Vulva 3.0 – Zwischen Tabu und Tuning
Vulva 3.0 – Between Taboo and Fine-Tuning
Claudia Richarz, Ulrike Zimmermann
»›Showing the vulva scares off bears and lions, makes wheat grow higher, calms storm tides and demons fear it. The devil runs away. Showing the vulva can save the world. The vulva is omnipotent.‹ is powerful image of the female genitals is not anchored in our imagination.«
– Claudia Richarz, Ulrike Zimmermann
While nudity seems no longer taboo, the presentation of the female genitals continues to irritate and various bans have been imposed on it. Decades of retouching in the media, anti-pornography campaigns and aniconistic bans have led to a public image of the vulva that is far from reality. A concept of ideal beauty that is invisibility prevails.
Vulva 3.0 is all about the representation and modelling of the female genitals, anatomical errors as well as the beauty and uniqueness of the female pleasure organ. Thanks to their comprehensive and objective research into the history of this part of the female anatomy in the 21st century, the directors illuminate all aspects of the topic – from sex education to censorship and from retouching »shapeless« labia in pornographic images to the work of activists against genital mutilation, thus celebrating in that process the diversity of female bodies.
Claudia Richarz
Claudia Richarz is a documentary filmmaker and mother to two sons. In 1978, she co-founded the women’s media centre bildwechsel in Hamburg. In the late 1990s, she was awarded the Grimme Prize for her documentary series Abnehmen in Essen. Her feature film Vulva 3.0 (co-directed with Ulrike Zimmermann) had its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2014. Her feature film Helke Sander: Aufräumen (2023) has been screened at numerous festivals in Germany and abroad.
Films by Claudia Richarz (selection)
Schau mich an 2017 | Das Nummerngirl 1989 | Der Zug aus Leipzig 1989 | Anti-Aids-Spot 1988 (mit Jochen Hick) | Endlich eine Prinzessin 1986 | Ich wandle unter Blumen 1985 | Staubsaugen 1985 (mit Andrea van der Straeten) | Fortunella 1980 | Buttergemüse 1980
Ulrike Zimmermann
Ulrike Zimmermann was born 1960 in Hamburg. She took her degree in lm at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg in 1988. She founded MMM Film Production in 1989 and has since worked as a production manager, line producer and independent producer.
Films by Ulrike Zimmermann (Selection)
Venus 220 Volt-Lust im Haushalt 1991 | Die erregte Frau in der Diskothek 1989 | Touristinnen – Über und unter Wasser 1986 | Free Fucking 1985
