Hva er en kvinne?
(What Is a Woman?)
Producer: Marin Håskjold
Production Company: Alternativet Produksjon AS
Director: Marin Håskjold
Script: Marin Håskjold
A discussion is set off in a women's locker room as a trans woman is asked to leave. One of the women in the changing room argues that you cannot simply become a woman, you have to be born one. The discussion escalates quickly as more and more people get involved. All with different takes on what makes a woman.
The characters and script for the film were inspired by comments and articles shared in a closed, Norwegian, feminist Facebook group. Here, issues related to gender and trans rights forced philosophical reflections on the incorporated societal norms dictating our lives, our behavior and our experience of our own bodies.
The film asks: Who can define who is a woman and who is not? Is gender biologically or socially coded?
Håskjold works in an improvisational and intuitive manner to create dialogues, further investigations, and complex characters that sharpen the experience of what it is that is at stake in conversations about identity and gender issues.
What is a woman? is directed by Marin Håskjold, and produced by Marin Håskjold with Alternativet productions.
PRESS
“In the Amanda winner «What is a Woman?» directed by Marin Håskjold a discussion arises when a guest at the swimming hall discovers that one of the women in the dressing room is trans. From there we follow a discussion that the director has based on commentary threads from social media. Everyone get to express their personal discomfort or support of the trans woman. She remains silent. At the end, when she’s asked how she feels about the situation, she answers: «No, I just came to swim».
The last years I fear a lot of trans people have felt like her.”
- Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid, KLASSEKAMPEN
“I’m not really sure that I’m still the same guy as I was before I saw this video.”
- Tommy Olsson, KLASSEKAMPEN
“Sets light on something important with a wise and reflected script. I was sitting there with eyes and ears open.”
- Lars Ole Kristiansen and Karsten Meinich, FILMFRELST
“Thus I concluded that What is a Woman? rather is a good example of the freedom embedded in the short film format. Surely, a short film may be just a discussion – and in so being mediate a surprising complexity around an important theme.”
- Aleksander Huser, NY TID
“One of FEM * RIOTs sharpest films that focus on the question of gender identity.”
- Бабель
“The trans debate is existential for everyone who is a part of it, no matter where we stand, whether we are cis or trans. I think that’s also explains why it so often escalates. The «trans debate» often derives from «what if»-situations, but if we keep asking ourselves «what if» in any discussion it will take us nowhere”
- Interview with director Marin Håskjold, BLIKK
"We are entering 2021, and the prejudices are still in place. Prejudice is not something we need to have. That is why films like this are important, showing the uncomfortable conversation. If we don’t talk about it we won’t get anywhere.”
- Interview with lead actor Mina Alette Høvik, Halden Arbeiderblad
“There’s something with the film that is universally human. It looks at social isolation and being uncomfortable together, which is a sentiment many can relate to.”
- Interview with director Marin Håskjold, SUBJEKT
AWARDS
Best short AMADNA Awardee
“It means a lot for me to receive this award. I want to thank everyone who has seen the film, asked me questions about it and shared it with others. It’s a pretty personal film. I feel immensely grateful that I’ve been able to be a part of this important conversation,” Marin Håskjold said upon receiving the award.
Best short Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
Best Norwegian Film The 33rd Minimalen Short Film Festival
Best script 4th BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL WOMEN FILM FESTIVAL
Back Home