Frauen in Berlin (Women in Berlin)
Chetna Vora, DD 1982Cinematography: Thomas Plenert; Editing: Petra Heymann. DCP, color, 140 min. German with English subtitles
Chetna Vora began studying directing at the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1976. Frauen in Berlin was submitted for evaluation as her diploma film in 1982. Shot almost entirely indoors and composed of long interviews with women in East Berlin, the film depicts their lives in the German Democratic Republic with rare candor. They talk about work, family, relationships, and what's left of the day. After the first internal screening at the film school, when Vora refused to edit her 140-minute rough cut down to 40-minutes, her work print and rushes were confiscated. Frauen in Berlin only entered public circulation around 2015 through a clandestine VHS copy that the director and her crew had produced at the time of the film's making. (N.G.)
Introduction and talk with Philip Widmann and Nida Ghouse in English
Screening dates:
