During the 14-18 war, women had also committed themselves to defending their country. But these acts of courage have been forgotten. After the war, women took part in the reconstruction of the country and opened the way to universal suffrage, their right to work and to education. Again, history has not retained their names.
They are called Marguerite, Henriette, Gabrielle or Claire… MBringing together testimonies of yesterday and today, archives and animation, this film pays them a vibrant tribute. It is they, pioneers of feminism, who will tell how they contributed to rebuilding Belgium, a country destroyed by a deadly war. “If men have forgotten us, we are still alive in the hearts of our daughters” says a voiceover at the opening of the film.
A film in memory of these courageous mothers
This film digs the memory of our ancestors, these “courageous mothers” who went through the war and its years of reconstruction. These women whose history has been concealed while their demands are at the origin of the social, economic and political achievements of women today, says Marianne Sluszny author of the film.
She was for women’s rights, she didn’t see why men should dominate them explains Claire who thus speaks of her mother Henriette, a committed woman who, during the First World War, took accelerated courses in London to become a nurse and join the army of her country. The boys go to war, I’m going to do something too. We thus pass from the current testimony of Claire evoking her mother, to the story of Henriette through her writings interpreted with talent by the voice of a Belgian actress. Anne Coesens, Marie-Paule Kumps, Daniela Bisconti and more: Belgian actresses give voice to these womenon archival images and a very successful animation produced by the designer Cédric Deru de Zestudio.
It was necessary to invent a mechanism so that the intimate, fictionalized and animated stories of our mothers and the “real” of their daughters fit together to constitute an intelligible whole for the widest audience and accepted as documentary. explains director Tristan Bourlard.
Successful bet ! Over the course of 60 minutes, the stories of the mothers, which we relive thanks to the voices of the actresses, the animations and the archives, intertwine with the testimonies of their daughters. Thanks to this subtle mix, this film brings history back to life with a capital H with emotion and highlights these avant-garde women who have imposed themselves in all areas of society. It brings out of the shadows those women who have moved the lines for a more egalitarian society; these women who have fought to ensure their civil and political rights, the right to education, the right to exercise trades formerly reserved for men, the right to equal pay and to greater freedom.
Memory of our mothers is a moving and joyful film that resonates like a struggle to continue. An Image Création production in co-production with RTBF
–
