A REGULAR WOMAN
2019, Sherry Hormann, Drama
LENGTH: 90 min
COUNTRY: Germany
YEAR: 2019
GENRE: Drama
LANGUAGE: Arabic & German w/English subtitles
FORMATS: DCP, Blu-ray & DVD
DIRECTOR: Sherry Hormann
CAST: Almila Bagriacik, Merve Aksoy, Aram Arami, Mehmet Atesci, Rauand Taleb
CREW: SCREENWRITER: Florian Oeller; CINEMATAGRAPHER: Judith Kaufmann; EDITOR: Bettina Böhler; MUSIC: Fabian Römer, Jasmin Shakeri ; PRODUCER: Onno Ehlers, Ulrich Stein
SYNOPSIS
Based on the tragic “honor killing” of Hatun Aynur Sürücü in 2005, the film A Regular Woman portrays a glimpse of life for a free spirited young woman living with an ultra-conservative Turkish Muslim family in Berlin. After escaping a forced marriage in Turkey with her abusive cousin, Hatun provokes the ire of her family by embracing a westernized lifestyle. After enduring endless harassment, she finally leaves the family and attempts to survive alone with her child, with whom she had escaped Turkey while pregnant. The threats and harassment continue, with German authorities willing to do nothing unless a physical act of harm takes place. This soon materializes as the family decides to task Hatun’s youngest brother with a deed that would end the family’s “shame,” and thrust the horrific practice of honor killings into the national spotlight.
TRAILER
PHOTOS
VIRTUAL CINEMA SCREENINGS
| Start Date | Venue | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/24/20 | After Hours Film Society | Wheaton | IL |
| 7/24/20 | Movies of Lake Worth | Lake Worth | FL |
| 7/24/20 | Movies of Del Ray | Del Ray | FL |
| 7/10/20 | Laemmle Theaters | Los Angeles | CA |
| 6/26/20 | Red River Theaters | Concord | NH |
| 6/26/20 | Tampa Theater | Tampa | FL |
| 6/26/20 | Triplex Cinemas | Great Barrington | MA |
| 6/26/20 | Cine Athens | Athens | GA |
| 6/26/20 | Naro Cinema | Norfolk | VA |
| 6/26/20 | South Bay Film Society | Torrance | CA |
| 6/26/20 | Strand Theater | Delaware | OH |
| 6/26/20 | Lincoln Theater | Mt. Vernon | WA |
| 5/8/20 | Midtown Cinema | Harrisburg | PA |
| 5/1/20 | International Film Showcase | La Morinda | CA |
| 5/1/20 | Lumiere Cinema | Los Angeles | CA |
| 5/1/20 | International Film Series | Boulder | CO |
| 5/1/20 | Parkway Theater | Minneapolis | MN |
| 5/1/20 | The Corazon | St. Augustine | FL |
| 5/1/20 | Great Neck Cinema | Great Neck | NY |
| 5/1/20 | Oxford Film Festival | Oxford | MS |
| 5/1/20 | Latchis Theatre | Brattleboro | VT |
| 4/24/20 | Rodeo Cinema | Oklahoma City | OK |
| 4/10/20 | Dedham Community Theater | Dedham | MA |
| 4/10/20 | Cape Ann Community Cinema | Rockport | MA |
| 4/10/20 | Mary Riepman Ross Media Arts Center | Lincoln | NE |
| 4/10/20 | Palm Springs Cultural Center | Palm Springs | CA |
| 4/10/20 | Cinema Arts Theater | Fairfax | VA |
| 4/10/20 | Wilmette Theater | Wilmette | IL |
| 4/10/20 | Charlotte Film Society | Charlotte | NC |
THEATER SCREENINGS
| Start Date | Venue | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6/26/20 | Esquire Theatre | Cincinnati | OH |
REVIEWS
“This is tragic, illuminating, and very intimately told. It’s very stylistically intriguing… It presents the story from the victim’s perspective. It restores her voice, in a sense.”
“Much more accomplished and watchable than Hormann’s previous film about a real-life crime, “3096 Days,” “A Regular Woman” owes much to its fine cast and impeccable technical package.”
“a unique non-fiction narrative anchored by Bagriacik’s riveting performance”
“Effective, if oppressively somber.”
“[T]he film … belongs to Aynur. It’s her life that matters. It’s her voice that we hear. It’s the loss of these that we feel the most…”
“Damning”
“Where When We Leave built to simple outage, this one concludes with a rush of complex, conflicting emotions.”
“The intelligent decision to make the murdered woman the narrator, serves as a sounding board of the severity of the tragedy unleashed.” [Full Review in Spanish]
“An impactful and piercing fictional reconstruction of the real femicide case.” [Full Review in Spanish]
“With a script that’s more promising than the realization itself… A Regular Woman exposes an extreme situation.” [Full Review in Spanish]
“The movie is in search of a clearer and more direct impact.” [Full Review in Spanish]
“This movie gives Aynur her voice back, if just for an hour and a half. And in doing so, it gives a voice to any woman who might be hurting, abused, or silenced..”
“Is there room for another film about honor killings? Director Sherry Hormann answers with a yes in her brisk, beat-by-beat depiction of the 2005 murder in Berlin of Hatun “Aynur” Surucu, 23, by her youngest brother.”
“This is a serious, sympathetic attempt to engage with the life of a woman who, while she rejected her family’s strict reading of Islam, loved them too much to entirely break contact.”
“The story, both dramatic and tragic for sure, is given the necessary emotion, reality and poignancy to make the movie an effective piece of docudrama.”
FESTIVALS / AWARDS
- Tribeca Film Festival – World Premiere
- Athena Film Festival