Period Drama

Period Drama is a short animated film composed of four chapters, with plot points referencing the phases of the menstrual cycle. Menstruation connects the vignettes like a secret thread. Through the humorous gaze of the main character Michaela, the film offers an endearing overview of menstruation’s essential and often baffling presence in life. While reflecting on puberty, gender politics, sexuality, motherhood, and Orlando Bloom, she takes us on a surreal journey that begins with her first period and continues as she, like an egg, matures.

Director’s statement
"When I was ten years old, I thought menstruation was a blue liquid on a tiny napkin. Then a couple of girls began chatting in code about ‘strawberries’ and after some investigation in my teenage magazines, I wanted to be in the club as well. When I finally got mine I was fourteen, the last one in my class. Despite my wish to have one for many summers, when it really happened, I found myself incapable of dealing with it. But why?
I have a lifelong infatuation with menstruation. The memory of it. The meaning of it. The public quietness and the private loudness of it. And vice versa. That's why I have decided to explore narrative possibilities that could replicate our sometimes very conflicting attitudes towards menstruation. I want to underline the difference between truth and fiction by using visual imagery of various animation techniques as well as a limited pastel colour palette drawn from menstrual advertising. It's a film about memory, embarrassing stains, and private dramas."