German Director Reveals The Suffering Of Victims Of Harassment in Hollywood

Maria Schrader

A long standing ovation ends the premiere of Maria Schrader's "She Said," starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as the New York correspondents. The drama based on a true story about sexual harassment was among the films shown at the New York Film Festival in October 2022. The film will now be shown in cinemas in many countries including the United States of America, Canada, South Africa, Australia and other European countries as well as some countries Asian.

Since the premiere, Schrader's name has been circulating as a promising candidate for a film award for the next season, and with her movie "She Said", it seems that the 57-year-old German star has reached the North American film industry. The drama is her first appearance in American cinema as a director, before her experience before in the movie “I Am Your Human” in 2021, on the topic of German, Jewish and Israeli history and the present.

What is The Drama Movie "She Said" About?

The subject dealt with in "She Said" is not completely unknown to Schrader, it is about strong women in many ways. Two hard-working journalists, Kantor and Tafohe, travel outside the United States to research and eventually uncover a scandal that shouldn't have surfaced.

Harvey Weinstein, the acclaimed producer of many Oscar-winning Hollywood films, is at the center of the scandal. Rumors circulate in the newsroom that he abused his position in Hollywood and committed multiple sexual assaults. Together with a journalist and legal team, Cantor and Vofohy work against a tide that hinders their investigative work, which turns into a collection of data on potential victims and accomplices. And as the film shows, Weinstein does everything he can to deflect suspicion.

The investigative Work Of Cantor And Tofuhe Leads to Far-reaching Consequences

The journalists' extensive research, from which the film emerged, culminated in an October 5, 2017, New York Times report accusing Harvey Weinstein of paying victims to keep quiet about decades of sexual harassment. This report helped dismantle a system that systematically sought to cover up sexual assaults. More success is also due to the movement that has become well known on social media under the hashtag #Me Too and in which women in many countries have joined to share their experiences of sexual violence.

Journalists Kantor and Tvohe also published a book about their work together in 2019 which was the basis for Rebecca Linkewicz to adapt the script for the movie She Said. Linkewicz also met women who had different experiences with Weinstein. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2020 for his crimes, including rape, and is currently facing another trial in Los Angeles.

Promising Prospects

History shows that the German filmmaker's work was more than recognized in the United States. Last year's Schrader feature film "I Am Your Human", a purely German production, managed to enter the fourteen international productions shortlisted for the Oscar nomination in the Best International Film category.

Other Schrader works were not only nominated, but also won her “unconventional” mini-series in 2020, which was produced by the streaming provider Netflix and won the Emmy Award, the most important American television award, in the midst of the Corona epidemic, in 2020.