Film Craft > Film Craft

VIVA LA VULVA

SOMESUCH, London / LIBRESSE / 2019

Awards:

Bronze Cannes Lions
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Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Viva La Vulva is a love song to a part of us that doesn’t get enough love.

Set to the iconic track ‘Take Yo’ Praise’ by Camille Yarbrough, it’s a lip-sync music video with a twist, featuring a beautiful diversity of vulvas of every shape and colour, all singing loud and proud to the equally diverse women who love them back.

The film subverts multiple taboos on the way: oysters, conch shells, juicy fruits, cupcakes, the infamous camel-toe that women get regularly shamed for, and we even see Barbie popping up, anxiously looking for her genitals.

The film ends on behind the scene interviews of the cast, opening up about the issue, the shame, the ignorance and reclaiming their bodies.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

A toxic cocktail of historical prudery and censorship around women’s genitals, and the recent explosion of porn, have pressurised young women to believe their genitals should look a certain way: the myth of the ‘perfect’ vulva

The intimate care category had historically been so clinical and euphemistic that it enforced these taboos - many women bought and used the products in shame, like a dirty secret.

As a result, almost half of women (44%) admit they feel embarrassed by their vulva, many women ignore what normal looks like (7/10), demand a ‘designer vagina’ (labioplasty is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery in the world), and millions avoid cervical cancer tests over embarrassment, putting their health at stake.

We set out to demolish the conventions of the category and dynamite the myth of the perfect vulva. All to show that there’s only one perfect vulva: Yours.

Tell the jury anything relevant about the direction. Do not name the director.

Viva la Vulva uses a diverse mixed media approach to represent vulvas in all their beautiful diversity, and direction was critical to the tone of the piece and balance of these elements. Combining live action and animation directing, the challenge was to draw out nuanced and heartfelt performances from 16 actors, 450 vulvas using multiple animation techniques, across 45 scenes, all to a track.

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