WOMEN’S DAY In theater “De Kom”, Nieuwegein
How free contemporary women are in shaping their own identity? Which limitations we have to face in that process? Those are some of questions researched in my film “Born as a Woman” that I made with Nenad Fišer. The film was motivated by words of the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, who once said: “Nobody is born as a woman, one becomes a woman.”
The perception of women’s place in modern world is often distorted or obscured, even in the case of most developed countries. It came as a surprise to me when I learnt that women in Switzerland, that proverbially wealthy and prosperous country, until 1985 needed their husband’s permission in order to apply for a job and that they still earn on average 19% less than their male colleagues.
Coming from former Yugoslavia, where the 8th of March was celebrated predominantly as the Mother’s day, I realized how many things, related to life of women, I had taken for granted: their education, equality, diversity of employment opportunities, their role in domain of social and cultural reality…
In honor of the International Women’s Day and the first female Dutch doctor Aletta Jacobs, I had a performance in the theater “De Kom” in Nieuwegein (8th of March 2009) which included the screening of the film “Born as a Woman”. The film addresses the most fundamental stages of woman’s life, from her childhood and adolescence to various roles that shape her adult life: her romantic relations, development of professional career, motherhood, taking care of the household, and finally – recognizing her own spiritual identity.
My musical program (songs and vocal improvisations accompanied by guitar) which followed the screening, proved once again that music, when performed with emotional charge, transcends all language barriers and cultural impediments.