Vergine Giurata

Sworn Virgin
Director
Laura Bispuri
Country
Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Albania
Year
2013
Genre
Fiction
Scriptwriters
Laura Bispuri, Francesca Manieri, based on the namesake novel.
Cast
Alba Rohrwacher, Lars Eidinger, Flonja Kodheli, Luan Jaha, Emily Ferratello
Production
Colorado Film, Vivo Film, Erafilm Production

Storyline

Albania, 30 years ago.  A world apart , a patriarchal society where the rule of the Kanun code regulates the life of the whole community of the mountains, based on blood revenge , honor and the family clans. This is the story of the social redemption of a woman who, after many misadventures, will find love in Italy.

Sworn Virgin is a journey inside the feminine universe told in its many contradictory forms. It is the story of a woman who sacrifices her femininity for freedom, and then sacrifices her honour to go back to being a woman again. She does this without ever setting her feelings aside. Hana Doda, still a girl, escapes from her destiny of being a wife and servant which is imposed on the women in the inhospitable mountains in Albania and appeals to the old law of the Kanun, swearing eternal virginity and therefore becoming a 'sworn virgin'. She turns into a man, takes up a rifle and becomes Mark Doda. As Mark, she enjoys the same consideration as any other man, but after over ten years spent in solitude in the mountains, Hana decides to change her life. She leaves Albania and goes to Milan, where she meets caring, loving, people that life had denied her so far. Hana struggles to leave her man clothes and learns to be woman, learning to piece back together the two souls that for years have coexisted inside her body.

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2015
In competition
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2015
Variety Critics’ Choice
Festival del Film Locarno 2015
I film delle giurie: Pardi di domani

David di Donatello Awards 2015
Nominated to: Best New Director