Sophie Haller
Director
Born in 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. 2008-13 attends HSLU (Hochschule Luzern, Design & Kunst), animation department.
Synopsis
Deflowering is a once in a lifetime event that cannot be repeated. Virginity is thus considered a gift, award, barrier or taboo. But it only has meaning amongst humans. We invented and developed it, propagate it through our cultures, religions, legal institutions, through art and scientific work, and we have made it into a patriarchal instrument that defines and controls the social role of women even today. Sophie Haller’s animated short film tells the History of Virginity.
Crew
Mirjam von Arx
Producer and Author
After studying at the Ringier School of Journalism, von Arx worked for 18 years as an editor and freelancer for a number of German language magazines. In 1991, she moved to New York and together with Polo Hofer produced the road movie BLUESIANA. In addition to regular contributions to Swiss television, von Arx produced two documentaries for SF and Sat1. In 2001, she moved to London and started filming the documentary BUILDING THE GHERKIN. In 2002, she started her own production company ican films gmbh. In 2003, her first documentary ABXANG was theatrically released. In 2005, BUILDING THE GHERKIN (CH, DE, UK) followed. In 2006/7 she produced Thomas Haemmerli’s documentary SEVEN DUMPSTERS AND A CORPSE, with a theatrical release in 2007. The film won the Zurich Film Award 2007 and was nominated for a Swiss Film Award in 2008. Her documentary SEED WARRIORS was theatrically released during autumn 2010. VIRGIN TALES opened theatrically in June 2012 and amongst others, won the Zurich Film Award 2012. Von Arx latest feature documentary I’M ALIVE is currently being edited and will be completed in 2014.
Michèle Wannaz
Author
Michèle Wannaz studied film, journalism, and contemporary German literature in Zurich. Alongside her studies she trained as a script consultant. She worked as film editor for the news magazine Facts, was responsible for conception, casting, and research for the documentary series DIE SPURENSUCHER for arte / zero one film Berlin, and worked as dramaturge for Micha Lewinsky, Markus Imhoof, Xavier Koller, and Pipilotti Rist, among many others. She is currently project director at the W.I.R.E. think tank, where she manages exhibition and book projects, as well as being a member of the Zurich Film Foundation film commission.
Publications: “Dramaturgy in Auteur Film: Narrative Patterns of Social-Realistic Arthouse Cinema” (Schüren, 2009), “Mind the Future: Compendium of Contemporary Trends” (Coauthor, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2011).
Martin Witz
Author
Martin Witz – Drehbuchautor von Spiel- und Dokumentarfilmen für Kino & TV – ab 2001 Realisation von eigenen Dokumentarfilmen in den Bereichen Geschichte & Gesellschaft – auch als Filmeditor unterwegs.
