Over the Hill, docu, unreal beauty ideals & cosmetics industry

Documentary about women\\\'s unreal beauty ideals and the influence of plastic surgery, cosmetics industry and beauty magazines.

34-year-old director Sunny Bergmann, former model, philosophy graduate, daughter of a feminist filmmaker, and a mother herself, is worried that her days as an attractive young woman are numbered. At the same time, she is angry that women are constantly judged on their looks and are considered to be \\\"over the hill\\\" once they reach 35. It is this ambivalence that motivates her to take a closer look at the ways in which plastic surgery, the cosmetics industry, and women\\\'s magazines contribute to and at the same time capitalize on women\\\'s increasing insecurity about their looks. Apart from interviewing surgeons, editors, academics, Sunny also submits herself to the critical gaze of a plastic surgeon, or sees herself transformed into a glamour girl by the power of photoshop. The comparison with the film that her mother made 30 years ago indicates that today\\\'s beauty standards couldn\\\'t be further removed from reality.
The Netherlands 2007, 59 mins. Directed by Sunny Bergmann. Documentary. Shown at Prix Europa 2007.