I’M EVERY WOMAN
A cinematic exploration of womanhood across time and borders, I’M EVERY WOMAN intertwines the intimate stories of two women navigating infertility and loss with a history of reproductive oppression, using black-and-white animation and re-imagined archival footage to reveal the social, political and emotional forces that shape the expectations we put on women and motherhood today.
SYNOPSIS
Born in the 1980s Romania and Bulgaria, filmmakers Ruxandra Gubernat and Maria Stanisheva, carry with them the weight of histories they did not choose: communist regimes where abortion was forbidden, societal expectations that dictated the value of a woman by her ability to give life and the enduring personal struggle with infertility.
I’M EVERY WOMAN weaves their personal journeys of loss, resilience and solidarity with the broader evolution of women’s rights, from the clandestine clinics of 1980s Eastern Europe to contemporary battles over reproductive freedom in France and the United States.
At the heart of the film lies Martina Scarpelli’s minimalistic yet profoundly expressive 2D animation: a woman trapped inside her own body, haunted by giant, faceless unborn babies, pulled down by expectations, anxieties and fear. As the narrative unfolds, the animation mirrors the emotional evolution of the protagonists, from isolation to self-discovery and collective empowerment.
Through archival footage, personal home movies, animated stop-motion collages of personal photos, diaries and intimate reflections the film juxtaposes the personal and the political, illuminating the social construction of womanhood and the universal struggle to reclaim agency over one’s body. In its epilogue, the personal and the collective converge: women gather together, holding each other in calm waters, a serene testament to the strength of solidarity, transformation and hope. I’M EVERY WOMAN is not only a cinematic meditation on women’s rights. It is a visceral journey into what it means to be a woman across time, place and circumstance.
WHERE WE ARE
I’M EVERY WOMAN will be realized as a full-length animated-documentary film [70′] for festival, theatrical and television distribution. The personal stories will aim to find alternative audiences through an interactive exhibition and an online portal, thus inviting more people to share their stories and create a wider debate around the suppressed social subject. We are currently working on the documentary script and advancing with the visual style. The project has received a script development grant from the Bulgarian National Film Center. The film has been developed as part of the Balkan Documentary Centre’s Discoveries Program and after pitching as part of Sofia Documental received the Raina Consultancy Award, granted by Raina Film Festival Distribution.
As part of our film development and community building, we are organizing an interactive exhibition on the topic, called “One in Three”. The exhibition features stories and artwork from Romania and Bulgaria and had a successful launch in Bucharest (Sept 2024), at the cultural hotspot Rezidenta9 with the support of the AFCN (the Romanian National Cultural Fund Agency). Next stops were Călărași, Romania(Muzeul Municipal Călărași, Oct ’24) and Sofia, Bulgaria (DOZA gallery, Fev ’25 with the support of the Bulgarian Women’s Fund, co-organized with Future Perfect Foundation). Within the exhibition, we are organizing various Creative Therapy workshops, resulting in additional artworks presented at the local exhibitions. Following the successful launch of the exhibition, we plan to showcase it in Budapest, Warsaw, Paris and elsewhere in parallel with the film’s international premiere.
CREATIVE TEAM
