Films by Claudia Schmid

Germany 2017, 90 min
by Claudia Schmid

In Bangladesh, in Benin, in the DR Congo, yet also in Germany: violence against women is ever present.The film delves into the lives of women who have been subjected to horrific violence, yet managed to fight their way free. They talk about the violence that has been inflicted upon them, their struggle for survival, their hopes and their current attempts to build a new life. And the men? Many of them describe violence against women as a normal part of their everyday lives. If a woman has been hit, she deserved it. If she defends herself, he threatens to take away her children.Claudia Schmid spent intense moments with the protagonists. She captured images of their painfulmemories and dreams. It is only the strength of these women that allows them to break out of a multi-generational cycle of violence.90mins, 52mins or 45mins, Bengali/Fon/Mashi/English/French version with English or German subtitles available

2016, 90 min
by Claudia Schmid

A film about the unimaginable violence against women in the DR Congo and about the political and social system that casts a blind eye on these atrocities. Women are systematically exposed to the brutal practice of rape as a weapon of war. Claudia Schmid gives unknown women a voice and reveals the structures of violence in all their facets. She spent several months travelling through the DR Congo, meeting women in the most remote villages of the rebel territories and winning their trust. In the course of intense talks, the women disclose their traumatic experiences for the first time. In order to illustrate the very complexity of the structure underlying the violence, Claudia Schmid also asks family members about their perspectives and talks to them about their shame and the discrimination. Since sexual violence is a taboo topic, families hardly ever talk about their traumatic experiences. Claudia Schmid deeply immerses herself into the destructive forces by also asking Congolese men about their notion of rights and obligations of both sexes. The film condenses the stories of violence to a polyphonic fugue of different voices thereby determining the dramatic structure of the film.