Work for the documentary film The Loom https://theloomfilm.com/
East German government to hide the fact that rape befell a third of the women during the fall of Berlin. When war breaks out in Ukraine, scores of women take refuge in Berlin including Maryna Semenkova, a performance artist. Hanni’s story inspires Maryna to join Helene and together they dig through the rare remaining archives of abortion appeals from 1945, including those of girls. Maryna investigates the unspoken past of her alcoholic father and discovers that his abusive mother had been forced into a German labor camp at seventeen, where the child she bore was murdered. “They live in us. It’s just not possible to forget,” Maryna reflects, as she turns to art to process her past, creating a performance piece that weaves Hanni’s story into her own experience of war.
Stills from the film’s teaser https://theloomfilm.com/
Germany, 2023-2025 work in proprogress.
The film is expected to be released in 2026.
MARYNA SEMENKOVA 