“Oxana – my life for freedom” – Charlène Favier: Homage to the co -founder of Femen

Die Organisation Femen originated in 2008 in the fight against sex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine. In the meantime, the women’s rights group is known for its top-without protests against all forms of discrimination and oppression. How is all of this related?

Femen use their femininity as a weapon against injustices, but their protesting with slogans on the chest is very masculine and aggressive. Are you fragile or are you not? Are you strong? Are you beautiful, but also clever? It is really disturbing for some people to classify Femen socially. I am a feminist and know that the body can be a weapon for peace. But 80 percent of the people viewed these beautiful, naked girls on the street as prostitutes. Prostitution was widespread in Ukraine, Femen used the body as a flag for a political message.

Oksana Schaachko and her colleagues, Anna Hutsol and Aleksandra Shevchenko, campaigned against oppression. Oksana in particular was very free with her sexuality and her body.

The film also shows the price of this freedom for women. Before these women arrived in Paris in 2013, they were in prison in Russia and were beaten and tortured there. I show some violent moments in the film, also torture in Belarus. It is important to me that people understand what courage these 22-year-old women have applied.

Interview

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Charlène FavierBorn in 1985 in Lyon, studied acting at the international school Jacques Lecoq in London and then in New York. At the age of 24, she founded her own production company: Charlie Bus Production. First she wrote short films, in 2020 her first feature film »Slalom«, whose performance had to be postponed because of the Corona pandemic. The Ukrainian artist and feminist Oksana Schadschko, born in 1987, who was found dead on July 23, 2018 in Montrouge near Paris on July 23, 2018. Oksana is the Ukrainian spelling of Oxana.

When they were raised to film Oksana’s life, did they know Oksana?

To be honest, I didn’t know her before and then I asked myself why not. I am a feminist and artist. I would have liked to get to know her. The more I have learned about her, the more I felt the need to devote a tribute to her. She was full of contradictions: she always kept up the values of religion, wanted to become nun at the age of 14 – and became an activist against the system of the church. She was a refugee without papers, but never thought of herself, but helped her poor and weak. It became an important leader of the Ukrainian freedom movement, wanted to save the world and demonstrated against the patriarchy. But she also loved the men and had many men at the same time.

How many?

Six.

You met the men too. What did you learn from you?

At that time they were all totally in love with Oksana. And she loved her, but changed from one to another. Sometimes when you are so free, you are lost because you are not sticking to anything. Her men had tried to help her when she had to deal with post -traumatic stress, loneliness and depression. It was important to me to show this dark side of Oxana’s life. You can feel the severity she troubled in Paris and see how she was in hope and joie de vivre in Ukraine.

Art was an integral part of Oksana’s life, she studied at the Paris University of the Arts. How did you integrate this artistic part into the design of the film?

Through the preparatory conversations, I understood that Oksana was an icon during his lifetime. My team and I had a large “art Bible” in which we had collected paintings by Eugène Delacroix, among other things, and which served us as a reference for the color and image design of the film. For me, Oksana’s life is full of color – the color of the icons she painted, the color with which she painted body. I had the idea of staging the film as a living painting in which Oksana is surrounded by light. It should be the focus – a position that you didn’t want to allow her. It is like a Christian figure. Her mother always called her “my little Jeanne d’Arc”. For me it is actually a little like the “Virgin of Orléans”. At first she was admired, then rejected because she was different. Her suicide is like a sacrificial moment. She was a martyr for me – like Jesus Christ on the cross.

What challenges did you meet in the production of “Oxana”?

I started the film during the Covid pandemic in 2021. I have researched for two years, read many articles and watch the wonderful documentary “Je Suis Femen” (I am Femen) by Alain Margot. My hope was to travel to Ukraine after pandemic, to make the casting there and find suitable locations on site. Above all, I wanted to get a feeling for the country because I practically didn’t know anything about Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, we just submitted our application for funding to the Ukrainian government for co -production – and it was precisely that day the Russian army marched. On the same day, the César Awards took place in Cannes for my film “Slalom”. I followed the ceremony from home because I had just born my daughter. When I heard the terrible news about the Russian attack war in Ukraine, I pondered what that means for the film project, what will happen now. Five minutes later I thought that this film would be very important. That gave me the strength to implement the film despite all the resistance.

How could you realize the film?

To finance the film, he had to be in French. So it was a big challenge to write the script to ensure that we had enough French in the film. Someone sat behind me and counted all words. The number of French words had to match the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian. The casting director Tatyana Vladzimirskaya lived in Kiev and came to Paris as a refugee. We cut over 100 actresses by zoom for two years and also discovered Albina Korzh for the role of Oksana. We then shot half of the film in Paris and half in Budapest. Our Ukrainian co -producer helped me find places in Hungary who looked Ukrainian. We also added refugees to our team who helped us to capture the Ukrainian spirit.

How did you prepare Albina Korzh for the role of Oksana?

We talked a lot and showed her many photos of Oksana and Femen. We both talked to Oksana’s men and Oksana’s mother, watched videos and documentaries with Oksana. When she came to Paris, she was Oksana. It is also really similar to Oksana: strong, but also very fragile. She and the other actresses still live in Kyiv. They experience the war every day, their fathers, friends and brothers fight on the front. Albina was often afraid for her while filming. With rocket alarm on her cell phone, she sometimes cried. But as soon as she was on the set, she was great.

What can we learn from Oksana?

When they were almost teenagers, Oksana and a co -founder said that they had to be awake to wake up their people. When Oksana protested Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukaschenko, which President of Russia and Belarus protested, it was not as bad as it is today. We want to stay in the comfort zone, believe that the worst will not happen – but it just happens. We finally have to wake up. Everything we do counts. Regardless of whether you write an article, post something on Instagram, go to the Gay Pride in Budapest or make a film. My mission is to create something that is bigger than myself. I want to make films that change the world – even if I don’t have Oksana’s courage.

»Oxana – My Lebon for Freiheit. Mit: Corony Albina, Oknane, Oksana zhdanova; 103 Minutes. Kinostar: 24. Juli.