The Holy Bitch Project
domestic, sexual and digital violence against women
a film by
Christiane Mudra
The experimental documentary is based on an investigative theater performance from 2021, in which actors embody the experiences of women affected by violence, illustrate real grievances and highlight the need for social and political action.
To intimate close-ups and reflections in sparse grazing light, a multitude of voices can be heard alongside the real-life accounts of experiences embodied by actors*. Voices that represent social attributions, fantasies of violence, sexism and quotations from fairy tales, advertising, opera and pop culture that women are exposed to every day. The roles are partly cast in the opposite gender and question the gender binary.
In reference to the film Matrix (1999), viewers, like the film's hero Neo, swallow the red pill and follow a cyborg rabbit who gives them a glimpse behind immaculate scenes where domestic, sexualized, and digital violence can be experienced.
Since the alt-right movement, the "manosphere" and the misogynist "incels" use the film motifs to spread misogynist conspiracy theories, The Holy Bitch Project deliberately makes the Matrix world its own and establishes a feminist counter-narrative.
Reviews
"Christiane Mudra has turned her "Holy Bitch" project about violence against women into an exciting feature film.
For her magnificent project, the accomplished documentary theater maker had researched for a long time, conducted interviews with affected women for a year, and created a program book that could become a standard work on the subject. (...) the actors get a cinematically autonomous impact, come much closer than in the theater; (...) In the past two years there have been many attempts to realize theater cinematically, "Holy Bitch" is far ahead of most of these undertakings, is as a hermaphrodite between film and theater a unique creation. (...)
The richness of the material and its emotionally gripping treatment must not be lost."
Credits
Produced, written and directed by Christiane Mudra
Starring
Meriam Abbas
Charity Collin
Sebastian Gerasch
Murali Perumal
Corinna Ruba
Isabella Wolf
Director of Photography Hubert Neufeld
Camera Operator Gregor Simbruner
Sound Design Martin Rieger
Lighting Design Peer Quednau
CGI/VFX Yavuz Narin
Postproduction Kevin Fuchs, Yavuz Narin
Costumes and Set Design Julia Kopa
Assistant Director Carolin Pfänder
Research Assistant Silvia Bauer
Subtitles Alison Waldie, Lucy Powell
Graphic Design Jara López Ballonga
Video Design Kevin Fuchs
Set Photographer Verena Kathrein
Thanks to
Kathrin Schäfer KulturPR
and
ehrliche arbeit - freies Kulturbüro