Helke Sander: Tidying up – Documentary by Claudia Richarz

“After the market” otte1 will show a film by Claudia Richarz on Saturday, 23.03.2024 at 12:30 h

The filmmaker and author Helke Sander is an icon not only of the women’s movement, but also of new German cinema. Historical upheavals sometimes only need a small impetus to suddenly set petrified conditions in motion. Helke Sander triggered such a landslide-like change in Germany many years ago. She initiated the new German women’s movement in 1968 with her so-called “tomato speech”. Like many artists, Helke Sander was only able to realize her films with perseverance and in the face of resistance. Many projects remained unrealized due to a lack of funding. Her companion Gesine Strempel says in the film: “What women want is very alien to many men. There is a male-dominated social consensus about what is culture and what is not.”

In April last year, rbbKultur – Das Magazin announced “Claudia Richarz’s documentary is an overdue portrait of an impressive German woman’s life”. Helke Sander was politically active and uncomfortable throughout her life. She initiated and implemented many achievements for women that we take for granted today: “Those who think also radicalize themselves.” In the film, Claudia Richarz traces what this may mean for Sander’s own attitude to life, her own son and love. The film uses impressive clips from Sander’s work to connect her artistic oevre with her life.

Admission is free. Everyone is welcomed to come at 12:30 for a short reception before the film.

“The movie changed my life. I am not exaggerating. The extremely well-researched and compelling documentary by Claudia Richarz moved me to tears because I realized what Helke Sander has done for women, cinema and the world.”
– Lynne Sachs
Experimental Filmmaker and Poet living in New York