UA, DE

2025

90 min

In development

Women Occupied

Okupovani

Directing: Tetyana HanzhaZoya Volk

Synopsis

Women Occupied is a 90 minute long creative documentary film that provides an intimate, ruminative and thoughtful reflection on psychological trauma inflicted on women by last European wars. The film consists of three intertwined novels which together tell the stories of women survivors in Ukraine, Bosnia and Germany who were subjected to mass rape during war during previous century in Europe. As their stories unfold, we follow the women’s path from suffering the trauma to healing from it and toward regaining their power and dignity in search of justice.

Three stories will be told in parallel, but the main focus will be on a Ukrainian woman. The observation of her daily life will help us to get to know her step by step. We will observe her therapy sessions and see how she copes with the challenges that she faces in the aftermath of trauma and fleeing her home in the midst of a war. The other characters are women from Bosnia and Germany. They provide us with a global perspective which shows how their experiences, decisions or actions were taken or not taken. And the way in which they affected their lives, the lives of their family and society. As well as what lessons they can share through their life story. This exploration will give the time and distance and insight that the main protagonist cannot give as she remains too close to her trauma. We will also observe their relationship with their families.

The film will also attempt to answer the question of how conflict-related sexual violence debases the whole society.
We intend the film will help build women's solidarity against rape as a weapon of war and to offer model for how a person can heal from trauma, and become stronger from the crimes committed against them.

Trailer

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