It’s rare for a film to live up to an incendiary title, but filmmaker Kitty Green’s feature debut Ukraine Is Not a Brothel both shocks and surprises. The documentary focuses on a very particular story rising from the 2012-2013 Ukrainian revolution: the dynamic activist group that’s fighting for female emancipation, FEMEN.
Unlike many other small revolutionary groups, the women of FEMEN are impossible to ignore, in part due to their outfits … or lack thereof. FEMEN uses toplessness as a protest tactic. According to the group, “Ninety-nine percent of Ukrainian girls don’t know what feminism is.” But FEMEN are making their statements heard, letting their bodies serve as powerful weapons for their movement.
Green is careful not to sexualize the activists on camera, and instead paints a dizzyingly complicated portrait of femininity in a patriarchal society. Having lived among the group for over a year, she managed to gain their trust, shown through her remarkable access to the women and their intimate and honest interviews. And Ukraine Is Not a Brothel refuses to shy away from that honesty: each scene highlights their bravery while exposing their paradoxes and faults. Chock-full of contradictions, the film acts as provocation, bringing many of the women’s issues into focus and allowing audiences to make their own decisions. Both terribly frustrating and wonderfully exciting, Ukraine Is Not a Brothel is a must-see.
The film was released this month from Magnolia Pictures on Vimeo On Demand. It’s been nearly three years since the film’s limited release, so I reached out to director Kitty Green for a quick interview and catch up on where things stand now.
A still from the film. Photo via Magnolia Pictures.
How did you first hear about FEMEN? What was it that drew you to them?
I first read about FEMEN in a discarded tabloid newspaper in my home city of Melbourne, Australia. There was a photo of Sasha, a FEMEN activist, bare-breasted and holding a hand-painted sign that read, “UKRAINE IS NOT A BROTHEL.” I thought it was a beautifully contradictory image. I was instantly intrigued by this movement.
My grandmother is Ukrainian and I was travelling around the country to meet relatives when I came across FEMEN protesting in Kiev’s Independence Square. I had a DSLR with me and filmed the protest. There were 20 topless women in traditional Ukrainian floral wreaths protesting the government’s water restrictions of Kiev’s biggest fountain. The police force brutally broke the protest up and dragged the girls away kicking and screaming. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. I was hooked.
It’s been almost three years since you made the film. In what ways has FEMEN changed or progressed?
FEMEN have changed dramatically over the past three years. Whilst I had reservations about the way FEMEN was being managed during the shooting of the film, I always maintained an unwavering faith in its women. Since we finished filming, Inna Shevchenko has taken over as leader of FEMEN, which is now an international movement (with branches popping up all over the world). The organization is more dynamic and vivacious than ever. There are girls of all shapes, sizes, and nationalities joining up each day. I have no doubt that the future of FEMEN will be bright.
Ukraine has been in the news steadily since your film. How has Ukraine itself changed in that time and do you think it’s own revolution is shaping FEMEN’s?
FEMEN had been protesting against Yanukovych since he came into power in 2010. We knew, even back when we first began shooting, that Ukraine was on the brink of extraordinary change. The country had been in economic turmoil for a long time. The women of FEMEN were one of the first street-based protest movements to rise up against an increasingly tyrannical government, and I like to think that their activism, and the exposure that they got in the media, influenced other Ukrainians to stand up and fight for their country.
Director Kitty Green. Photo via Magnolia Pictures.
What was it like to film a bunch of radical protesters? It’s a pretty interesting day on the job.
I learnt so much making this film. I grew up making this film. From getting arrested by the KGB to facing a ferocious media circus upon the film’s release, there was so much involved in getting this film made. Every little bit of it had an impact on me. It was so much more than just an interesting day job.
Were there any reactions from FEMEN or their audience that you regret not getting on camera?
I shot over 100 protests in cities all over the world, so I captured pretty much every action and reaction on camera. I didn’t get to include them all in the edit as that would have been a very long film.
What are you working on now?
That’s a secret.
We look forward to it, whatever it may be. Thanks, Kitty.
See the riots, the historic struggle, and the heartfelt human nuances of Ukraine Is Not a Brothel.
