Interview Ulrike Zimmermann and Claudia Richarz ' Vulva3.0'
Channel: TEDDY AWARD
Date: 2014-02-10

28. TEDDY AWARD im Rahmen der 64. Internationalen Filmfestspiele Berlin
Interview with Directors Ulrike Zimmermann and Claudia Richarz of the Film 'Vulva3.0'
Interview by Philipp Schmidt
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'Vulva 3.0'
DE, 2013
Directed by Claudia Richarz, Ulrike Zimmermann

We live in hypersexualised times. The press, adverts and TV are constantly putting naked women and their genitalia on display. But many women are still deeply prudish when it comes to the relationship with their own body. In public we see airbrushed, de-individualised anatomies which conform to the standards of attractiveness used by the porn industry. The ideal image of the smooth, perfectly shaped vulva with symmetrical labia has little to do with the actual shape of most female genitalia. The resultant insecurity many women feel about their own bodies has proven to be a gold-mine for cosmetic genital surgery which promises to manufacture the perfect vagina via the surgeon's scalpel. With their comprehensive and unflustered research into the history of this particular aspect of the female anatomy in the 21st century, the directors shed light on every facet of the matter in hand, from sex education to censorship, from the airbrushing of "misshapen" labia in pornographic images to the work of activists against female genital mutilation - and in doing so celebrate the diversity of the female body.

Ulrike Zimmermann
Born 1960 in Hamburg, Germany. She studied at the Academy for Fine Arts in Hamburg. She is director and producer. In 1989 she founded her own independent producation company, MMM Filmproduktion. Her feature film 'Hounted' (2006) won the Golden Leopard at the 2006 Festival del film Locarno. 

Claudia Richarz
Born in 1955, she studied visual communications at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. She has been making documentaries for many years, either as a director or a cinematographer. In the year 2000 the ten-part WDR/arte series 'Abnehmen in Essen' received the Grimme Award and was nominated for the  Rose d’Or Montreux 2000. 

'Vulva 3.0' is the first cinematic collaboration of Zimmermann and Richarz. The film premiered at the 64th Berlinale.