Copenhagen, Denmark, 1945. Newly liberated from the Nazi German occupation. Marie, a housekeeper and governess about to marry a wealthy businessman, harbors a past she wants no one to discover. When a friend from her hometown who knows Marie’s secret reappears, her anxiety mounts. Fearing that her entire life could fall apart, Marie desperately tries to keep her past hidden. In the immediate aftermath of liberation, Denmark, like other European countries, saw Nazi collaborators swiftly punished by liberating forces and resistance groups. Women who had formed intimate relationships with German soldiers were subjected to brutal physical violence. Woman Unknown relentlessly examines the mechanisms of male-dominated collective violence and social stigma through the violence inflicted on women’s bodies. By questioning the purpose behind such disproportionate punishment and near-mad collective violence, the film lays bare a shameful chapter in postwar history. The film is directed by May El-Toukhy (Queen of Hearts).
Danish director May el-Toukhy is well known for her emotionally charged, character-driven dramas. Following her feature debut Long Story Short (2015), she built international acclaim with Queen of Hearts (2019), which won the Sundance Audience Award, the Nordic Council Film Prize, and three awards at the Gothenburg Film Festival (the film was later remade by Catherine Breillat as Last Summer, 2023). Alongside her feature work, she has built a broad filmography directing episodes of television series including The Legacy (2017), Ride Upon the Storm (2017), Cry Wolf (2020), and The Crown (2022–2023). Her latest film — and third feature — after a seven-year gap, Woman Unknown, was the sole woman-directed film invited to the main competition at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere to a seven-and-a-half-minute standing ovation.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
