nuns are drawn into medieval ordeals of their own.
Four of the nuns ultimately endure the cross, and Simonne is one of them. Simonne’s Journey of Pain film also includes a clip with scenes from Monxa Mala, linking this work to the broader visual and thematic world Jac had been developing.
Seditiosa and the Female Christ
After Monxa Mala, Simonne took the leading role in Seditiosa, Jac’s film about a female Christ figure. She plays Yahel, a descendant of a great king, as well as a healer and teacher whose compassion draws her into the fate of others.
That involvement ultimately leads to Yahel’s arrest and condemnation to the cross. The Journey of Pain also includes a clip from Seditiosa, extending the connection between Simonne’s earlier work and this her second leading role.
69 Année Érotique
While Seditiosa was being produced, Jac was already involved in the production of 69 Année Érotique. In that film, Simonne plays two roles: a young woman from the 1960s and a singer in a contemporary band.
The Journey of Pain includes exclusive scenes from the soon to be released film, offering a rare glimpse of Simonne’s work across these connected productions.
The film is available at
