Monika Hauser – Ein Porträt
Edith Eisenstecken, Evi Oberkofler
»I have the privilege of having a European passport, I’ve had a good education, I am strong. I have to use these privileges to support other women who live on the dark side of life.«
– Monika Hauser
In late 1992, Monika Hauser hears about mass rapes of Bosnian women during the Balkans war. It angers her, as does the repeated abuse of the victims by the media. She travels to the war zone to help, mobilizes supporters and applies for aid funds. In 1993, with the support of Bosnian psychologists and doctors, she opened the Medica Zenica women’s therapy centre in central Bosnia. Pioneering work that laid the foundation for the medica mondiale association, whose commitment was extended over the years, first to Kosovo, then to Afghanistan and many other countries. The association’s work takes forward the principles that Monika Hauser was already addressing in medical institutions during her medical training: demanding more sensitive treatment of patients and adopting a critical, feminist stance regarding the structural shortcomings in orthodox medicine and in crisis and development aid.
How did Monika Hauser discover the issue that has accompanied her all her life? And what is it that drives her? The portrait by directors Evi Oberkofler and Edith Eisenstecken combines insights into the day-to- day life of the women’s rights activist, looking back at and reflecting on the stages along her journey to date.
Edith Eisenstecken
Edith Eisenstecken, born 1960 in Bolzano, South Tyrol in Italy, studied directing at the University of Television and Film Munich and qualified in film editing from the Bavaria Filmstudios. She has worked freelance for many years with her own radio show at the RAI station Bolzano and also teaching film montage. She lives by the Ammersee lake in Bavaria.
Alongside her own projects she has worked together with the director Evi Oberkofler.
Films by Edith Eisenstecken und Evi Oberkofler (Selection)
Der Kinomann aus Südtirol 2012 | Stenzel – Als Filme noch verrückt sein durften 2011 | Peter Mitterrutzner 2010 | Krista Posch 2009 | Luis Stefan Stecher 2007 | Sepp Mall 2006 | Joseph Zoderer 2005 | Margareth Obexer – Autorin 2004 | Helene Flöss – Eine Begegnung 2003 | Anita Pichler – Ich will einfach erzählen 2002
Evi Oberkofler
Evi Oberkofler, born in 1972, studied documentary film-making at the University of Film and Television/HFF Munich, lived in London and New York while studying, and after graduating started working on a freelance basis. Since then, she has lived and worked in Munich as a writer and film director.
Alongside her own projects she has worked together with the director Edith Eisenstecken.
Films by Evi Oberkofler und Edith Eisenstecken (Selection)
Der Kinomann aus Südtirol 2012 | Stenzel – Als Filme noch verrückt sein durften 2011 | Peter Mitterrutzner 2010 | Krista Posch 2009 | Luis Stefan Stecher 2007 | Sepp Mall 2006 | Joseph Zoderer 2005 | Margareth Obexer – Autorin 2004 | Helene Flöss – Eine Begegnung 2003 | Anita Pichler – Ich will einfach erzählen 2002