Nataša Urban’s Motherhood Horror ‘Vagina Dentata’ Adds Romanian Co-Producer Manifest Film

Nataša Urban will explore motherhood and postnatal depression through horror and dark comedy in Vagina Dentata.

Per Variety, Norwegian filmmaker Nataša Urban is turning the psychological pressures of motherhood into horror with Vagina Dentata, a new genre-bending feature that has added Romania’s Manifest Film as a co-production partner.

The project, which explores motherhood and postnatal depression through horror and dark comedy, is being presented at the Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund, Norway, as its producers work to complete financing and expand the film’s European partnerships.

Urban previously directed The Eclipse, which received the DOX:AWARD at CPH:DOX in 2022. For Vagina Dentata, she is drawing from her own experiences after becoming a mother and the disconnect she encountered between cultural expectations of parenthood and its psychological realities.

“When I became a mother, what I experienced was in no way what I had been told it would be like,” Urban said. “Instead of sunshine and butterflies, all I could think about was death.”

Urban described the fear she experienced as the emotional foundation of the project, with Vagina Dentata using genre filmmaking to examine experiences surrounding motherhood that are not always reflected in more conventional portrayals.

The film is produced by Ingvil Giske through Norwegian production company Medieoperatørene, with Manifest Film now joining as the Romanian co-producer. The project is currently approximately 60% financed, with the Norwegian Film Institute providing the majority of the funding secured to date.

Romanian editor Dana Bunescu has also joined the production. Bunescu’s credits include Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu, Călin Peter Netzer’s Child’s Pose and Alexander Nanau’s Oscar-nominated documentary Collective.

The production team is currently seeking additional co-production partners in France, Germany and Hungary, along with further financing, distribution opportunities and festival relationships.

For Giske, the film continues an established collaboration with Urban while providing an opportunity to develop a different perspective on motherhood through genre.

“It is such a pleasure working with Nataša again, her films are both wild, funny, serious and beautiful,” Giske said. “I feel there is a need to get more diverse stories about motherhood.”

The title Vagina Dentata invokes the longstanding myth and folkloric concept of the “toothed vagina,” an image that has appeared across cultural traditions and has previously been used within horror as a metaphor surrounding sexuality, bodily autonomy and fear. Urban’s film, however, is being positioned specifically around motherhood, postnatal depression and the psychological disruption that can accompany becoming a parent.

That approach continues Urban’s use of personal experiences as an entry point into wider social themes. Rather than presenting motherhood exclusively through domestic drama, Vagina Dentata will use horror and dark comedy to externalize some of the fear and psychological pressure at the center of its story.

The film is among 21 projects selected for this year’s Nordic Co-Production Market, held as part of New Nordic Films during the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund. The industry program connects developing projects with producers, financiers, sales companies and distributors from Nordic and international markets.

With Manifest Film now aboard and Bunescu attached to edit, the next stage for Vagina Dentata will be securing the remaining financing and additional European partners necessary to move the project toward production.