Antonia's Line / Antonia

The Netherlands, shortly after World War II.  Antonia, the embodiment of female energy and independence, returns with her daughter to a remote village to manage the family farm after her mother's death. In the old-fashioned village full of peculiar characters, a woman is not expected to stay single and tend to the farm without male guidance. Yet Antonia refuses suitors and doesn't cater to local wimps and religious nuts. Her daughter also ignores local customs and decides to become a single mother, while quite openly showing attraction to a local female teacher. All this, however, is just the beginning of one family's story. Marleen Gorris' legendary “feminist fairy-tale”, where women rule despite social prejudices, offers an impressive insight into the souls of women in the tone of a nostalgic comedy with the sharpness of a pitchfork.  The film premiered in 1995 and won an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film in the following year.