Oksana Ivantsiv

Women Occupied is a documentary based on the five true stories of women from different countries who were raped by enemy soldiers. The reality of war in Ukraine and wars all over the world is that––along with missiles and guns––rape is an instrument of war and a weapon. Each chapter of the film is based on true testimonies/stories/diaries of women who were forced to endure sexual violence. The film consists of five chapters/novels telling stories of women from five different countries and times in history. The stories will be told from different perspectives: those of a victim, of a perpetrator, and of a witness. The stories will be re-enacted by actresses and actors, partly in real settings, and partly in abstract theater space. The actresses will play the role of real women from Ukraine, Germany, Bosnia, Yemen and Africa. As the story of each woman unfolds, it takes on the mosaic plot of a film. Each character focuses on a different perspective of a wartime rape and shows different sides involved in the tragedy.