08/09/2026 - VENICE 2026: The Danish-Egyptian helmer discusses what drew her to such a dark chapter of the era immediately following World War II

(© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it)

Entered in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, the Danish movie Woman Unknown revisits the liberation days of 1945, when Europe was finally rid of the Nazi reign. Amidst the ecstatic celebrations, some brutal acts of revenge also took place, at times directed at women who got romantically involved with German soldiers. Director May el-Toukhy discusses what drew her to this dark chapter of that era.

Cineuropa: Your director's notes state, “Woman Unknown explores the theme of the female body as a battlefield.” Can you elaborate on that?
May el-Toukhy: That expression and that perspective come from my research into Danish women who got into relationships with German soldiers – and it was extensive research. I've primarily turned to the works of Anette Warring, a history professor who's spent quite some years looking into the situation of these women, and I also had the opportunity to interview some of them while they were alive. In her dissertation, she refers to the female body as a public domain, and a free-for-all battle zone in times of war through the ages. The female body has been regarded as a national identity and a national territory. And that thesis has been key to my understanding of what these women went through during those first few weeks after the liberation. That's one of the main themes of the film. But we also explore what's happening in the home of Marie, behind the closed family doors, where her body is also a territory, so to speak.

She's about to marry Christian, a well-to-do upper-middle-class widower quite a few years her senior, not out of love, but in exchange for security and comfort. There are some similarities with another Danish movie, Day of Wrath, even though it is set in the 1600s and deals with witch hunts. But that kind of fits into the situation depicted in your film as well.
That's a good reference for several reasons. The director of that film, Carl Th Dreyer, with his ways of creating a minimalist universe, is someone I was very attracted to during the making of Woman Unknown – to create a set design that almost looks like a theatre stage, in classic Greek style. It almost gives the characters a mythological sensibility. Together with [screenwriter] Maren Louise Käehne, I went for something that could have played out 2,000 years ago – a very universal universe.

As for witch hunts, there was an early stage when we considered this film playing out in the 16th-century era. But we decided to abandon it, partly because many of the witch hunters harboured some personal grudge against certain women, and that perspective felt far too narrow for the scope I was after. So, we decided to focus on these post-war women from World War II.

The images of that 1945 liberation have been very dear, and almost sacred, to so many. Over time, we've had new perspectives, lately through Anders Refn's film trilogy that just ended with De forbandede år - Fredens pris. What are your thoughts on discarding the romanticism around those fantastic days that marked the end of five years of terror?
I think we've reached a point where we're able to tell stories of World War II and show the complexities of the period. Of course, there was a time back then with a great need for nationalism, after those five years. But it's been 80 years now – 81, actually. We're ready to get complex, I feel.

In Queen of Hearts, your protagonist was played by the prolific Trine Dyrholm, probably one of the most prominent European actresses of our time. Woman Unknown stars a newcomer, Mathilde Arcel. Can you talk about that choice?
I felt it was important to have an unknown woman playing the lead in Woman Unknown, not an actress who was already an established entity and identity. It adds an extra layer to the film, in getting to know Marie, the main character, and in finding out who she really is. A new and fresh face – although I've seen Mathilde in good things back home – felt just right here, in the international arena.

In Queen of Hearts, your protagonist makes some decisions with devastating consequences in order to escape a disaster. In Woman Unknown, Marie does something very similar. Would you by any chance be planning a trilogy of your own, focusing on this theme?
Why not [laughs]? I'm very devoted to exploring the full person, her good and bad sides, and I'm not interested in telling the story of a one-sided perpetrator or a one-sided victim. That's not a film I'd watch.