The Vox Feminae Platform, in cooperation with associations, initiatives and individuals, presents a program that promotes ideas of gender equality and questions the status of women in society through discussions, lectures, films and artistic presentations from 5th until 24th of May 2020.
This year’s Vox Feminae Festival takes place online, and an important segment within it is the WoW Program, which, as its name suggests, brings a series of lectures and talks with local and regional women, their heritage and reality, with special emphasis on literature. and literal expression. The WoW Program is part of the activities carried out through the ‘Women on Women’ project, co-financed by Creative Europe and the Nova Kultura Foundation.
Milena Benini & Mihaela Marija Perković: Terrible Women (n) and Speculative Fiction
Following the public discussion about the legendary Ursula K. Le Guin on the stage of the Vox Feminae Festival in 2018, Milena Benini and Mihaela Marija Perković will reveal life, work and influence of classic, most famous SF authors – such as Joanne Russ or James Tiptree, Jr. They will also focus on lesser-known, contemporary and non-contemporary genre authors such as Olympe de Gouges, Justine Larbalestier, Anne Leckie, Sarah Gailey and Charlie Jane Anderson, to whom a special program will be dedicated. Because feminist SF writers are not just Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood.
The authors of this program, entitled ‘Fierce Women and Speculative Fiction’, are SF writers, both who attended Women’s Studies, graduated in English, translated books and comics, are bloggers, moms, feminists, workshop leaders, writers, researchers, lecturers, editors, panel leaders… The online lecture will be held via the Zoom webinar, and it is possible to follow it via the web on Tuesday, May 5th, at 6 pm at this link: https://zoom.us/j/91465352145 .
Rebellious readers: Do we have a number?
In May 2019, the Rebel Critics (Pobunjene kritičarke) published the Monitoring of Literary Criticism, in which they presented data on the prevalence of reviews of books written by women writers in media, magazines, portals, in five countries of the former Yugoslav region: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia. This is the first time such a wide-ranging research of the literary scene has been made. And the numbers confirmed the initial assumption – less is written about the works of women writers than they deserve and less than they should. Nor has literary criticism proved to be a developed and represented genre.
A year later, the Rebellious Readers (Pobunjene čitateljke) supplement the data with a gender analysis of the wider literary life. The online lecture will discuss who is awarded prizes, who speaks at panel discussion programs, who receives residencies and scholarships. How much is the production of women writers, and how much are they proportionally represented according to the growing scope, influence and originality on the literary scene. This Zoom webinar can be followed on Thursday, May 7th from 6 pm and is attended by: Julija Ovsec, Maja Abadžija, Frosina Kruškarovska, Dara Šljukić, Nađa Bobičić and Antonela Marušić as an introductory speaker and moderator: https://zoom.us/j/94375540779
Jasna Jasna Žmak: Fierce Lesbians
Jasna Jasna Žmak will deal with the invisible history of lesbian literature, ie the dynamics that have conditioned the production and reception of lesbian motives and identities in the literary field throughout history. Although in recent years there has been a significant affirmation of these elements, even in the local context, historically they have been marginalized, hidden, silenced. This topic is inevitably related to the broader problem field of lesbian identity and the ways of its existence in the wider social field. Examining the modalities of the historical (in)visibility of lesbian literary creation and its position within the institutional framework, and analyzing its relationship to the so-called women’s literature, the lecture will trace various literary forms of lesbian manifestation, touching on both recent film and TV adaptations.
Jasna Jasna Žmak is a playwright, writer and screenwriter. She graduated in dramaturgy at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb, where she currently works as an assistant professor. She has published several books, including the book of essays One Thing – Essays on Female Sexuality (Fracture, 2020). The online lecture will be available via the Zoom webinar, Tuesday May 12th, at 6 pm at this link: https://zoom.us/j/99439752358
Four Voices: Lesbian Quarter
Suzana Tratnik, Nataša Sukič, Kristina Hočevar and Vesna Liponik are authors, lesbians and activists gathered around the annual program of the Lesbian Quarter festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 2019, they founded the Four Voices collective to explore the lesbian alphabet and its place in the so-called “Universal literature” in which white cis men predominate. They presented their work at Gay’s The Word Bookshop in London in London in October 2019.
At the 14th Vox Feminae Festival, the Four Voices collective will present the situation with L(GBT+) literature and the success of lesbian authors in Slovenia. Why is it important to discuss this type of literature without fear of ghettoization? What is the presence and future of regional lesbian literature? The presentation will include four short readings in Slovenian with a projection of the translation in English. The interview is moderated by Antonela Marušić, and will be held online via the Zoom webinar on Thursday, May 14th, at 6 pm: https://zoom.us/j/99559065275
Film program
The WOW movie block will be available for online viewing for 72 hours, from Friday, May 22nd 2020 at noon until Monday May 25th 2020 at noon. The following films will be screened at this link:
https://voxfeminae.net/festival/vff-2020/online-selekcija/
JUST GO FUCKING SURFING
R: Juul Hesselberth
Netherlands / 2019 / documentary / 27 ′
Although an increasing number of women surf, their stories are rarely told. How does the image of a “sexy surfer” affect women who have never fitted in with her? How does this affect their careers and self-esteem? For her ethnographic documentary “Just Go Fucking Surfing” Juul Hesselberth spent three months in Australia where she followed the career development of four professional surfers.
RIO OR BUST
R: Lisiak Pawel
France / 2018 / documentary / 77 ′
Ranked 27th in the world, Emmanuelle Mörch is considering the Paralympic Games in Rio. To win a ticket to Brazil, she trains tirelessly and participates in wheelchair tennis competitions around the world.
UNDER THE UNDERGROUND
R: Angela Christlieb
Austria / 2019 / documentary / 54 ′
Angela Christlieb’s documentary takes us through the makeshift spaces of Janko Industries, the underground basement cemetery and the creative microcosm of the Viennese subculture.
RESPRINGENDO
R: Denise Ekale Kum
Germany / 2019 / feature film / 25 ′
The young musician has lost faith in her calling and is struggling with her mother, a relentless friend and a bizarre encounter in the park to reconnect with her most precious object: her late father’s red guitar.
FILMMAKERS
R: Julie Gayet, Mathieu Busson
France / 2019 / documentary / 66 ′
Is it harder for women to direct movies? Finance them? Are they respected by film teams as much as male directors? Do female directors have a different view of the world? Does cinema have a gender? In the previous two documentaries, these questions were asked by the authors of this film in interviews with 20 directors and 20 female directors in France. But since then, they have expanded the scope of their work to ask these questions to directors around the world. From Asia to Africa, and across Europe… All the women we meet in the film are witty, honest, committed, concerned and all have sought the best possible way of living in an environment that is always run by men. All the filmmakers are both living witnesses and witnesses of the dysfunction that still exists in the film industry.
SCARECROW
R: Işıl Türkfiliz
Turkey / 2020 / documentary / 13 ′
The story follows the director, a young mother, who finds herself in a spiral of eco-anxiety due to daily news of environmental disasters. When he looks at the footage of a woman resisting a geothermal power plant project in her village, she decides to meet them and goes to the village of Kizilcakoy in Aydin.
DELUGE
R: Cloudy Rhodes
Australia / 2019 / short film / 12 ′
Located in a religious commune on the edge of the ocean, one woman is accused of raising water levels and ravaging food supplies. While awaiting trial on charges of plotting with the devil, the community turns its back on her. Three women must get up and speak their truth before it is too late. What they discover is much worse than any black magic.
THE PROCEDURE
R: Mariella Santibáñez Koref
Argentina / 2019 / short film / 12 ′
Anita is a single mother who emigrated from Venezuela to Argentina. To support herself and her son, she works as an illegal immigrant in a small supermarket in Buenos Aires. One day her boss threatens to fire her. Mauro, an employee of the migration office, has been keeping an eye on Anita for some time, but has not been successful so far. He finally sees his great opportunity.
THE MAQUIS
R: Mirta Brkulj
Croatia / 2020 / animated film / 4 ′
Maquis is a type of low vegetation typical of the Mediterranean landscape. A little girl wanders through those bushes and bushes, with a kitten in her arms. She found him alone and is now looking for his mother. Along the way, they meet unusual characters inspired by dreams, childhood memories and island stories. “The Maquis” will be presented to the Croatian audience for the first time at the 14th VFF.
RHYMES OF THE WHITE CROW
R: Andrea Resner
Croatia / 2019 / experimental-animated film / 24 ′
A woman with the soul of a white crow dreams of her inner worlds. “The Rhymes of the White Crow” will have its world premiere at the 14th VFF.
HEROINE FROM THE HOOD: LANA NIKOLIĆ
R: Jovana Netković and Milica Batričević
Serbia / 2019 / documentary film / 7 ′
With her activism and journalistic stories on Radio 202, Lana Nikolić raises important questions and encourages us to look for the best possible answers. This episode of the series “Heroine from the Hood” introduces us to Lana through a personal story about the beginnings of feminism. What the power of social media is in activism, how the story of the birth control pill is related to her thinking of herself as a woman, and how we experience the sexuality of women with disabilities are just part of Lana’s daily erasure of boundaries and contributions to the community.
The film was created as part of the series “Heroines from the Hood” produced by BeFem with the aim of presenting stories about activists and feminists who in various ways move important things in their communities.
GIRLS FROM BANIJA FOREST
R: Nikolina Baric
Croatia / 2013 / documentary film / 19 ′
This short documentary describes the lives of two girls, sisters who live in an abandoned Croatian village. Croatia is a country with many faces, and the most beautiful are located where very few people live.