How has our view of gender changed since the early twentieth century? This film aims to explore contemporary perspectives through interviews with trans* and non-binary people living in Berlin today, in which protagonists reflect on the past and connect to their lived experiences. Protagonists react to Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s “Psycho-biological Questionnaire” from 1925 (sixth edition), as well as excerpts from the letters that the trans woman Carla Erskine sent to Dr. Harry Benjamin in the early 1950s. The interviews take place in a creatively reimagined staging of Louise Lawrence’s San Francisco living room, where Carla took pictures of her friends to send to Benjamin for his research.

The filmmakers Brian Andrew Hose and Sabrina Rücker will discuss the cinematic concept and implementation of “Carlas Wohnzimmer” with protagonists Nadja Schallenberg, Sanni Est and Oska Melina Borcherding in a panel discussion. Furthermore, we will also talk about topics like the visibility of trans people in the media and in a historical setting.

The talk will be held in German.