Global Sisterhood: Liberation and Veronica Anderson
On Friday night at Citizen Jane I had the privilege of meeting Writer/Director Veronica Andersson. Her short film Liberation was one of the “Fests Like Us” shorts scheduled Saturday night. Now, at the time, I had no idea whom Ms. Andersson was. She was standing directly in front of me in line for the Friday night film Landline. I happened to like her lipstick color and complimented her on it. She thanked me and proceeded to ask me if I was a student at Stephens, etc. After a few minutes, we landed on a discussion of her film. She kindly introduced me to her travel companion Magdalena Kizinkiewicz, one of two females leads in her cast. Ms. Andersson was so lovey and humble. She and Magdalena had traveled from Warsaw Poland to be here for Citizen Jane on 24 hrs worth of flights. The fact that her lead actress was willing to join her on such a long trip is, in my opinion, a testament to Ms. Andersson’s talent and reliability as a director. A skill Ms. Kikinkiewicz says Ms. Andersson has acquired from her own acting experience. Of course we eventually got around to discussing the film itself and as she explained the plot… I had to see this short.
Liberation is a heart wrenching realistic narrative illustrating Poland’s rigid abortion laws. Poland has some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. Polish Parliament recently rejected a bill to ban all abortion unless the mother’s life was at risk. One stipulation of the bill's proposal was to jail women who had abortions. The proposal was so strict it even lost the support of Catholic leaders in Poland, who could not condone punishing women for abortion. Polish Parliament's decision to reject the bill in 2016 was revealed after over 100,000 men and women across Poland came out to protest the bill. While that particular tragedy was avoided, Poland's abortion laws remain some of the tightest.
In Liberation, Veronica Andersson illustrates the possible detrimental results of such strict abortion laws with a narrative about a 14 year old girl who was left pregnant after being brutally raped. I won’t spoil it for you but I will give you the link for the Liberation Facebook page. Liberation is brilliant in its design. It has great story and brilliant execution of visual exposition planted within the structure. I most enjoyed the subtle details that illustrated her main character’s loss of innocence and self.
After the screening, Ms Andersson, and Ms. Kizinkiewicz joined two other film makers on stage for a Q&A. One particularly interesting question about the dynamic between directors and their actors came up and, because Magdalena Kizinkiewicz had accompanied Ms. Andersson to Citizen Jane, she was able to speak personally about her experience working on Liberation. She discussed her own religious beliefs and how she struggled to reconcile what she believed with the actions and beliefs of her character. She seemed to open herself up to the struggles of a mother with a 14 year old daughter that has been sexually assaulted. Her commitment to the role paid off; her portrayal was beautifully crafted. Ms. Kizinkiewicz gave a glowing review of Ms. Andersson’s directing skills.
I have seen so many films this weekend that have made me laugh, cry, and think. Films that have opened my mind to a world outside of my own. Meeting Veronica Andersson and Magdalena Kizinkiewicz is an experience I will never forget. The weekend has used my favorite artistic medium, film, to reconnect me with a global sisterhood I sometimes forget I am part of. I am so excited for the films to come.