Force of Habit: rape culture in fiction and real life

Rape culture is the social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalized and justified, fueled by the persistent gender inequalities. Together with filmmakers and gender activists Elli Toivoniemi, Anna Serner, Daria Zhuk, Volia Chaikouskaya, Svetlana Gatalskaya we discuss the meaning of rape culture, influence of rape culture on communities and forms of rape culture in Belarus. Also we share opinions about the role of film industry in order to prevention and propaganda rape culture, standards and criterias of filming sensitive gender topics in the time of #metoo movement.

Language of the event: English with consecutive translation to Belarusian

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Svetlana Gatalskaya

Civil activist, social entrepreneur. Co-founder of the first in Belarus zero waste store ZERRO, coordinator of the initiative group for the adoption of the law against domestic violence "March, baby!".

Anna Serner

Anna Serner is the CEO of the Swedish Film Institute. She took up the post on October 1st 2011. Serner's tenure as CEO of the Swedish Film Institute have been marked by her notable work for gender equality in the film industry. An outspoken feminist, Serner is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist on this topic.

Elli Toivoniemi

Elli Toivoniemi is a producer-director from production company Tuffi Films based in Helsinki, Finland. Films produced by her have been distributed all over the world and awarded at festivals for instance at Sundance (The Date 2013) and Chicago (The Good Son, 2011), one of the latest productions, Stupid Young Heart (2018) is Berlinale Crystal Bear Winner and Finland's official Oscar Entry 2019. The newest project she is behind is anthology series Force of Habit, exploring how women are discriminated against because of their gender in public and private life.

Darya Zhuk

Darya Zhuk is a Belarusian film director and screenwriter, now she lives in the USA. She is best known for her work on the film "Crystal Swan". It was selected as the Belarusian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. She also directed the second season of the TV series "Soderzhanki" (Russia).

Volia Chaikouskaya

Volia Chaikouskaya is the director of the film festival "Northern Lights" and a producer of Volia Films.

Alena Aharelysheva

Alena Aharelysheva researcher, activist, lecturer at European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus, Master's Degree in Sociology (specialization "Gender Studies"). Research interests: gender, physicality, medicalization, LGBTQ.