Why Club Zero director Jessica Hausner made a movie about eating disorders
- While Club Zero focuses on students who attempt to survive on no food, Jessica Hausner says her interest is in the idea of manipulation
Jessica Hausner, the Austrian director behind Lourdes (2009) and Little Joe (2019), begins her latest film Club Zero with a disclaimer.
Most so-called trigger warnings tend to focus on areas such as strobe lighting effects, advising audiences who may suffer from epilepsy that the forthcoming movie could have an adverse effect on them. But this one is different: it states that the film you are about to see contains depictions of eating disorders.
“There was a discussion between me and the producers if that is necessary or a good thing to do,” Hausner, 51, says.
“You’re never sure what is really the right thing to do. But we decided to have this warning or disclaimer in the beginning, in case there is someone watching the film who has maybe experience with eating disorders and doesn’t want to get triggered or anything. So the person can decide for themselves if they stay or go.”
When the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, some critics were so baffled that they felt Hausner might have been meant it ironically.
“I don’t see it ironic,” she replies. “Someone else asked me the same question. I was astonished, because I never thought that it was ironic. But, you know, everyone has a different [take on] things.”
