‘Free From Desire’ Podcast To Premiere At Tribeca Film Festival

Forbes Lifestyle Arts ‘Free From Desire’ Podcast To Premiere At Tribeca Film Festival Risa Sarachan Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover the arts, from theater and dance to film and design. Following May 25, 2023, 05:14pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin An image of Aline Lauren-Mayard, creator and host of “Free From Desire.

” Courtesy of Paradiso Media Aline Laurent-Mayard is a journalist, author and podcaster whose podcast Free From Desire will debut at Tribeca Film Festival this June and launch on June 7th. In the show, Laurent-Mayard weaves together a touching narrative beginning with their adolescence in Paris, The City of Love, in the 90s. They also review the pop culture that informed their initial thoughts on romance and sexuality.

Laurent-Mayard speaks to experts, sociologists and friends to dissect how society has dictated traditional gender roles and ideas about coupling. They guide the listener through their own experience of feeling alienated from other teens because of their lack of interest in sex. Eventually, they grew to understand their own asexuality and, later on, decided to become a single parent.

Forbes spoke with Laurent-Mayard via email about what it means to have Free From Desire premiere at Tribeca Film Festival. We also discussed how growing up in Paris influenced their views on love and how they hope to parent their child when it comes to conversations about relationships and sexuality. Aline Laurent-Mayard recording her podcast “Free From Desire.

” Courtesy of Paradiso Media Risa Sarachan: What inspired you to create Free From Desire ? Aline Laurent-Mayard: A few years back, while I was finally coming to terms with being asexual, I felt the need to work on this topic. Asexuality coverage was sparse and often incorrect – it’s partly why it took me so long to embrace my asexuality. I wanted to make basic, correct information about asexuality accessible to more people, but also to go further in the coverage of asexuality: to fact-check some urban myths, to dig deeper into the themes it brings to the surface, and to show how a discussion around asexuality could improve everybody’s sex life.

I’ve pitched articles about the sexual violence people face, how they negotiate intercourse, and how they envision the future of romantic relationships, and I got rejections all around from French media. I had a hunch that an audio series mixing storytelling and investigation would enable me to reach more people and go deeper. And I was right.

Free From Desire was covered by almost every French media outlet, made the cover of a national magazine, and really got the discourse going. MORE FOR YOU Forget Apple Watch: Huawei Watch Ultimate Beats Apple To Game-Changing New Features DeSantis 2024 Announcement: Blasts Biden And ‘Elites’—But Not Trump—In Talk With Elon Musk ‘#DeSaster’: DeSantis Roasted Over Botched Twitter Campaign Launch—By Trump, Biden And Others Sarachan: How does it feel to have the podcast debut at The Tribeca Film Festival? Laurent-Mayard: When my producer called me with the good news, I couldn’t believe it. We had no clue how the United States audience would react to a podcast both made by a French person and on this topic, so being selected for the Tribeca Film Festival felt especially good.

I’m so happy people are noticing the hard work and love me and the team at Paradiso Media put into it, both in France and in the United States. Sarachan: You talk about growing up in Paris, The City of Love. How did that culture inform your thoughts on romantic love and desire as you grew up? Laurent-Mayard: French people see themselves as big romantics, but I disagree.

I think what sets French culture apart is its sex and rape culture. Women are taught that having sex makes them cool, and glamorous. That men know better than them what’s good for them, and that they should always accept sex, which is exactly what I did when I was younger.

Even though we’re going through our own MeToo moment in France, things are changing very slowly. The Festival de Cannes celebrating Johnny Depp this year, after all we’ve learned about him, is a sad example of how stuck in their ways the media industry is here. But my perception of love and sex wasn’t only informed by French culture.

Like all French kids, I grew up watching American movies and shows, like American Pie and Superbad , and most of them were about losing your virginity. It’s interesting to see that the idea that people should have sex to have a fulfilled life is everywhere in Western countries, even if it doesn’t manifest in the same way. Sarachan: I know you are now a parent.

Listening to your podcast brought me back to my own teenage experiences surrounding romance and sexuality. Have you thought about the conversations you want to have with your child surrounding some of the topics Free From Desire touches on? Laurent-Mayard: Yes, absolutely! Making this podcast got me to think about the importance of listening to your body and your desires. I want my kid to feel confident enough to say, “I want this.

I don’t want that. ” To know and express their boundaries, which I failed to do personally for so long. I work on this a lot, asking my kid how they feel, and respecting when they say no.

I feel like I’m spending my time asking them, “Do you want to do this? It’s ok if you don’t want to. ” I’m also trying to teach them to respect other people’s desires and to pay attention to whether another kid wants their hug or not, for example. Besides that, I want to make sure that my kid knows that all sexual and romantic orientations and situations are ok.

On the street, I never assume a man and a woman are a romantic couple. I absolutely never assume Jo will be in a romantic relationship – especially a straight one – in the future. I changed the stories in their book a bit to make sure that my kid gets to see the diversity that exists in real life, I turn some characters into single parents, and gay couples.

I point out strong boy-girl friendships. I want my kid to know that a straight romantic relationship isn’t their goal in life, and that they can live their life as they want. Aline Lauren-Mayard being photographed in the streets of Paris.

Courtesy of Paradiso Media Sarachan: You’ve spoken to friends and experts on this topic for the show. What do you feel you’ve learned after making it? Laurent-Mayard: I’ve learned that we follow guidelines invented to maintain the patriarchy instead of listening to ourselves, and it costs us. We tend to confuse love and intimacy with sex, and we put ourselves under so much pressure to have a great fulfilling sex life, but we don’t even know what it means for us.

We just know what the media tells us. How many people can say what excites them? Who are they really attracted to? There’s such pressure to be in a straight relationship that we struggle to realize that we could do otherwise. That we could want something else.

We bury ourselves deep down. And even when we know it, we don’t dare say it. How many couples have discussed what they want sexually? Have found out what works for both of them? Very few.

How many couples have willfully opted out of sex if this is what they want or need? Even less. To me, acknowledging that sex is not compulsory, and that it should be a discussion is the next stage of the sexual liberation of the MeToo movement. Sarachan: What do you hope Free From Desire brings to its listeners? Laurent-Mayard: I hope Free From Desire will get people to think about what intimacy means to them and what they really want from a relationship.

I hope people will start talking about sex before they have sex, that they will have the sex talk with their partner over and over again, with no taboo or shame. We need to move beyond consent and look for enthusiasm. To think about new relationship models to enable each party to be happy.

Sarachan: What does your life look like now? Laurent-Mayard: In many ways, it looks exactly like what I dreamed of as a young teen before I started to want to fit in. I’m single. I have a great joyful baby.

We travel, we see friends, we spend time with our family. It’s just great. And I’ve reached a peacefulness that I didn’t know was possible for me.

I’m just comfortable and happy with who I am. I guess I just don’t care that much about fitting in and what other people might think, and this is liberating. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Free From Desire will premiere at The Tribeca Film Festival this June. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website .

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