Born today most popular celebs most popular celebs celebrity news. The sworn virgin is the story of eleanora, a woman who chooses to live as a sworn virgin, a tradition that will allow her to basically be the master of her own destiny and be in control of her own life as long as she keeps to her promise. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th berlin international film festival. It is a journey inside the complexity of womens universe. Hana swears to live life as a virgin as mark, but she finds that the life she had hoped would be her escape, was just as. Laura bispuri tells the story of how a young woman becomes a man in order to escape from the destiny set in stone for women by the patriarchal archaisms of deepest albania. But here and elsewhere, sworn virgin defies expectations. She takes an irrevocable oath, in front of twelve village or tribal elders, to practice celibacy, and from that day on she becomes a man. Marks struggle to find a true identity is the drive of the film, and the picture ends up being more of.
Director laura bispuris debut feature is an evocative and introspective film that brings light to the centurieslong albanian tradition of the sworn virgin, or burrnesha. Sworn virgin is the story of a woman who sacrifices her femininity for her freedom, and then decides to wipe out her honour to become a woman again. Sworn virgin presents as a transgender narrative, following mark alba rohrwacher assigned as female at birth as mark leaves hermetic life and enters modern milan society. Sworn virgin follows a young woman named hana who lives in an albanian village ruled by men, and she takes an oath of eternal virginity to live as a sworn v.
She appeals to the old law of the kanun and swears her eternal virginity thus becoming a sworn virgin. A more conventional film might have taken a violent turn at the point when mark begins to recede and hana drifts to the fore. A girl escapes from her destiny of being wife and servant. Sworn virgin is being presented as part of the 30th bfi flare london lgbt film festival, and it premiered last year in the official competition of the berlin film festival. After graduating in cinema at the sapienza university of rome, bispuri attended the fandango lab workshop, a school of cinema in rome.
The last sworn virgin of montenegro world news the. Queers and queer desire are virtually invisible in feature films from. But promises are hard to keep and love may find her whether she wants it to or not. Sworn virgin, the debut feature from the italian director laura bispuri, concerns a fading custom in remote albania, where some women have sworn off marriage, sex and parenthood and. The film doesnt deliver much in the way of dramatic power or unexpected revelation. The belief that it is an honour for a woman to assume the role of a man has been the foundation of the sworn virgin custom over the centuries. There are centuriesold albanian communities in italy. Sworn virgin is a film directed by laura bispuri with alba rohrwacher, flonja kodheli, lars eidinger, luan jaha, year. Annekatrin titze laura bispuris sworn virgin vergine giurata won this years tribeca film festival nora ephron prize. This movie based on a book by elvira dones depicts a society with very strict rules for its women. Hana is growing up in an archaic alpine landscape in albania where the old codes and traditional gender roles prevail. Offizieller deutscher kinotrailer zu dem film sworn virgin.
She escapes the fate of a wife and servant when, in accordance with the kanun, the traditional albanian law, she pledges herself to lifelong virginity, thus sacrificing her femininity for perceived freedom. Sworn virgin starring a strong alba rohrwacher, laura bispuris debut feature is a solemn, sensitive study of transgender reversal. Oliver is a very hardworking young man envied by his friends, two of his best friends has sworn. They dont have rights to take any decisions and have to live. Sworn virgin follows a young woman named hana who lives in an. Click here for more information, or watch the film trailer below. The reallife experience rle, sometimes called the reallife test rlt, is a period of time in which transgender individuals live fulltime in their identified discovered gender role. Sworn virgin follows the story of hana who tries to escape her potential future as a wife and servant by appealing to an old law and living as a man. The concept being referred to in the title of sworn virgin, a debut feature by italian writerdirector laura bispuri, belongs to the traditional culture of albania, where some of the film takes place. Sworn virgin vergine giurata taps patriarchal albanian tradition to ask whether renouncing sex can ever be the path to personal freedom. She takes an oath of eternal virginity to live as a sworn virgin by living as a man named mark.
The film obliges viewers to puzzle out the nature of the sworn virgin tradition, and even. She escapes the fate of a wife and servant when, in accordance with the kanun. Hana doda, still a girl, escapes from her destiny of being wife and servant which is imposed on the women in the inhospitable mountains in albania. Laura bispuris first film has been a success so far and lets hope for the best for her directing career. Albanias sworn virgins who pursue a true mans path duration. Italian director laura bispuris first feature film, sworn virgin 2015, depicts the life of hana, played by italian actress alba rohrwacher. It has won top prizes at film festivals, including the nora ephron prize at the 2015 tribeca film festival and the firebird award at the hong kong international film festival. Sworn virgin vergine giurata director laura bispuri with star alba rohrwacher photo. She escapes the fate of a wife and servant when, in accordance with the kanun, the traditional albanian law, she pledges herself to lifelong virginity. There, he explores the unexpected pleasures of attraction and the body and decides to abandon mark, rediscovering herself himself as hana, to become a new and liberated person. Her debut feature stars alba rohrwacher in a complex portrayal of life as hana and mark with flonja kodheli as her sister lila.
A film by larua bispuri synopsis hana doda, still a girl, escapes from her destiny of being a wife and a servant, a future imposed on women in the harsh mountains of albania. The purpose of the rle is to confirm that a given transgender person can function successfully as a member of said gender in society, as well as to confirm that they are sure they want to live as said gender. First, it was written by a little known albanian writer in the english speaking world, from a country that has been closed to international attention for so long due to the political system and its very different language. Sworn virgin is an absorbing glimpse at balkan tradition. Sworn virgin follows a young woman named hana who lives in an albanian village ruled by men, and she takes an oath of eternal virginity to live as a sworn virgin becoming mark, so she can live.
Sworn virgin takes similar things and familiar places to merge them to the ultimate finale weve been given. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Laura bispuris moving, fiery sworn virgin comes in a recent tradition of cinematic meditations on gender as a form of identity like tomboy and all about my mother, but her film is, above all, about the privilege of access. She turns into a man, takes up a rifle and becomes mark, mark doda. Sworn virgin is now a prizewinning film directed by italian director laura bispuri and starring alba rohrwacher. Vergine giurata is a 2015 internationally coproduced drama film directed by laura bispuri. In a rugged, impoverished world where women are treated as chattel, some escape their hard, genderdetermined fate by claiming the status of sworn virgins before a dozen male elders. A film by larua bispuri synopsis hana doda, still a girl, escapes from her destiny of being a wife and a servant, a future imposed on women in.
After directing a documentary named via del pigneto in 2003, bispuri made her first short film passing time in 2010, which earned her the david di donatello for best short film her first feature film, sworn virgin, was presented at the 65th berlin. The film is based on the novel of the same name by albanian writer elvira dones. Joolz guides london history walks travel films recommended for you. The first sworn virgin was born out of social necessity. The practice allowed women to break out of their prescribed roles and avoid a life of domesticity by electing to. Elvira dones novel, sworn virgin, intrigued me as soon as i started reading the introduction. The rising profile of transgender issues in popular culture could clear an arthouse path for laura bispuris sensitive, deliberate debut feature, sworn virgin, though its not a film that.
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