Antifeminist

Dear Sir/Madam,

I’m Sofija Sztepanov, the writer-director of Antifeminist – the movie. I wanted to tell you about why I made this film and why I find its topic so important.

The first thing that I need to clarify is that Antifeminist is not an anti-feminist film. Despite its provocative title, the film actually sets out to defend feminism in the face of the huge controversy that surrounds it in recent years in the media, and subsequently misleads the public perception of feminism. The film speaks out against extremism and men-hating, and it tries to encourage people to rethink what the true message of feminism really is.

Only 34% of women called themselves feminist in the UK (2018 YouGov poll), 33% in France and a mere 8% did so in Germany. On the other hand, 8 out of 10 respondents said that men and women should be treated equally in every way, agreeing sexism is still an issue.

So, what is it in the word “feminist” that brings the grand majority of people to say that they are not one? Answers vary from – “I do not want to be equal to men in all senses” to something as simple as “I like men”. But probably one of the most interesting answers came in the shape of the question: “What is a modern feminist?”

And that is exactly the topic of this film. The film follows a popular feminist blogger who, through a nightmare-like experience, finds herself reevaluating what feminism means for her, what a modern feminist is, and where the movement is heading in the 21st century.

All of this I tried to convey through an entertaining Eyes Wide Shut and Alice in Wonderland-like visually captivating narrative. The film was shot in five different locations – two of which were royal castles, with a crew of 60 individuals (majorly composed of women), 50 actors and extras. I got to work with an incredibly inspiring cinematographer - Eszter Csepeli, with whom we decided to shoot the film in 8K- a Hungarian gaffer legend - Miklós Hajdu - and international actors spanning from Brazil to the UK.

In the spirit of independent filmmaking, we raised our funds through crowdfunding and searched for sponsors to help our project. We were the first Hungarian film to be fully sponsored by ARRI; we received authorizations from the publicists of prestigious writers such as J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien to mention their works in the film; we were supported by Prop Club, a very prestigious prop company, and several Hungarian fashion brands. We shot for seven days in absolutely stunning locations with a fantastic team.

The team and I would be honored if the film could be shown with you. We hope to hear from you soon.

Best Wishes
Sofija Sztepanov