Can Feminism and Religion Coexist, Ukrainian Activist Asks in ‘Girls & Gods’ (Exclusive Trailer)

Can feminism and religion coexist? That is one of the core questions that the new documentary Girls & Gods, directed by Arash T. Riahi (For a Moment, Freedom) and Verena Soltiz, and initiated and written by Ukrainian activist Inna Shevchenko, puts up for discussion.

World premiering on March 23 at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, the film sees Shevchenko traveling to meet women with a range of views and experiences and discuss women’s rights and religion with them. “Inna Shevchenko of the Ukrainian FEMEN collective seeks answers to a difficult question in candid conversations with priests, imams, rabbis and other activists,” notes the website of the Copenhagen festival.

“In a groundbreaking personal journey, Inna Shevchenko meets extraordinary, inspiring women, some are fighting against religion, others defend religion, and surprisingly many (have) started to reform religion,” says a logline for the film. “They all are united by one belief: Women are magnificent. No god – neither in heaven nor on Earth – may deprive them of their rights or subordinate them to men.”

And it highlights: “The directors weave a compelling and provocative journey, inviting the audience to reimagine sacred iconography through a feminist lens and transform symbols of faith into powerful visions of female empowerment.”

One of the most recognizable people speaking out in the doc is Pussy Riot founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova.

“The initiative to choose film as the medium goes back to my need to go beyond slogans, to go beyond easy answers,” Shevchenko says about the doc, produced by Golden Girls Film in co-production with Amka Films and Wega Film. “It’s about exploring my own self-doubts as an activist after years of facing the world with very defined statements. Some day you realize that you can’t go further. The film with all its conversations is not a reflection on my activism, but the evolution of it.”

Cat&Docs is handling international sales for the film.

“We had to flee from Iran due to an Islamic government, we lost several family members because they were not believers, on the other hand, there are my grandparents who are believers and who’d never harm anybody,” says Riahi. “If someone like Inna, who had done so much radical protest and radical feminist actions, reaches out a hand to meet progressive elements inside those religions, I thought that’s what we need in our current situation. We have to look at the world, not only with a utopian vision. We have to focus on what kind of fight is realistic. 95 percent of people are non-violent believers, they just want to have their religion. We said, ‘Let’s make the women visible who try to change the systems from inside’.”

Adds Soltiz: “There is a lot of talking with very outspoken people in our film. One of our aims was to give a voice to persons who normally don’t get one in movies. I thought that ‘visual opinions’ expressed by works of art also matter and sometimes touch the heart even more. We wanted to give the stage to
poets, musicians, graffiti artists, etc. who contribute to the discussion in their way, and we also searched for a balance.”

The trailer for Girls & Gods provides a preview of the provocative debates and artists that the doc brings together into a piece that is sure to stimulate much discussion. Watch the trailer below.