Jailed in India After Attending a Dalit March, French Director Valentin Hénault Releases a Memoir
New Delhi: French film director Valentin Hénault has recently published J’avais un rêve indien. Dans l’enfer de la prison de Gorakhpur, a memoir, that translates to ’I Had an Indian Dream: In the Hell of Gorakhpur Prison’, after spending months in jail after attending a Dalit rights protest in 2023.
Hénault had arrived in India on August 10, 2023, to make a documentary film focussing on atrocities committed on Dalit women. He travelled in Bihar and Jharkhand before Uttar Pradesh.
On October 10, 2023, Hénault had attended an “Ambedkar’s people’s march” led by peasant women in which they were demanding land rights for Dalits. He was reportedly surrounded by “local intelligence agents” after a speaker at the podium, who knew him, earlier mentioned his name to recognise the presence of “international observers”.
Cover of Valentin Hénault's book. Photo: Buchet-Chastel
Later, the police reportedly accused him of “violation of visa conditions” under Article 14b of the Foreign Act and arrested him. He was sent to Gorakhpur prison.
The book was launched in India on January 15, 2026, and is available only in French at present. Structured into 16 chapters, the book documents what Hénault witnessed inside – the physical torture, agony and stories of other inmates.
He begins the book by saying, “I had an Indian dream like others had an American dream.”
“It’s my personal story – the month I spent in Gorakhpur jail. And it’s also the stories of the other inmates I met there,” he says, as quoted by The Print.
Hénault, who has previously spoken about his ordeal to The Wire, was not only sent to the jail but also shifted to a cell meant for mentally unstable individuals.
“There was physical abuse to make them stay quiet, but it was a privilege to be there, because there was a little more space on the ground,” he had told Le Monde.
Hénault finally left India on May 4.
This article has been edited since its publication.
This article went live on February twenty-third, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-five minutes past nine at night.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
