The synopsis of Arash T. Riahi’s and Verena Soltiz’ socio-political documentary asks: “what happens if women decide to revolutionise religions instead of rejecting them?”. The directorial duo never truly engages with this interesting question. Instead, their camera follows Ukrainian activist Inna Shevchenko, as she talks to numerous women about religious beliefs and practices. The majority of these women is white, and they all appear to be middle-class and cis. Some of these women identify as atheist, though they may have been raised religiously. Others were raised secularly but converted to a certain faith. Shevchenko herself is the leader of the radical feminist group Femen.
The Ukrainian branch of Femen received some media attention for their topless activism. Emphasis on “topless”. Their social and political goals hardly get noticed. But their bare breasts turn some heads. Riahi and Soltiz show no interest to fill in that gap. They never properly establish Shevchenko’s political stance. Is it the same as Femen’s position on such varying topics as abortion, the church, sex work and Pussy Riot? Or does her personal opinion differ from the official Femen agenda? Speaking of: What is Femen’s agenda?
Shevchenko reaffirms a widely known truism: feminism is highly contentious. She conveniently fails to mention, however, that some of her harshest critics are feminists themselves.
According to the group’s videos and posts, their “feminism” is white, able-bodied, slender and bourgeois. Their actions have no relevant impact and show little regard for marginalised groups. Femen labels their activism as “sextremism”. Yet, they target sex workers and condemn pornography. Getting naked for Femen is fine, but getting naked in order to make a living? God forbid, that’s anti-feminist! Riahi and Soltiz never discuss these contentious contradictions.
Early on in the documentary, a short clip shows some Femen members toppling over a huge crucifix. Femen actions against Christian institutions are fairly recent. Strangely, the film fails to reveal that much of their activism is directed against Islam. Their members routinely deface the flags of Muslim countries and mock women in hijabs. A strange omission, given that religion is one of the film’s central pillars.
The directors seem to empathise with Shevchenko’s Islamophobic bias. She is welcoming and supportive when talking to a female Christian priest. Christianity looks as if it was ready to reform. In contrast, Shevchenko’s debates with two Muslim women are much more antagonistic. She presents Islam itself as the problem and apparently wins the debate. One prolonged scene shows a bizarre public ballot with the very suggestive question “Is Islam compatible with human rights?”. No such ballot on Christianity or other religions takes place. The sole effect of this scene is to discredit Islam.
Shevchenko also visits a Jewish wigmaker and tries a wig. If you believe her complaints, that wig pinches a lot! In her mind and on her head the wig becomes a symbol of religious repression. Earlier on, Shevchenko has a poignant conversation with a Jewish tour guide. The guide, who left her orthodox Hasidic community behind, explains: “choice is a very secular concept. There are people who believe the entire idea that choice is just an opportunity to make mistakes”. This observation suits Shevchenko well. She seems to think that giving women the choice to wear hijab or become a porn star means allowing them to make mistakes.
Our protagonist is masterful at the oversimplification of complex issues. She criticises faith, yet she too is blinded by faith: not faith in a God, but in her own selective ideology. The directors never attempt to challenge this. This is not a purely observational documentary, which allows viewers to make their own judgments. The conversation choices and perspective are very manipulative, and indeed conducive to sympathy towards Femen’s bigoted ideologies. The fact that Shevchenko herself wrote the film might help to explain this. While occasionally brushing over some interesting issues, Girls & Gods never allows their characters to go more in depth.
Ultimately, this Austrian film feels like a pretext to give a very questionable public figure a platform.
Girls & Gods just premiered at CPH:DOX.
