ALL HER DYING LOVERS is based on a tale that started out as a rumour from WWII Czechoslovakia and ended up in the international tabloids in 2014. The story in question involves a nurse, Nazis, seduction and syphilis, but no-one can agree on what really happened. Our film re-investigates this urban legend through interviews with the town’s present day residents, which are used to create an animated portrait of the unknown woman at the heart of it all, who may or may not been a feminist heroine and who may or may not have existed. Through the combination of animation and speculation, the film gives the story back its poetry, while also rooting it in the reality of the woman’s life, as we see her going about her daily activities: getting dressed, making dinner, mending clothes. This juxtaposition between the shocking nature of the events and the banal familiarity of the actions performed on screen play on tropes of femininity and the perceived roles of women, while allowing the audience space to make their own judgements.
