| Bill Posters will be prosecuted |
| GB 1999 / A 2002, 23 Min |
| With: Barbara Sankofi, Althea Greenan, Dirk Daufeld, Iris Ranzinger, Alexandra Simperler, Elfriede Wielander u.a., Voice: Andrea Schuster, Music: Almut Bertha |
| Auszug: 02:14 Min (6,3 MB) |
| England 2095: The rate of violence against women and children has dropped significantly. Why? Let's go back to London in the 1990s and you will see... |
| "Bill Posters will be prosecuted" is an utopian video movie, in which an anonymous women´s group (`The Group`) gets the commission to take care of an rapist (Bill Posters), who just got declared innocent by court. They warn him in repeatedly (Bill Posters will be prosecuted) and give him time to stopp his behaviour, but Bill continues and so it is up to two women of The Group, to bring the case to an end and set an example... The video, which was finalized form y Master´s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in June 2002, deals with a theme that is practically a taboo and has been exploited in terms of film in the light of the male perception of aggression of violence against women. "Bill Posters will be prosecuted" goes, however, one stepp further, in that it shows the vengeance based on the solidarity of women. |
| Fiona told me that she saw written everywhere in London, and very publicly, the words "Bill Posters will be prosecuted" - to her - an obviuos warning to a certain Mr. Bill Posters in possible and impossible locations: visible - noticeable - present. "Bill Posters will be prosecuted" means, however, "The Act of Putting up Bills unlawfully will be punished legally". On the one hand this awakens in women who had to deal with sexual/ sexualized violence - and almost every woman and girl has experienced and suffered from violence in one way or another- the desire that He, the perpetrator, who is representative of many violetors, should finally be punished. This film can be understood on the one hand in the following sense: to put into images, word and a story the desire, certanly present in many women, for punishment and making public what happened. I have been working for many years as a counselor and therapist with women and girls, who had been violeted or misused. I know that banalization and repression of experiences by society and silencing as a topic in society constitute a good portion of their suffering: "it can´t have been all that bad", "Don´t be so hysterical", "You have brought it about yourself", "It´s your own fault", "How come you have still not got over it?", "Don´t make such a fuss about it"; these are frequent reactions that reveal total incomprehension and that hurt women again and again and weaken them in their self-sonfidence and their personal integrity. Very important and beautiful in this film is the other side, which I know just as well: the pride of these women, their strength of survival and will to live. They organize themselves, resist, fitght back: not only against the respective perpetrator but also against the ignorance in society. They bill posters. They bring about public awareness. They can be heard in many public places and make themselves heard through the most diverse media: television, computer, laptop: "Big sister is watching them". They pursue them relentlessly in the streets, the staircases, common places. They fight for the violators ostracism by society. The suggested castration sands for the utopia of the end of sexual violence. And this should not be cause, in my opinion, to turn away from this story. On the contrary, it should be understood as an invitation to confront it, to look at it closer in order to be able to understand and accept the need and the desire of the victimized women for adequate punishment. I have to say that I am of opinion nobody can understand the world unless he or she confronts it togehter with ist cruel and destructive aspects and consequences. It is not a question of empathy or bafflement and refusal, but of awareness towardseverything that happens. In this sense: not enough Posters can be billed! |
| Regina Trotz, Translation: Birgit and Steve Ballegina Trotz |
| England 2095: The number of crimes committed against women, girls and children has dropped considerably. Why? In her short film entitled Bill Posters will be prosecuted, Fiona Rukschcio returns to the 1990s to find out: The young man Bill Posters, seemingly a pleasant sort of person, beats and rapes his wife. The court pronounces him not guilty, and he decides to disappear in the metropolis of London. In the meantime his ex-wife has contacted an anonymous woman's organization in the city, "The Group," which fights sexual harassment and rape. The group has clearly defined its ultimate goal: ending violence against women. Rukschcio addresses the sensitive theme of violence in a story of male perpetrators and female victims. But there are no victims to be seen here. The protagonists are activists, women who network and organize, make concrete plans to help individuals and then realize them. They surveil the perpetrator, follow him and warn him several times. But Bill Posters continues to abuse women. The story itself, packaged in an unconventional esthetic style, successfully makes its point, and Bill Posters receives his just reward: "He never raped a woman again!" This story illustrates what should not normally be shown in art, and what should not exist in society: women who are empowered by taking the law into their own hands and who win the audience over in doing so. Rukschcio poses questions about the (re-)presentation of violence against women and satirically suggests unconventional plans of action which are both appropriate for the serious subject matter and at the same time demonstrate a sense of humor. |
| Rosemarie Reitsamer, Translation: Steve Wilder |