By Alex Banciu
There is always such a pressure to hit the right keys on the keyboard, correctly expressing exactly what you think and do justice to the subject at hand. In this case, there is quite some pressure because I am writing about the feminist film festival that took place in September in Bucharest, Romania. Why do I feel the pressure more? I am originally from Romania but I left because I couldn’t see myself living there due to the incompatibility with my identity. Attending this festival represented an opportunity to look back at my country and see what the people who decided to stay behind did to improve the situation. I was impressed, and saddened at the same time. I felt sad because I left, I did not help to make things better; instead, I just looked for places where things seemed to be better. But the people who stayed behind fought for change. This piece is a shout-out to all those amazing people who have curated the films for Bucharest Feminist Film Festival, organised it and put together a space for feminist ideas to flourish. I want to do right by them!
The Bucharest Feminist Film Festival took place from September 14 to September 17. It was its third edition. The theme for this year was consent, and each day had its own sub-theme. On the day I was present, the subject was body politics. According to the festival’s description, this day explored “different facets of the relationship with the body. From the intimate perspective of the discovery of sexual pleasure to the revelation of intergenerational tensions […] body politics proposes a melange between the desire to reclaim one’s own body and the difficulty of doing so […].” I was present for only a part of the event. However, I did not waste any time. I took the opportunity to mingle with the rest of the spectators and talk with some of the film directors. I just opened my eyes and ears to all the ideas circulating around me. It was fascinating to meet the creators behind the films we got to see because it added an extra dimension to the experience and the art work. Learn how their stories seeped into their art, what they like to do in their free time, how they find Bucharest etc.
The selection of the films on the body politics day was quite diverse in terms of format, the country that was depicted, language, and composition. Yet they all harmonised with each other perfectly. The short films shown were: My Mother’s Pain, Maria Schneider 1983, Sex Relish (A Solo Orgasm), Crop Top. I was profoundly impressed by all of them. Each one managed to show a different side of what it means to own your body, and what the challenges are when the female body takes back its autonomy.
The evening continued with some Q&As, a short theatre play and a longer documentary. The documentary At Your Cervix, directed by A’magine (a feminist activist and queer sexuality educator) tackles the brutal subject of the little-known practice of using non-consensual patients as practice tests for medical students in gynaecology. When a woman would go in for a surgery or if she would undergo complete anaesthesia, then a medical professor would invite a few medical students to practice for the gynaecology exam. They would examine the genitalia, the cervix, all whilst the woman is unconscious. What shocked me is that this practice is not specifically forbidden or criminalised in numerous countries. The thought of this triggered a visceral reaction in me. How many women, and people with vaginas had been through such a case without them being aware? The discussion after the documentary was compelling, mostly because of the reaction of the people in the room. The speakers, both Romanians, talked about the racial implications of this little-known practice. One of the speakers was a midwife and the other the president of an NGO for helping Roma women. They both said that, in Romania, Roma women are more likely to be taken advantage of and be victims of this little-known practice than their white counterparts.
The topic of the films and the discussions that followed are not only of vital importance on a local, Romanian level, but also on an international one. According to an EU survey from 2016, 55% of Romanian participants believed that non-consensual sexual intercourse was justified in certain situations, with 30% believing that rape was justified if the woman was a drug addict, and 25% if she was wearing provocative clothing. Having a film festival dedicated to the topic of consent is vital for the discourse around women’s rights and autonomy over their bodies. The struggle the Romanian feminists have faced over the years was brutal, but they persevered. Since the early 2000s when there was no law that would protect women against domestic violence, society has come a long way thanks to the relentless commitment of feminists. The Romanian magazine, Scena9, presents a history of feminism of the past 20 years in Romania, and how various issues have been brought up, solved or are being tackled. However, the article still states in its conclusion that feminism is needed now more than ever. We see, on a daily basis, different cases worldwide about the need for a strong feminist community. In 2022, The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional protection of abortion. In a 2022 article by Politico, Giovanna Coi writes that Malta is the only country in Europe that specifically bans abortions and that in 2020, Poland wanted to limit abortion access to women. This new law in Poland came into effect and according to a 2021 report by CNN, it restricts abortion, resulting in a near total ban on terminations. Northern Ireland, among others, is another one of the countries where abortion is still difficult to access.
I started this article with a personal touch, but as I’m nearing its conclusion I realise how far I went. The story went on to become bigger than what my experience could encompass. That’s why I felt the need to include references to other countries and cultures; to show that the problem is complex. The story of why the Bucharest Feminist Film Festival is vital in today’s society transcends my experience and connects it to so many others. I’m left with one thought after this experience: the personal is political.
References
Coi, Giovanna. “Abortion Laws in Europe in 4 Charts.” POLITICO, May 3, 2022. https://www.politico.eu/article/abortion-chart-world-map-europe-law-illegal-roe-v-wade-legislation/
Parenthood, Planned. “Outrage: U.S. Supreme Court Takes Away Federal Constitutional Right to Abortion.” Planned Parenthood Action Fund, June 24, 2022. https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/outrage-u-s-supreme-court-takes-away-federal-constitutional-right-to-abortion.
Hau, Iulia. “20 de Ani de Luptă Pentru Femeile Din România.” Scena 9, February 6, 2023. https://www.scena9.ro/article/-20-de-ani-de-lupta-pentru-femeile-din-romania.
European Commission. “Gender-Based Violence.” Eurobarometer, November 2016. https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2115.
Bucharest Feminist Film Festival, “Body Politics”. Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/CwXfFYdonhe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Mortensen, Antonia. “Poland Puts New Restrictions on Abortion into Effect, Resulting in a near-Total Ban on Terminations.” CNN, January 28, 2021. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/28/europe/poland-abortion-restrictions-law-intl-hnk/index.html.
Raffia 