宣誓処女

Laura Bispuri's debut feature Vergine giurata（Sworn Virgin, 2015）is a powerful reflection on diversity at many levels, as well as on the process of migration as a means to reclaim one's own identity. Loosely based on Elvira Dones's novel of the same title（2007）, the film tells the story of Hana/Mark, a young woman living in the Northern mountains of Albania, who chooses to become a virgjineshë, or sworn virgin. According to the Kanun, a set of laws that rules rural life in the area, some women can, through a vow of chastity, renounce their female identity and start living as men, enjoying the privileges given by that status. A migration to nearby Italy and the encounter with different social settings, however, will make her question her own identity. By tracing Hana's and the other characters' transitions, this paper will analyse how issues of gender, sexuality, migration and identity are represented in the film, and how these categories are intertwined with each other. In doing so, the paper will reflect on the ethogenic function (Gianturco & Peruzzi 2015) of migration films – their power to recognise social inequalities and promote processes of positive socialization, in particular toward the socially marginalized, in order to facilitate social change.