Neue Sachlichkeit: "Mädchen in Uniform" und "Ich möchte kein Mann sein" - Gendertrouble in der Weimarer Republik

Gender trouble in the Weimar Republic

Speakers: Karola Gramann and Heide Schlüpmann, film scholars, film historians, authors

In the 1920s, gender issues first emerged without the term being used. Travesties played out the change of gender roles in comedies, and the pleasures and hardships of same-sex love were also cautiously addressed.
With the two films ICH MÖCHTE KEIN MANN SEIN and MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM, the program spans an arc from the beginning of the Weimar Republic to its end.
Karola Gramann and Heide Schlüpmann will present the films, the subject matter and the historical background in introductions and discussions with the audience.

Girl in Uniform
DEU 1931 D: Leontine Sagan. D: Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck, Gertrud de Lalsky, Erika Mann. 83 min.

14-year-old Manuela von Meinhardis, a half-orphan, is sent to a school for girls in Potsdam, a world of strict Prussian discipline and military organization. The teachers are rigorous in their treatment of the young women. Only Fräulein von Bernburg tries to be a friend to the pupils - a ray of hope for Manuela, who finds it difficult to submit to this world without warmth and love. Rhapsodic affection turns into infatuation. With an exclusively female cast, the film describes life at boarding school as a metaphor for the devastating power of the Prussian spirit of discipline and subordination.
MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM was one of the first cinematic explorations of lesbian love. Banned by the Nazis in 1933, the film was a great international success, particularly because of the outstanding performances by the actors.

I don't want to be a man
DEU 1918. D: Ernst Lubitsch. D: Ossi Oswalda, Ferry Sikla, Curt Goetz. 44 min. silent movie with live music. FSK: 0
The rebellious Ossi drinks, smokes and plays poker. Dr. Kersten is supposed to teach the young girl how to behave like a lady, but Ossi counters his attempts to educate her with a daring change of role: she goes to a men's outfitter to be dressed in a top hat and tails and visits a nightclub as a man. There she meets the unsuspecting Kersten, with whom she indulges in male pleasures. The two become close.
Lubitsch plays with travesty; as is always his theme, he takes a subversive look at gender relations, sexuality and eroticism.
A film from the collection of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung(www.murnau-stiftung.de) in Wiesbaden.

Silent film with live music by Jens Schlichting (piano)

Admission: 20 € regular / 15 € reduced / 13 € members