EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that struck down Roe v. Wade and the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling that declared frozen embryos are people have triggered intense debate over bodily autonomy. If the state can prohibit access to abortion and potentially impede IVF treatments, is it not the government that ultimately controls people’s bodies?
It’s an urgent question well beyond just the United States. Stray Bodies, making its world premiere at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, “explores the notion of body autonomy within Europe, a place where you are allowed to travel, work and consume freely, but not necessarily to live or die according to your wishes.”
Jungle Films
Cinephil has boarded the documentary directed by Greek filmmaker Elina Psykou, handling international sales. Stray Bodies debuts on Tuesday, March 12 at the Thessaloniki nonfiction festival in Greece, with an additional screening set for Thursday, March 14. From Thessaloniki, the film travels to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, where it will screen on March 19 in the F:ACT AWARD section. We have your first look at the documentary in the teaser-trailer above.
Stray Bodies, a release notes, “is a road movie about unvoluntary trips of women crossing EU borders to evade the restrictive laws of their home countries, where religion and politics have more say over their body than themselves.”
Taking part in that road movie are several protagonists: “Robin is pregnant but doesn’t want to be a mother. Katerina and Gaia are single but want a child. Kiki suffers from an incurable disease and wants her life to end with dignity,” a synopsis states. “The procedure they hope to get access to – abortion, IVF and euthanasia – is available and legal in neighboring countries but not theirs. Therefore, they resort to so-called ‘medical tourism.’ Stray Bodies takes you on a road trip through Europe, where life and death lurk around every corner.”
The synopsis continues, “By meeting opponents, doctors, advocates in simultaneously surreal and humoristic settings, that often blend the limits between logic and absurdity, the film opens a reflection on bodily autonomy in a continent where Christian heritage and conservatism are obstacles to the freedom of choice.”
Director Elina Psykou
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“I am excited both for the premiere of the film at CPH:DOX & Thessaloniki and for the collaboration with Cinephil,” Psykou said in a statement. “Since Stray Bodies is my first documentary, it’s a whole new world for me, which I can’t wait to discover and I am really glad to have such an established company as Cinephil to accompany us in this journey.”
Suzanne Nodale, co-managing director at Cinephil, said, “With Stray Bodies, Elina has achieved both a cinematic journey and an inclusive and open-minded investigation about bodily autonomy. Her creative vision and empathetic camera capture the emotional and personal complexities surrounding this debate in our societies. We cannot wait to share the film to audience worldwide and allow a respectful and in-depth conversation.”
Psykou made her feature directorial debut with the 2013 thriller The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas, following that with the 2017 drama Son of Sofia. She is currently working on her third narrative feature, Patrimonial Fears and other Illusions and developing her first drama-series, The Coroner’s Assistant, which took part in last month’s Berlinale Co-Pro Series 2024.
Stray Bodies is produced by Jungle Films, Antigoni Rota (Greece), Contrast Film, Ivan Madeo (Switzerland), DocLab, Marco Visalberghi (Italy), Red Carpet, Veselka Kiryakova (Bulgaria). In co-production with Anemon, Frenel, Long Run Productions, ΕRΤ, RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera / SRG SSR. With the support of Eurimages, Creative Europe, Greek Film Center, Federal Office of Culture (FOC), Zurich Film Fund, Alexis Victor Thalberg Foundation, Corymbo Foundation, Italian Ministry of Culture, Bulgarian National Film Center.
Watch the teaser-trailer for Stray Bodies above.