With: Marie Leuenberger (Nora), Max Simonischek (Hans), Rachel Braunschweig (Theresa), Sibylle Brunner (Vroni), Marta Zoffoli (Graziella), Bettina Stucky (Magda), Therese Affolter (Dr Charlotte Wipf), Ella Rumpf (Hanna)
Director/Screenplay: Petra Volpe
Producers: Reto Schaerli, Lukas Hobi
Production co: Zodiac Pictures
Photography: Judith Kaufmann
Editors: Hansjörg Weissbrich
Music: Annette Focks
REVIEWS
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“Political and religious leaders in Switzerland cited the Divine Order as the reason why women still did not have to right to vote as late as 1970. Director Petra Volpe explores this surprising history through the story of Nora, a seemingly unremarkable housewife from a quaint village who must learn to become an unflinching suffragette leader… A strong ensemble cast brings the story to its inspirational conclusion when Swiss women finally secure the right to vote in 1971. The Divine Order is a heartfelt and captivating film about regular people demanding their right to an equal voice.”

— Dan Hunt, Tribeca Film Festival 2017

“Feminism, especially its rise in the 1970s, is a topic movies don’t typically explore, and that’s one reason why Swiss writer-director Petra Volpe’s comedy The Divine Order is an unexpected delight.

Nora (the magnificent Marie Leuenberger) goes from a conservatively dressed, uncomplaining, rural housewife to an organizer in blue jeans, determined to get voting rights for women (which Switzerland didn’t grant until 1971). An older widow, Vroni (Sibylle Brunner), and an Italian divorcée, Graziella (Marta Zoffoli) join her cause. With the help of red wine, plates of homemade lasagna, and honest conversation, they recruit nearly every woman in their village.

The costumes (by Linda Harper) and hairstyles precisely re-create the early ’70s. The Tweety Bird yellow of the shirt Nora wears after a shopping spree will, for those who grew up during that era, stir memories of class photo day.”

— Ren Jender, Village Voice
FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Nelson 
Thursday, 7 March, 6:00pm

New Plymouth 
Wednesday, 3 April, 6:00pm

Carterton 
Friday, 3 May, 7:30pm

Hamilton 
Monday, 17 June, 8:00pm
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Whanganui 
Monday, 5 August, 7:00pm

Queenstown 
Tuesday, 13 August, 8:15pm

Auckland 
Monday, 26 August, 6:30pm

Canterbury 
Monday, 2 September, 7:30pm

Palmerston North
Monday, 4 November, 6:00pm
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Tauranga 
Wednesday, 13 November, 6:15pm
Celebrate CONTEMPORARY CINEMA >>