Few commissioned films explicitly addressed the situation of women, and even fewer involved women in their production. Die Frau in der Schweizer Industrie (The Woman in Swiss industry, 1946) and Die Schweizer Frau an der Arbeit (The Swiss woman at work, 1958)are two notable exceptions. These are supplemented by advertising films by Maggi and Pro Senectute from the same period, which implicitly address the tension between paid work and housework, as well as the associated gender roles and lifestyles. The exhibition concludes with a video about the 1991 women's strike, which documents the struggle for equality, equal pay and recognition of unpaid work in a more uncompromising manner than the earlier films.

“A woman film producer is doing pioneering work for Swiss documentary film.”

Newspaper article, around 1960

Berta Hackl-Schweizer, who lived in Zurich, was not only one of the pioneers of Swiss film production, but also the only female producer at the time. In 1929, she took over the family business Turicia Film AG, which had been founded five years earlier. In a long-standing collaboration with director and cameraman Richard Brewing, Hackl-Schweizer produced numerous documentary, cultural and advertising films until the 1960s, which were successfully screened both at home and abroad.

The film Die Frau in der Schweizer Industrie (1946) is one of three works by Turicia Film AG that explicitly focus on women's employment, alongside Frauen im helvetischen Mosaik (Women in the Helvetic Mosaic, 1961) and Die Fabel vom schwachen Geschlecht (The Fable of the Weak Sex, 1968). Like the films that followed, it offers a cross-section of women's working environments, from the shoe and watch industries to chemical factories, silk weaving and hand embroidery.

Die Frau in der Schweizer was probably made for the Third Swiss Women's Congress in Zurich in 1946, where it was successfully screened. In later years, women's associations showed the film at their events. For example, Die Staatsbürgerin, the newsletter of the Zurich Women's Suffrage Association, announced a screening on 11th October 1948 on the occasion of a visit by a Swedish women's rights organisation.   

Also in 1946, Condor-Film A.G. produced a promotional film for Maggi, a company based in Kemptthal. Die Fabrikation von Maggi’s Produkten (The Production of Maggi’s Products) shows how Maggi's products are made, including soup cubes and the well-known Maggi seasoning. Like most industrial films, it focuses on the production processes. Workers remain invisible and historical contexts are left unspoken. However, some statements make it clear that the industrialisation of food production was intended to relieve women of domestic work and at the same time offer them new opportunities for gainful employment. Since its beginnings, Maggi employed numerous women.

«The greens also receive loving housewife-like care. All damaged or unsightly parts are cut away. Nothing remains hidden from the conscientious, scrutinising eye.»

Die Fabrikation von Maggi’s Produkten, 1946

«Pre-cooking peas, beans, etc. enables Maggi soups to be cooked quickly, saving housewives time, effort and fuel. »

Die Fabrikation von Maggi’s Produkten, 1946

In 1958, the Swiss Exhibition for Women's Work (Saffa) took place in Zurich. In the exhibition hall Lob der Arbeit (Praise for Work), the film Die Schweizer Frau bei der Arbeit, produced especially for the exhibition, was presented. It looked at women's employment from a historical perspective. As in Berta Hackl-Schweizer's film, the narrator proudly refers to women's contribution to the economy, describes the interaction between machines, tools and people as something natural and organic, and assigns supposedly female and male characteristics to the various jobs. With journalist Trudi Greiner and actress Ellen Widmann in Die Frau in der Schweizer Industrie, these are the only commissioned films of this period with female narrators.

«In the knitting industry, she found in one work group an example of applied psychotechnology. Group work meant collaborating hand in hand on a product. This cooperative form of labor not only increased productivity but was also seen as educational, as female workers were expected to adapt to their colleagues and thereby learn to function within a collective. »

Die Frau in der Schweizer Industrie, 1946

«Even in the male-dominated field of precision engineering, her precision and patience are valued. Here, the eye, hand and machine work closely together. »

Die Schweizer Frau an der Arbeit, 1958

The 1958 film Die Schweizer Frau bei der Arbeit also addresses political issues such as wage inequality and the double burden of paid work and housework, while at the same time proposing possible solutions. To ease the burden on women, the film advocates both men helping out with household chores and women working part-time.

«Isn't this woman much better off? Her paid work does not take up the whole day. With her part-time job, she can contribute to the family income without neglecting her children and household or overtaxing her energies. »

Die Schweizerfrau an der Arbeit, 1958

Eines Tages (One day), produced by Condor Film AG on behalf of Pro Senectute, deals with retirement and old age. It depicts the challenges of transition from the perspective of a newly retired accountant. After the end of his working life, the man discovers the joys of being a grandfather and thus overcomes his depression. However, when his wife becomes ill, Pro Senectute steps in and arranges for a young woman to help with the housework. The film thus also documents the different life courses of women and men in a capitalist and patriarchal society.

The women's strike of 1991 was the largest public mobilisation since the national strike of 1918 and has been held annually on 14th June ever since. Compared to earlier films, the video Der Aufstand gilt dem Patriarchat (The uprising against patriarchy) shows new, more radical forms of protest and expression following the second women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s. From a visual perspective, the video mainly conveys impressions of the day of the demonstration: the rally, the speeches, various stand campaigns, and a solidarity campaign in a department store with the women employed there. At least as important is the commentary, whose decidedly political thrust consists of a cascade of existing disadvantages faced by women.