April 2019, arsenal cinema

The DEFA Foundation Presents: DEFA Female Directors

WIR LASSEN UNS SCHEIDEN, 1967 (©DEFA-Stiftung/Horst Blümel)

More than 60 female directors were active at DEFA’s different studios between 1946 and 1992. In its new book publication “Sie. Regisseurinnen der DEFA und ihre Filme” (She. Female Directors at DEFA and their Films), the DEFA Foundations presents the biographies of these directors in essayistic form. Three documentary works by different female directors from the 80s are being shown to represent the diversity of productions of the time, with all three creating portraits of women of different ages in East Germany: Gitta Nickel’s Gundula – Jahrgang ’58 (1982), Helke Misselwitz’s 35 FOTOS – FAMILIENALBUM EINER JUNGEN FRAU (1984), and Leonija Wuss-Mundeciema’s DIE ÄLTESTE – VERMÄCHTNIS EINER 108-JÄHRIGEN (1986). The comedy WIR LASSEN UNS SCHEIDEN (1967) was Ingrid Reschke’s second directorial work at the DEFA Feature Studio. The film focuses on a married couple (Dieter Wien und Monika Gabriel) in the process of separating and their ten-year-old son, who wants to take advantage of the situation. The film was shot predominantly in Berlin. (pz). (1.4.)