Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, the nations that emerged in its place have struggled to respond to a new world. We have all been watching Ukraine on our televisions as it slides towards civil war, but it is a country that has been driven to the point of collapse thanks to decades of corruption and crime.
And thousands of women have found themselves forced into the sex trade because of their poverty and a culture that demands submission to men. It was in this environment that the feminist collective, FEMEN, was created.
A collective now infamous for its raucous protests where topless women battle the patriarchy in some of Europe’s most famous locations, these young Ukrainian girls are all uniformly beautiful and determined to bring change to their country. They are well aware of what draws people’s attention, with less attractive women apparently sidelined. But there is no doubting their commitment, even in the face of enormous police brutality and a general population that just seems inured to their problems.
But this is a feminist organisation where men are constantly lurking in the background, like the men who anonymously fund them over the internet or the Turkish lingerie businessman who paid for their tour of Istanbul. Then there’s the fathers who arrange for men to threaten their members to return their daughters, and the mysterious Victor Sviatsky – the self-described “father of the new feminism”, their leader and patriarch who tells them what to do, where to go, what to wear, what to chant.
Australian filmmaker Kitty Green, in her first feature-length documentary, plays it pretty straight here presenting interviews with the collective’s members interspersed with footage of their demonstrations and their own home movies. The film drags a little but overall it’s simple yet striking, set in a post-Soviet Kiev that feels almost post-apocalyptic and the only things of beauty are the women themselves – stunning, blonde and sexual.
Since the film was made the women of Kiev have had to end their fight, either to return home or flee to Paris. They have now inspired branches across the world, in France, Turkey, Germany and Canada – in societies that might be more receptive to their argument. As an attempt to achieve women’s liberation their success can be debated, but as a window into the lives of these young women whose lives have been changed forever, their story is an intriguing one.
Year: 2013 Classification: 18+
Producer: Jonathan auf der Heide, Kitty Green, Michael Latham Cinematographer: Michael Latham Editor: Kitty Green Director: Kitty Green Country: Australia, Ukraine Runtime: 80 mins Language: Ukranian, Russian Premiere Status: Australian Premiere
