The Iron Sister (2018)
Director : Robert Lang
HERO Magazine - The Iron Sisters Short film Premiere
NARRATIVE SHORT
Two sisters confront a world where men are a dying minority in a female led matriarchal society. Men fear Women in a modern take on the violent myth of American masculinity.
Fey Iron, an amicable traveler, confronts her natural urges when she encounters a lone man in the desert. We follow Fey and her older sister Dylan through a day of their life. They are gentle with plants, animals and each other but in a world where the roles of men and women are reversed, can women really be held at fault for the dark side of their God-given tendencies?
Director : Robert Lang
HERO Magazine - The Iron Sisters Short film Premiere
NARRATIVE SHORT
Fey Iron, an amicable traveler, confronts her natural urges when she encounters a lone man in the desert. We follow Fey and her older sister Dylan through a day of their life. They are gentle with plants, animals and each other but in a world where the roles of men and women are reversed, can women really be held at fault for the dark side of their God-given tendencies?
Anna Newell is a writer and actress from Laguna Beach, California. She received her B.A. in Comparative Literature and Writing from the University of San Francisco. She continues her studies in the UCLA Extension Writing program and works primarily as a commercial actress in Los Angeles. Newell has spent the last two years completing a feature length documentary she co-wrote about human trafficking in West Africa and specifically the effects of modern day slavery on women. She is also the co-host of the feminist podcast Nasty Women. As her passion for writing and acting grows, Anna hopes to continue to tell stories about captivating women in whatever way strikes her fancy.
Statement:
What would a world look like in which a man would be afraid to be found alone by a woman? What if the mere sight of a man’s body were an excuse for a woman to lose self control, to be overcome with a desire to conquer, to own, to objectify?
In writing this film, I wanted to explore a reality in which men feared women the way women so often fear them. I hope in experiencing a taste of this alternate reality, men and women can glean a greater understanding of each other and the roles we have been assigned and have often unconsciously adopted.
Encouraging men to be masculine can skew their natural state to one of hostility. Encouraging women to be feminine can skew their natural state to one of passivity and submission. We ventured to reverse the skewing.
Katharina Karlsen Hessen is a Norwegian quasi-neo-luddite living in San Diego, California. She is a film major, aspiring towards a career in screenwriting and directing. Her great-great-great grandmother narrowly escaped the brutal witch-burnings of early 19th century Norway, and this penchant for feminist revolt saturates her mitochondrial DNA.
Statement:
"It is unfortunate. This tendency towards gender-based brutality has tainted the history of womankind, and we all agree it would be mutually beneficial if it were to subside. However, the likelihood of every woman on this small blue planet suddenly evolving past her most primary and unalterable biological urges towards violence and sexual aggression…we cannot and do not expect such unnatural changes overnight. Therefore, we can only encourage our men to accept their task of discouraging and de-escalating dangerous situations. We advise all men to be cautious when traveling alone in crowded, sparsely populated, or desolate areas. Avoid moving around after dark, and stay in groups whenever possible — safety in numbers. Dress appropriately and modestly, making an effort not to attract unwanted attention to yourself and your body. If approached by a woman, do not offend, challenge or reject her. If you cannot protect yourself from her advances, and fall victim to a violent or sexual crime, it may serve you well to reflect on your role in provoking her anger. Adapting your own behavior is always the easiest safeguard against an attack. We wish all our fellow women would respect and value men the way we do, but due to the inherently aggressive and pleasure-driven biology of the female population, we must be extremely proactive in fighting violence against men. In our current day and age, we still have to live within the sometimes unfair norms and laws of the matriarchy. These frames naturally favor the stronger, more aggressive sex, occasionally leading to oppression of the more genteel and pacific male specimens of our species. Sometimes these innate differences between the sexes lead to violence, and even death. It is unfortunate."
