(OUT) OF THE ARCHIVES | FEMINIST COUNTER-HISTORIES
ARCHIVE | Feminist Counter-Histories
In this year’s focus, we will be looking at committed archival practices that present an alternative or counter-history to conventional film history narratives, focussing in particular on female and queer perspectives. In doing so, we are consciously picking up on two threads from past editions of GEGENkino: Namely, our interest in feminist-activist film culture and history as well as in non-conformist formats of collecting, mediating and advocating for areas of film history that generally fall through the cracks. In this context, we are once again seeking co-operation with institutions and actors who share similar cinematic preferences and support our idea of a decidedly non-neutral curating. With our selection, we want to prove that critical film curatorial work always means working on counter-histories. In three events, (OUT) OF THE ARCHIVES: FEMINIST COUNTER-HISTORIES focuses on German counter film history and its archiving and mediation. The Weimar Republic of the early 1930s as well as the GDR and FRG in the 1970s and 80s are examined. The films – feature films, documentaries and experimental forms – provide insights into the lives of women beyond prevailing clichés and body images.
The series kicks off with the presentation of the Archive for German Experimental Film by Women, which Annette Brauerhoch, emeritus film scholar and co-editor of the feminist film magazine Frauen und Film, has established and which contains 50 analogue films by German-speaking female directors, mostly from the 1980s. The short film reel TUMULTUOUS BODIES, curated and introduced by Brauerhoch, shows the many ways in which this experimental small film-cinema deals with gazes and bodies – and thus with spaces and power. The programme is complemented by STEPPING OUT, in which Brauerhoch appears as the protagonist and openly talks about her desire for different bodies.
On 20 September, we will take a look at a state film archive – and have it classified by experts: With the State Film Documentation of the GDR (1971-86), freelance curator and publicist Tobias Hering presents a very special context of production and archiving. Around 300 films were commissioned and stored there, capturing everyday life in the GDR in unvarnished documentary form – they were never intended for public viewing by the state. Together with historian and editor Anne Barnert and film historian and curator Borjana Gaković, an expert on the representation of history and feminism in film history, Hering has made a selection with IN REAL LIFE – WOMEN IN FILM DOCUMENTS FROM THE STATE FILM DOCUMENTATION OF THE GDR that focuses on women and a broad spectrum of their diverse lives and are suitable for reflecting on and questioning the conventional image of the status of women in the GDR.
Our third programme has a real local connection: Leipzig-born Hertha Thiele (1908-1984) played the leading role in the early classic of queer cinema GIRLS IN UNIFORM (DE 1931, R: Leontine Sagan). The event’s focus will be on her as a hitherto little-examined protagonist of German film history. The film scholars and co-founders of the Kinothek Asta Nielsen (Frankfurt/Main), Karola Gramann and Heide Schlüpmann, have intensively researched her complex biography. HERTHA THIELE – LOVE AS OPPOSITION, OPPOSITION AS LOVE will also deal with the problems faced by feminist film historiography and the resistance it has to overcome.
| Fri 19.09 2025 | Luru Kino in der Spinnerei |
| 6 PM | Shortfilm Reel TUMULTUOUS BODIES DIE URSZENE DE 1981, D: Noll Brinkmann, 7’, 16mm VIVA AVIS DE 1985, D: Lilo Mangelsdorff, 6’, 16mm BETWEEN DE 1989, D: Claudia Schillinger, 9’, 16mm DUSCHEN, SAN FRANCISCO DE 1994, D: Anja Czioska, 3’, 16mm DACH, SAN FRANCISCO DE 1994, D: Anja Czioska, 3’, 16mm LES MISERABLES AT 1987, D: Mara Mattuschka, 2’, 16mm CEROLAX II AU 1985, D: Mara Mattuschka, 3’, 16mm WENN DER HAARWUCHS LÄSTIG WIRD DE 1987, D: Anja Telscher, 7’, 16mm COMPARTMENT DE 1990, D: Eva Heldmann, 5’, 16mm THE COLOR OF LOVE US 1994, D: Peggy Ahwesh, 10’, 16mm ONE PUSSY SHOW DE 1996, D: Anja Czioska, 6’, 16mm In presence of Annette Brauerhoch |
| 10 PM | STEPPING OUT DE 1999, D: Eva Heldmann, A: Annette Brauerhoch, 64’, OV with english subtitles, 35mm In presence of Annette Brauerhoch |
| Sat 20.09 2025 | UT Connewitz |
| In real life – Women in film documents from the State Film Documentation of the GDR PROF. DR. HILDE BENJAMIN, GEB. AM 5.2.1902 IN BERNBURG Staatliche Filmdokumentation, Redaktion: Gerd Barz, DDR 1972-74 HELMUT KRAATZ, PROF. DR. SC. MED., GEB. 6.8.1902 IN WITTENBERG Staatliche Filmdokumentation, Redaktion: Dieter Harms, DDR 1972 DOKUMENTE ZUR LEBENSWEISE. WOHNUNGSPROBLEME 1982/83 – DOKUMENT I Staatliche Filmdokumentation, Redaktion: Gerd Barz, DDR 1982-83 KLINIKUM BUCH – GESPRÄCHE IN EINER STRAHLENTHERAPEUTISCHEN KLINIK Staatliche Filmdokumentation, Redaktion: Hans Wintgen, DDR 1984-85 In presence of Anne Barnert, Borjana Gaković & Tobias Hering | |
| Sun 21.09 2025 | UT Connewitz |
| Hertha Thiele – Love as Opposition, Opposition as Love GIRLS IN UNIFORM DE 1931, D: Leontine Sagan, A: Emilia Unda, Dorothea Wieck, Hertha Thiele, 96’, german OV, DCP Conversation (in German) with Heide Schlüpmann & Karola Gramann |
