As part of the 8th 12 Moons program, dedicated to HerStories of the Second Wave – The Women’s and Lesbian Movement in Germany 1970-1990, we invite you to a talk with four of Berlin’s eye witnesses to the era, giving testimonies and telling stories of the time. All four are important and influential figures in the German women’s and lesbian movement. In this talk we will discuss the social climate of the 1970s, 80s and 90s in East and West Germany with them, their achievements, as well as the particular ‘blind spots’ of the second wave activists. Discussions will highlight questions over racism both then and now, the role lesbians played within the women’s movement, the dreams and courage they held, as well as the things that didn’t quite work out. We will also discuss the movies that they participated in, showing these in excerpts.
Joining us for the discussion:
Katharina Oguntoye was a companion of Audre Lorde in Berlin. She can be seen in the movie A Litany for Survival: the Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1995) as a student of Lorde. Oguntoye is a historian and co-editor oft he ground breaking book Farbe bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte (1986). She is also a co-founder of ADEFRA (Schwarze Frauen in Deutschland) and director of Joliba e.V.
Barbara Teufel will talk about her own life as part of the women’s housing project Die Ritterinnen / Gallant Girls. She studied at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb) and at the French film school La FÉMIS in Paris. For 12 years she worked as a film director and author in Berlin and Paris. From 2007-2015 the taught at Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne. Since 2016 she has been on the board of directors of Pro Quote Regie/Pro Quote Film.
Marinka Körzendörfer is a journalist and documentary film maker, who has been active in the lesbian movements of the DDR (former East Germany) since 1984, including being part of the “Gethsemane-Lesben.” She is a co-founder of Unabhängiger Frauenverband (UFV) participating in many film projects about the East German lesbian movement, including the film warum wir so gefährlich waren / why we were so dangerous (2006).
Monne Kühn was part of the HAW Women’s Group and Lesbian Action Center (LAZ) from 1971-79, she was also involved in the making of the movie Zärtlichkeit und Rebellion – zur Situation der homosexuellen Frau / Affection and Rebellion – the Situation of the Homosexual Woman (1973). She is one of the curators of the current LAZ retrospective at Schwules Museum. She’s a pedagogue, has run a carpenter’s workshop, as well as being a licensed yoga and Shiatsu teacher. She lives with her partner in the country and is an activist in ecology and animal welfare.
The talk is hosted by Vera Hofmann, curator of the 12 Moons Film Lounge, co-curator of Year of the Women*, artist and SMU board member.
We duggest watching the four movies that we will discuss beforehand. This can be done in the film lounge during the regular opening hours.
YEAR OF THE WOMEN* is supported by the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa (Senate Department for Culture and Europe).
