Men Become Women, Women Become Men
thursday june 7 | 14.00 hrs | Dutch premiere

You Shall Not Be a Woman Dear, But a Man
An old and traditional law in Albania allows families without sons to raise a daughter as a man. Upon attaining a certain age she becomes her family patriarch. But this privilege has its price: the girl vows to remain a virgin forever. There are still about a hundred of these women-men living in Albania. Their testimonies shed light on some fascinating perspectives regarding male and female identity. Deep in the wild and remote mountains of Northern Albania, we meet women who hide behind the guise of men. How did they manage to go from imitation, to such virile looking faces, to such a strong identity with men? Their stories resemble mythologies. They tell an archaic tale of our ‘emancipation’ and the power play between the sexes.

Agnès Bert (France) | Albania | 2006 | 54 min | English subtitles

camera: Renaat Lambeets
sound: Willem Van Nieuwenhuyzen
editor: Maureen Mazurek
producer: Erick Gortzounian

contact: Roblin Aurélie (Zorn Production International)
t: +33 320880102
e: zorn@zornproduction.com

Agnès Bert makes films that she would like to see herself and that she feels nobody else but her can make. It often starts from a ‘coup de foudre’: the emotion provides her with a desire, the rationality comes after. It’s therefore especially the subjectivity that guides her first steps as a filmmaker. Not talking for the other, not pretending she knows best. She would like that her films, after the whole production process, keep this first impression of the other. Female intimacy confronted with the demands or movements of the society is her favourite subject.