No Means No, Feminist Legislative Theater (Nein heißt Nein, Feminist Legislative Theater)

Directed by: EvaGloria Fernández Pérez // Produced by: Madalena-Berlin
documentary, Germany, 2021, 18'

This short documentary shows the trajectory of developing a feminist perspective for the practice of Legislative Theater carried out by the group Madalena-Berlin between 2016 and 2019. Initially, the technique was applied following the method developed by Augusto Boal and Centro do Teatro do Oprimido in Brasil. In 2016, the Madalena-Berlin decided to engage in the “No means No” campaign using Legislative Theater to create a dialogue about sexual violence and the new law regulation in Germany. Over the three years of praxis, the group applied a feminist perspective to Legislative Theater and a new approach to public interventions considering the place / social position of each member of the audience.

Madalena-Berlin was founded in 2010, from a Theater of the Oppressed laboratory done by Bárbara Santos, artistic director of the group. Through the shows “Images of Women” (2011), “School of Women” (2013), “Pink Glasses” (2015) and “Pink Machine” (2019), the group promoted public discussions about the various challenges that its members face in the struggle for overcoming patriarchy.

The Case You

Directed by: Alison Kuhn
documentary, Germany, 2020, 80'

Just how far is it acceptable to push actors in the name of cinema? And at what point do you cross the boundary where acting becomes sexual assault? These are the questions raised by the testimony of six young women who were manipulated and sexually abused during an audition. They knew beforehand that the film they were auditioning for was about incest, and they were familiar with the director’s controversial work. But during the audition, without prior discussion, they were groped, beaten, and forced to undress. These traumatizing experiences resurfaced when a few years later it transpired that the footage of the auditions had been made into a documentary. The women aren’t just fighting back through the courts. They have banded together to tell their story on camera, in a sort of antidote to the toxic audition. The director of The Case You, Alison Kuhn, is one of them. This neutralizes the camera’s potentially predatory eye and turns the lens into a liberating channel to express anger and demand justice.

»When I started my directing studies in Babelsberg in 2018, I knew that there was one film I had to make as soon as possible. It concerned a topic that I had been carrying around with me for years and that now finally had to be told. Initially being an actress, I felt the need to use my new position behind the camera to support my acting colleagues and to empower them in finding a public voice. Within my first semester I gathered a team of fellow students who believed in the importance of my story and who wanted to help me narrate it. It was important for me to create a safe space where our protagonists could share their stories with each other and with our team. We wanted to document our case and build a bridge to the current MeToo debate. The result was not only this movie but an arising sisterhood that I found great relief in. Although this topic has been discussed worldwide, there have only been very few cinematic approaches to document these personal experiences. My team and I hope to be able to give this important topic a platform.« (Alison Kuhn)

Granny's Sexual Life

Written amd Directed by: Urška Djukić and Emilie Pigeard
animated documentary, Slovenia, France 2021, 13'

This film is available only in Slovenia and only to Users, who are signed into their Slovenian Film Database user account. CLICK HERE.

A trip into grandmother’s youth and the memories of her intimate life illustrate the status of Slovenian women in the first half of the 20th century.

The films will be available for free online streaming from 8th till 13th of March.