#9 Episode: Conversation with Inna Shevchenko on “Girls and Gods”
This film talk was recorded in English.
On the occasion of the Austrian premiere of Girls and Gods, we met with filmmaker and activist Inna Shevchenko to talk about her first work as a filmmaker/screenwriter - behind and in front of the camera. The film is directed by Arash T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz. It follows Inna while she meets with different women and their spiritual, political, and bodily quests for freedom, intertwining activism, trauma, and transcendence in a cinematic discussion on what it means to live and resist in a patriarchal world in the context of the three monotheistic religions.
In our conversation, Inna speaks about her approach to filmmaking and her process of shaping a constructive dialogue even when opinions were opposing each other, she also talks about the process of selecting the women and initiatives who appear in Girls and Gods. Inna also reflects on the difficult task of shaping the film’s many-hours raw version into its final, concentrated form and how editing became an act of both letting go and sharpening political meaning to find the right balance. We also discuss what her wishes for activism are and why she feels the discussion of religious tradition and practices is essential to feminism. Inna also reflects on the role of cinema and how it can become a tool for collective empowerment and spiritual rebellion.
Girls and Gods is a radical and challenging exploration of womanhood, belief, and liberation. It invites viewers to witness moments of vulnerability and strength, difficult discussions and it leads to questioning systems of domination, and to imagine, alongside its protagonists, a world grounded in equality and freedom.
Before listening to this episode, we recommend watching Girls and Gods currently showing in Austrian cinemas and at selected festivals.
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#9 Episode: Conversation with Inna Shevchenko on “Girls and Gods”
This film talk was recorded in English.
On the occasion of the Austrian premiere of Girls and Gods, we met with filmmaker and activist Inna Shevchenko to talk about her first work as a filmmaker/screenwriter - behind and in front of the camera. The film is directed by Arash T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz. It follows Inna while she meets with different women and their spiritual, political, and bodily quests for freedom, intertwining activism, trauma, and transcendence in a cinematic discussion on what it means to live and resist in a patriarchal world in the context of the three monotheistic religions.
In our conversation, Inna speaks about her approach to filmmaking and her process of shaping a constructive dialogue even when opinions were opposing each other, she also talks about the process of selecting the women and initiatives who appear in Girls and Gods. Inna also reflects on the difficult task of shaping the film’s many-hours raw version into its final, concentrated form and how editing became an act of both letting go and sharpening political meaning to find the right balance. We also discuss what her wishes for activism are and why she feels the discussion of religious tradition and practices is essential to feminism. Inna also reflects on the role of cinema and how it can become a tool for collective empowerment and spiritual rebellion.
Girls and Gods is a radical and challenging exploration of womanhood, belief, and liberation. It invites viewers to witness moments of vulnerability and strength, difficult discussions and it leads to questioning systems of domination, and to imagine, alongside its protagonists, a world grounded in equality and freedom.
Before listening to this episode, we recommend watching Girls and Gods currently showing in Austrian cinemas and at selected festivals.
Teen Angst and Quiet Violence? Youth, Gender, and Control
Ned Wuascht
1 hour 15 minutes 22 seconds
5 months ago
Teen Angst and Quiet Violence? Youth, Gender, and Control
#4 Teen Angst and Quiet Violence? Youth, Gender, and Control in Adolescence, Benny’s Video, and Lovely Rita
This time, we dive into the alienated, disoriented, and at times violent worlds of three teenage protagonists—and ask what their silence, rage, and rebellion reveal about the societies around them. From the one-take intensity of Adolescence (UK 2025, creators Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne), to the disturbing sceneries of Benny’s Video (Michael Haneke, AT 1992), to the suburban revolt-escapisms of Lovely Rita (Jessica Hausner, AT 2001), we trace the intersections of gender, class, and power in cinematic portrayals of adolescent violence.
As always, we take a diverse-feminist lens to look at these stories: How do teenage boys and girls experience control differently? Who is allowed to act out—and who is pathologized when they do? And what role do media, technology, and social isolation play in shaping these young lives?
Each work not only depicts youth violence but also reflects on how violence itself is mediated and consumed—most strikingly in Haneke’s Benny’s Video, which directly implicates the viewer and destabilizes our position as passive observers. These are not just stories about violence; they are stories about how we watch violence. What also connects these narratives is the striking absence of honest parental affection, love, and emotional connection—an absence that becomes all the more devastating for young people growing up in a highly individualized world saturated with media images of violence, yet lacking spaces of care and genuine belonging.
Key questions in this episode include: What kinds of violence are visible, and which are suppressed? How are masculinity and femininity narrated through acts of rebellion? And how do class and parental authority shape the way teenagers are seen—and punished?
Ned Wuascht
#9 Episode: Conversation with Inna Shevchenko on “Girls and Gods”
This film talk was recorded in English.
On the occasion of the Austrian premiere of Girls and Gods, we met with filmmaker and activist Inna Shevchenko to talk about her first work as a filmmaker/screenwriter - behind and in front of the camera. The film is directed by Arash T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz. It follows Inna while she meets with different women and their spiritual, political, and bodily quests for freedom, intertwining activism, trauma, and transcendence in a cinematic discussion on what it means to live and resist in a patriarchal world in the context of the three monotheistic religions.
In our conversation, Inna speaks about her approach to filmmaking and her process of shaping a constructive dialogue even when opinions were opposing each other, she also talks about the process of selecting the women and initiatives who appear in Girls and Gods. Inna also reflects on the difficult task of shaping the film’s many-hours raw version into its final, concentrated form and how editing became an act of both letting go and sharpening political meaning to find the right balance. We also discuss what her wishes for activism are and why she feels the discussion of religious tradition and practices is essential to feminism. Inna also reflects on the role of cinema and how it can become a tool for collective empowerment and spiritual rebellion.
Girls and Gods is a radical and challenging exploration of womanhood, belief, and liberation. It invites viewers to witness moments of vulnerability and strength, difficult discussions and it leads to questioning systems of domination, and to imagine, alongside its protagonists, a world grounded in equality and freedom.
Before listening to this episode, we recommend watching Girls and Gods currently showing in Austrian cinemas and at selected festivals.
