Experiencing Interruptions?

TORN

34-year-old Hava plans for a routine procedure to remove a myoma. What was intended as a straightforward surgery turns into a nightmare: due to suspected malignant tissue, a complete hysterectomy is performed – a precautionary measure that forever alters Hava's life.
When she realizes the extent of the procedure, she feels stripped of her femininity. Desperate and emotionally torn, Hava doesn't know how to explain the irreversible damage to her boyfriend.
An emotional drama about loss and identity.

  • Gonca de Haas
    Director
  • Gonca de Haas
    Writer
  • Gonca de Haas
    Producer
  • Chris Hirschhäuser
    Producer
    Toprak
  • Gonca de Haas
    Key Cast
    "Hava"
    "Sisters Apart", "Raw Materials", "Le Bureau des Légendes"
  • Kais Setti
    Key Cast
    "Mo"
    "Blood Red Sky", "Oray", "Dogs of Berlin"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Aus der Mitte gerissen
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    Cinemascope
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 59th Hof International Filmfestival
    Hof
    Germany
    October 24, 2025
    24.10.2025
    Official Selection
  • 25th Filmfest Frauenwelten
    Berlin
    Germany
    November 3, 2025
    Official Selection
  • 36th Bamberg Short Film Festival
    Bamberg
    Germany
    January 29, 2026
    Award Winner of the Youth-Jury Price
Director Biography - Gonca de Haas

Born in Mannheim in 1985 to a Turkish working-class family, she completed her acting training at the renowned Otto Falckenberg School in Munich in 2010.

In 2015, she was one of the participants of the Sarajevo Talent Campus as a Berlinale Talent. Her films have already screened at various film festivals, including Locarno, Sarajevo and the Berlinale.

In 2019/2020, she received a writer's grant from the University for Television and Film Munich for “Anna, Vater, Kind”, followed by further scholarships for “Malina”, a coming of age drama, and “Rüzgar Baba”, a family drama.

In 2023, she won the Grimme Prize and the New German Cinema Award at the Hof Film Festival with the ensemble of the productions “Im Feuer- Sisters Apart” and “Rohbau”.

Gonca de Haas lives in Munich. “Torn” is her first time directing a film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My short film "Torn" is intended to highlight the problem of unnecessary hysterectomies.
Hava's story illustrates the powerlessness and loss of autonomy that a hysterectomy can mean for a young woman.
The unexpected loss of her uterus not only deprives her of the chance of pregnancy, but also shatters her self-perception and identity.
Coming to terms with this trauma confronts Hava with enormous challenges.
Her story touches on central questions of femininity, identity and dealing with an irreversible loss.
Hava's story is an appeal not to regard hysterectomy as a routine procedure, but to take the far-reaching consequences for women seriously.
It is important that women are fully informed and can make a well-informed and self-determined decision for or against a hysterectomy.