GIRLS & GODS

Inna Shev­chen­ko is the foun­der of the Ukrai­ni­an femi­nist pro­test group FEMEN and has been living in exi­le in Paris sin­ce 2013. She is known for her pro­vo­ca­ti­ve actions against the abu­se of and vio­lence against women. In 2015, the acti­vist nar­row­ly escaped an ass­as­si­na­ti­on attempt during a panel dis­cus­sion in Copen­ha­gen: she was atta­cked whilst spea­king about free­dom of expres­si­on and blas­phe­my. Inna hers­elf was rai­sed in a strict­ly reli­gious house­hold and sees hers­elf in open con­flict with ‘mono­the­i­stic reli­gi­ons’, becau­se ‘all their gods are male’ – whe­re­as women are ‘guil­ty’ from the out­set. But how do reli­gious women respond to femi­nist argu­ments? Does the pro­blem per­haps lie in the patri­ar­chal inter­pre­ta­ti­on and trans­la­ti­ons of the various holy scrip­tures? And how could femi­nist posi­ti­ons and reli­gious faith pos­si­bly be recon­ci­led? To explo­re this, Inna inter­views reli­gious and non-reli­gious femi­nists from all over the world, mee­ting them in France, Eng­land, Aus­tria, Ger­ma­ny and the USA, among­st other places: at dis­cus­sion events, demons­tra­ti­ons, in orga­ni­sa­ti­ons, shops, on the street or at home. Inna asks many ques­ti­ons and lis­tens. She pres­ents her argu­ments, yet allows the poly­pho­nic respon­ses to stand and gives them space. This film aims not only to ques­ti­on (one’s own) con­vic­tions, but also to encou­ra­ge acti­ve inde­pen­dent thin­king. And, just like the prot­ago­nist, it stands for women’s rights, demo­cra­cy and free­dom of expres­si­on. (Chris­ti­ne Reeh-Peters)