There have hardly been any female directors, and their films have neither been important nor successful—this is often heard when discussing women's contributions to Swiss film history. This exhibition sets out to disprove such claims. By the 1970s at the latest, there were significant female filmmakers who often explicitly dedicated their work to feminist themes and struggles.
Their films engaged in socio-political debates: for example, Lieber Herr Doktor (Filmgruppe Schwangerschaftsabbruch, 1977) contributed to the discussion on the legalization of abortion. Jugend und Sexualität (Kollektiv Werkfilm, 1979) sparked controversies that continue to this day in relation to sex education. Il Valore della donna è il suo silenzio (Gertrud Pinkus, 1980) portrays the everyday life of an Italian migrant woman in Frankfurt and serves as an early example of an intersectional feminist perspective. Hier habe ich gelernt, dass ich auch ein Mensch sein kann (Marianne Pletscher, 1980) was not only produced by the first all-female team on Swiss television but also experimented with at the time new video technology. Cinéjournal au féminin (Anne Cuneo, Lucienne Lanaz, Urs Bolliger, Erich Liebi, 1980) is a feminist critique of the media, as is Danielle Jaeggi’s La fille de Prague avec un sac très lourd (1979), which also explores differences within the women's movement and across various cultures. Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch, in turn, served as a role model for younger female directors with experimental films such as Sirenen-Eiland (1981).
Jugend und Sexualität (1979)
Il Valore della donna è il suo silenzio (1980)
Hier habe ich gelernt, dass eine Frau auch ein Mensch sein kann (1980)
La Fille de Prague avec un sac très lourd (1979)
