Even as the morning after pill debate continues raging in Malta, people all over the world remain afraid to speak about the moral aspect of abortion. German director Anne Zohra Berrached talks to Veronica Stivala about why she wanted to break that taboo with her film, 24 Weeks.

24 Weeks tells the story of cabaret performer Astrid who, six months pregnant, learns that her unborn child will be severely disabled. She and her husband Marcus have a choice, but little time. Having a strong nature with a witty answer to everything, Astrid now feels lost, on her own, impossible to continue her comedy routine. Ultimately, only she who is bearing the child can take this weighty decision. What will she do? Who decides whether the child will have a life worth living?

Julia Jentschin 24 Weeks.

German director Anne Zohra Berrached, 34, knows what it means to have an abortion, as she herself aborted her unborn child of two months, when she was 23 years old.

“I think about it from time to time,” she tells me. “How old would the child be now, and what would it be like? It matters to me,” she stresses adding that this is true even though she feels she made the best decision for herself at that time.”

She makes more revelations: “Knowing how difficult this situation was for me, I had to ask myself how a mother would feel in these cases where the child is aborted in an even later month.”

No matter how a person chooses, I would never judge that choice

Her 24 Weeks shows both sides of the story: the pros and cons of abortion, and it remains that way. It is an open film, not in favour of or against abortion; just a story, but one where a strong stand was the only option left.

The film, Anna’s second feature film, has won a string of awards. It premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year, where it received nine awards, including three awards for best director. The film also showed in Malta at the Valletta Film Festival, where it won best screenplay.

In the film, Anna permits reality and fiction to merge with one another. Cabaret performer Astrid, played by Julia Jentsch, is a fictional personality. But her fate, and the system she has to work her way through, are not. In Germany, it is possible to abort a sick or disabled child shortly before childbirth and it was when Anna read this some three years ago in a magazine article that she started her research.

Anne Zohra Berrached and Dieter Kosslick.

Anna, who believes abortion should be legalised, explains how research has shown that over 90 per cent of women abort their unborn child after the third month if the child is found to have a disability.

“With nearly all parents choosing to abort in these cases, in a few years there will be virtually no children with disabilities anymore,” she comments. While the use of new technologies that give a comprehensive overview of any conditions the child might have is becoming better and better, she observes how it is common to talk about the technical aspect, but also that: “We do not often speak about the moral aspect of our modern times.”

“People are afraid to join a discussion in which the topic centres on an unborn child with a disability. What should our moral answer to this issue be?” she asks, going on to note that, “as these are modern times, we need modern answers”. She could not find any film which touched on the subject of late term abortions.

“The topic is nearly a taboo in our society. I wanted to break that taboo,” she asserts.

The film does not take sides when it comes to the issue of abortion.

As she was writing the script, she spoke with different people about the story. Many would say things like; “I would never do this, if it only has Down Syndrome.”

She admits to also thinking that in such a case she would be strong enough to go through with it. “But,” she notes, “the number of late term abortions say the opposite”. If, in Germany, over 90 per cent of women abort their unborn child after the third month, then those same people with such strong opinions on the subject act differently when they find themselves at the centre of such a situation. The fact is, she says, people have a totally different opinion on the subject when they are inside the situation and, she believes, “everyone has a right to decide in these situations, and not even the law should get involved”.

But, she stresses, there should be better options for a woman to collect the necessary information: “Government is responsible for getting good professional social workers and psychologists for families to make such a decision.”

The issue as to whether the Morning After Pill (MAP) is abortive is currently a hot topic in Malta and I ask Anna for her views on this. “If a woman does not want to carry a child to term, she is very unlikely to become a good mother to this child.”

One thing I learned making this film is that even I can’t be certain of how I would react if I were in the same situation

Such scenarios that are potentially restricting access to the MAP force girls to give birth to unwanted children, or to fly to other countries for abortions, she points out, adding that she does not feel that viewing treatments such as the MAP as abortive is positive for the women involved.

It is very interesting to note how, in the film, even though Astrid does have the abortion, some have said that it still influenced them towards the pro-life camp. What is it in the story that causes this effect on viewers?

24 Weeks takes us into that very difficult decision of Astrid, her husband and her whole family on whether or not to bring a child with a disability into their family. Astrid finally decides against raising a child with a disability and viewers go with her choice of a late term abortion, says Anna.

When Anna was writing and directing the film, she did everything she could not to judge.

“I put everything in the direction that the viewer would judge for him or herself,” she stresses.

The director reveals that she sees any stance after watching the film a positive one, though she goes on to say that, “to show a late term abortion is not a pleasant sight. It is purely brutal and is seen by many as killing someone”.

It is difficult to conclude an article such as this, so I shall close with Anna’s words: “If this film makes even one person choose not to abort their disabled child, I would be happy. But the film also shows how difficult it is to make that final decision against keeping the child. No matter how a person chooses, I would never judge that choice. That’s because the one thing I learned in making this film is that even I can’t be certain of how I would react if I were in the same situation.”