GERMANY | DIRECTOR ANNE ZHORA BERRACHED | 75 MINUTES
Australian Premiere
When the happily married Katja and Isabella decide to have a child, they are confronted with unexpected obstacles. Like many lesbian couples in Germany, they find out that the road to having a child is much harder than expected, with most sperm banks and fertility clinics refusing to offer treatment to lesbian couples due to legal factors.
After finally finding a doctor who is willing to offer very expensive inseminations for lesbian women, the fertilisation does not work for months. Katja wants to quit the process, while Isa suffers more and more with the weight of the treatment failures and the financial hole into which they are digging themselves. But Isa refuses to give up, and finds a trader who sells instruments with which one can inseminate oneself at home. Thousands of men are offering their sperm for money on his website, and a casting for potential donors takes place over several gruelling weeks.
But during this process, Katja discovers that Isa is willing to betray their pact – as well as their relationship – in order to fulfil her wish of becoming pregnant.
Two Mothers won the French-German Youth Office award at the 2013 Berlin film-reviews Festival.
“A sensitive approach to a timely issue makes this German drama worth a look, as its repercussions echo throughout Western society.” contactmusic.com
“Two Mothers is not only compelling in its aesthetic form but also in the profundity of its content and authenticity. With its subtle use of colour and the genuine performances of the two protagonists, the film-reviews took a very gentle approach to a political issue without trying to politicize it.” film-reviewsfestivals.com