PURPUR
feature film (104 min) / 2021

Drama, 104 min., 2021 (Produced, written and directed by Isabelle Konrad)

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In 2017, the FFA (German Federal Film Board) published its study "Gender and Film," which highlights the inequality between the sexes within the film business. Not only is there a great inequality between men and women behind the camera, but it is also visible in the film itself through dialogues, roles and the storyline. Women are not trusted with leading positions and the image of women that is conveyed is often outdated and one-sided. "Purpur" is an experimental examination of gender issues in the film business and tells the story of a film character who rebels against an outdated image of women and a discriminatory system.

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Isana is the fictional main character of a film production. She continuously receives instructions in the form of script pages that dictate how she is to behave in the next scene. Invisibly, the pressure of successful commercial exploitation weighs on the production, which the director and producer must guarantee. But in Isana, an inner conflict becomes more and more evident: she wants to break out of the classic, romantic concept of the love film, the life that has been prescribed for her, and decide for herself. Her protest becomes stronger and stronger and the production threatens to fail, leading to a conflict between the creators of Isana and her world, the director and the producer. In a surrealistic way, the story of the film, the characters and the nature of the production are constantly questioned. Driven by existential fears, all eventually become perpetrators but also victims of an exploitative and marginalized power system.

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