Director's Works
The Contraception Fair Julie Magnaudet
Julie is a French-Swiss Writer/Director based in London, UK.
Julie has always had a passion for writing. She started writing short stories at the age of 10, and had published her first novel, Le Chemin, in France, aged 19.
She has since attended the London Film School to train as a director and develop her visual storytelling style - her graduation short film BROKEN HEARTS has screened all over the world, at BAFTA, Academy and BIFA qualifying festivals, notably the 52nd ALCINE and INDYShorts. It is due to premiere online with Director’s Notes as well as Omeleto early 2025.
Julie was also a shadow director, shadowing BAFTA-winning director Sarmad Masud, on the next season of BBC3 show ‘Boarders’ due to be released early 2025.
She is now developing the TV adaptation of her graduation short, as well as just completed her next ambitious project ‘The Contraception Fair’ starring 2023 ScreenDaily Star of Tomorrow Ronke Adekoluejo and produced by BAFTA nominated Candid Broads Productions. The short is also a proof of concept for a TV series.
Director's Statement: I started taking the hormonal pill at 17 to ‘fix’ my period, and I stayed on it for almost a decade. When I finally stopped, I realised how little control I actually felt over my own contraception choices. I didn’t want to put anything else in my body, yet I still felt the weight of responsibility, and the unspoken assumption that it was mine to carry.
That tension became the seed for this film. Camille faces the same impossible question: ‘Why is all of this on me?’ From that frustration, the idea of a surreal fair full of personified contraception methods came to life. If my own internal monologue was a mess of fear, guilt, and Google searches… why not turn it into a carnival of overly enthusiastic contraceptives fighting for attention?
The humour comes from the absurdity of the world and the sincerity of Camille’s panic. The camera sticks close to her, mirroring her growing claustrophobia as she’s ushered through this bizarre marketplace of choices she never asked to make. It’s a comedy, but one rooted in a very real emotional experience that so many women will recognise.
With The Contraception Fair, I wanted to take something deeply personal and quietly political and retell it through a playful, mischievous lens. The film uses humour as a way in, opening space for conversations about autonomy, responsibility, and the gender politics around contraception. These questions feel particularly urgent right now, as reproductive rights continue to be challenged.
Ultimately, this film turns a question into something we can finally talk about and, hopefully, laugh about too.
