Ukraine Is Not a Brothel

"After the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine was left in crisis. In the 1990s, many Ukrainian women left the country to work in Europe but wound up in brothels. The world sees our country as one big brothel." This is the modern history of Ukraine from the perspective of a member of Femen, the Ukrainian feminist initiative that communicates its message to the world with the naked feminine body as its medium. Femen wants people "to see Ukraine as a country where naked girls protest, not sell their bodies." And that's just the paradox that this documentary exposes. Young and attractive women make the news time and again by ringing church bells or climbing balconies topless, their breasts painted with slogans like "Sextremist" or "My name is democracy." And of course there's a man behind all of this: Victor Svatsky, who plays a dubious double role. The naked bodies attract the attention of the entire world. "It's a marketing strategy," one of the leaders of Femen tells us. "What's the difference between a prostitute and a feminist?" another laughs cynically. The girls are very much aware of the paradox that stretches deep into their protest movement, but they don't know how to escape it, and the unconventional marketing strategy doesn't come without certain risks.