Writer of O

'Writer of O' is a creative documentary about the woman who wrote “Story of O” and who concealed her identity using the pseudonym of an unknown writer, Pauline Réage. Her secret, obsessively guarded for 40 years was finally unmasked in 1994 in a revelatory article in The New Yorker: Dominique Aury, editor at the great French publisher Gallimard, secretary of Jean Paulhan at the Nouvelle Revue Française and his longtime clandestine lover. The film explores the mystery of the writer's dual identity, and relates her love story with Jean Paulhan (for whom the book was primarily intended), a central figure on the French literary scene. It also evokes the cultural atmosphere of Paris in the 50s, and the atmosphere of scandal that surrounded the publication. Halfway between documentary and fiction, the film combines archival footage, interviews with some figures related to the Histoire d'O affair, and fictional recreations of scenes from the novel.