A young housewife organizes the women of her town to petition for the right to vote in Director Petra Volpe’s The Divine Order (Die göttliche Ordnung).
The film from Switzerland tells the story of Nora, who lives with her husband Hans, their two sons and her father-in-law in a little village in the Swiss countryside of 1971. Thought of as unassuming and dutiful, she causes a social upheaval when she organizes the women of her town to petition for the right to vote, an issue that will soon be put before the male voters. To achieve their goal, Nora convinces the local women to go on strike and eventually begins an uprising that changes the entire country.
The Divine Order was selected by Switzerland as their official entry for "Best Foreign Language Film" at this year’s Academy Awards.
Following the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Global Cinema Series screening in the DGA’s New York Theater in New York on February 15, Volpe discussed the making of The Divine Order in a conversation moderated by Bette Gordon (The Drowning).
Volpe’s other directorial works include the feature film Dreamland; the movies for television Frühling im Herbst, Kleine Fische and Schönes Wochenende; and the short films Schlorkbabies an der Raststätte, La fidanzata and Crevetten.