Bill Posters will be prosecuted

England 2095: The number of crimes committed against women, girls and children has dropped considerably. Why? In her short film entitled Bill Posters will be prosecuted, Fiona Rukschcio returns to the 1990s to find out: The young man Bill Posters, seemingly a pleasant sort of person, beats and rapes his wife. The court pronounces him not guilty, and he decides to disappear in the metropolis of London. In the meantime his ex-wife has contacted an anonymous woman’s organization in the city, ”The Group,” which fights sexual harassment and rape. The group has clearly defined its ultimate goal: ending violence against women.

Rukschcio addresses the sensitive theme of violence in a story of male perpetrators and female victims. But there are no victims to be seen here. The protagonists are activists, women who network and organize, make concrete plans to help individuals and then realize them. They surveil the perpetrator, follow him and warn him several times. But Bill Posters continues to abuse women. The story itself, packaged in an unconventional esthetic style, successfully makes its point, and Bill Posters receives his just reward: ”He never raped a woman again!”

This story illustrates what should not normally be shown in art, and what should not exist in society: women who are empowered by taking the law into their own hands and who win the audience over in doing so. Rukschcio poses questions about the (re-)presentation of violence against women and satirically suggests unconventional plans of action which are both appropriate for the serious subject matter and at the same time demonstrate a sense of humor.
(Rosemarie Reitsamer)
Translation: Steve Wilder