The documentary by Alina Cyranek weaves four personal stories of women affected by violence into a common voice - spoken by Sandra Hüller - and makes domestic violence visible through dance and animation. The film discussion with the director and experts is an invitation to exchange ideas.
Domestic violence against women: The figures are clear, the suffering almost unbearable; and yet the violence and, above all, those affected by it often remain invisible. In her documentary FASSADEN, Alina Cyranek reveals what women experience in toxic relationships, what effects the violence has on their lives and how they find a way out and help.
In FASSADEN, Sandra Hüller tells the story of a woman who escapes from a long-term violent relationship and of a political and social system that prefers to look the other way. The film shows the power structures behind the facades and how the state inadequately protects women. The narrative was condensed from four real-life accounts into one story in order to preserve the anonymity of the women. All the events actually happened, nothing is invented.
A dancing couple creates images of a relationship in a black box, highly aesthetic, physical and poetic, thus leaving room for the complexity of such a relationship. The manipulation of the woman is made increasingly visible by means of animation, in which individual frames are printed out on paper, edited and reinserted into the real film. The classic documentary framework is formed by expert interviews that clearly and objectively classify the power relations and relationship structures. FASSADEN is not an easily consumable film, but a challenge for the viewer.
Domestic violence and the statistics associated with it are brutal, harrowing and physical. FASSADEN reflects all of this in its form, is radical and headstrong.
