Main programme  

St. Petersburg, Russia. The film focuses on an abortion clinic that specializes in late-term teenage abortions, sometimes even during the 7 month of pregnancy. Young girls arrive at the clinic through the back door, sometimes with their mother or a friend. But all of them have to go through it alone. The procedure is standard. When the girls arrive at the weekend, they are put in one big ward. All at the same time, eight girls are given drinks in order to encourage their contractions. Most girls do not want to see their babies. They stay for the night, and in the early morning they leave the clinic again to return to their lives. Killing Girls is a story about moral and economic choices in today’s Russian society. It is the story of three girls that at one point in their life decided to end a late-term pregnancy. It is the story of the doctor who performs these late term abortions. Who are these people? What is their story? In the film we follow these characters closely for three years. Through them we learn about the living conditions for young people in Russia, those that dream of a glamorous Western lifestyle, but are condemned to live hunting for money to buy a moment of happiness. Nobody has time to have children any longer.

Festivals and Awards

Golden Chest International Television Festival, Bulgaria (2009) – the Golden Chest Grand Prix for Best Television Documentary
European Documentary Film Festival Eurodok, Norway (2009)
Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropological Film Festival, Estonia (2009)
Thessalonoki International Documentary Film Festival, Greece (2010)
Beograd Short and Documentary Film Festival, Serbia (2010)

David Kinsella

He was born in 1964. David Kinsella was originally a still-photographer from Belfast, who now lives in Norway. He has received numerous awards around the globe. He has been Documentary Press Photographer of the Year several times since he won the prize the first time at the age of 16 in 1981. He has won both The Great Picture Contest in the US and the Fuji Press Photographer prize. He has said that "Coming from Belfast, I grew up with death and destruction, so in my work I will always want to find something positive, some humanity, a meaning to life, even in the most devastating sad stories".

Selected Filmography

A Beautiful Tragedy (2007)
The Kingdom of the Eider (2007)
Love Letters from a Children’s Prison (2005)