RE-TELLING WOMEN

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT 📝 Augustine Hacques and Raphaëlle Girardin, the duo behind Enfant Terrible, are two young women aspiring to create art with an impact. On their journey to explore the documentary medium, they established themselves as filmmakers by co-directing their first short documentary: “Under the Spell”. Retracing the journey of the Berlin-based Hütte collective - which comprises a diversity of artists from all backgrounds -, Under the Spell addresses critical themes at the heart of Augustine and Raphaëlle’s artistic vision, both through the collective’s eyes and its culminating performance of Jeanne d’Arc. Click here to (re)watch our first documentary! This time, Augustine and Raphaëlle hope to continue their journey and follow-up on a new historical figure: Hildegard von Bingen. Quite in opposition to Jeanne d’Arc character, Hildegard von Bingen’s visions and divinations enabled her to acquire a position of power within the church. The duality of those two characters will be the focus of their final project: what does the depiction of women in history tell us about their status, and vice-versa? DOCUMENTARY VISION 👁️ This documentary hopes to cast a new light on the story of Hildegard von Bingen, revisiting her pivotal role as a Doctor of the Church and revolutionary works at the intersection of womanhood, the female body and faith. In order to do so, we intend to voice both artistic and historical interpretations of Hildergard’s narrative at the crossroads of documentary and performance, where play and dance participate in the birth and unveiling of an untold facet of her history. Hoping to gain in visibility, RE-TELLING WOMEN strives to be distributed across various film festivals which embrace corresponding themes as well as on different platforms and during events that put forward a feminist approach to historical recollections or create a space for marginalized voices. In order to ‘retell’ women, one must first reclaim her own voice. RE-TELLING WOMEN embodies both an intimate and professional project, as it started for the duo as a personal endeavor towards redefining femininity and prescriptive gender stereotypes. Gradually molding into a documentary series, it has become an uncompromising means to bring to the screen stories of women, queerness, bodies, community, theater, and collective reckoning. Uniquely intersectional, the documentary never leaves the side of the performers, who act as a red thread all throughout its unfolding. DOCUMENTARY FOCUS 🎥 The documentary will be focused on the collective’s journey to collaborate, develop and transcend through this performance. Playing a historical figure, even for a brief instant, is a deeply intimate endeavor, which can serve as a pathway to self-reinvention. The very act of performing stands as empowerment, expression and rebellion all at once. It begs the questions: What does it mean to perform? What does it mean for the performers? And most importantly, how does it resonate with each and every one of us? For these reasons, the documentary will dissect not only the character of Hildegard, the reinterpretation of her story, and the performance, but the very performers themselves. Simultaneously, the film will undertake to highlight the research work carried out on Hildegard with the aim to craft a well-rounded testimony of her influences and modern repercussions. To do so, we plan to interview an historian, academic or specialist that can break down the role such a powerful voice plays in recounting women-centric historical narratives. HILDEGARD & OLIVIA: BEHIND THE PICTURE 🎞️ Hildegard von Bingen is an embodiment of the mystic feminine, challenging traditional images of a ‘woman of faith’. Her early visions and natural gifts in singing, writing and medicine in parallel to her faith rapidly allowed her to become an influential part of the church in 12th Century Germany. For these reasons, Olivia, the main choreographer of the performance, found great resonance with her journey. Hildergard was known to use the image of the body - hers, plants, animals & others’ - in her compositions, and to put women at the center of her plays and liturgical songs. These influences led community and matriarchy to embody two driving forces of the performance. For Olivia, they attract radical opposites: the religious nature of Hildergard’s works and their mystic connection to the female body, science and the divine. This natural bond between character and performer creates a space for both story-telling and self-expression.