Sworn Virgin

Transgender narratives have become increasingly prevalent in world cinema, breaking down the binary narrative of sexuality to examine issues of national and political identity. In Sworn Virgin Laura Bispuri presents the tale of Hana (Alba Rohrwacher), a young woman on a difficult and painful journey of rediscovery. Structured as a chain of interlocking flashbacks, the film jumps back and forth from the highlands of Albania where Hana adopted the Kanun tradition of becoming a sworn virgin to Milan, where she begins to reclaim her female identity. An empathetic depiction of rural Albanian traditions that explores a woman's right to her own body, Sworn Virgin is a poignant study of gender politics enshrined within an anthropologically fascinating drama.