Boram Kim | 2017 | Zuid-Korea | 84’ | EN subtitles

Menstruation is described in the following biblical passage: “You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her” (Leviticus 18:19). Not only in the bible but also under a patriarchal, penis centric point of view, the female body and its blood has been considered ominous, dirty and shameful. Half of the population in the world bleeds once a month, 12 times a year, at least 400 times in a lifetime.

This month’s Kissable Screens will show a documentary, For Vagina's Sake: a personal, collective, and chronological narrative about menstruation and the social norms surrounding the topic. Director Boram Kim meets women of various backgrounds – a feminist scholar, a religious sect member, an activist, a doctor and a cultural critic – and listens to stories about "our blood".