Helke Sander
Encyclopedia
Helke Sander is a German
feminist
film director and writer.
Sander attended a drama school in Hamburg
. While married to Finnish
writer Markku Lahtela, with whom she had a son, she worked as director at the worker's theatre and for Finnish television. She returned to Berlin
in 1965.
From 1966 to 1969 she studied at the newly founded film school 'Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie'. Sanders' work in cinema is very closely linked to her political engagement as a feminist. In 1968 she co-founded the Aktionsrat zu Befreiung der Frauen (Action Committee on the Liberation of Women). In September 1968 she participated at the conference of the Socialist Students Association (SDS). Her speech, in which she criticized her male colleagues for their sexist attitudes, was yelled at.
Together with Claudia von Aleman she organized the feminist film conference 'Erste internationale Frauenfilmseminar' which took place in 1973 in Berlin
. In 1974 she founded Frauen und Film (journal), the first feminist European film journal, which she edited until 1981. Her film The All-Around Reduced Personality is among the most important German feminist films of the seventies. Her 1992 film BeFreier und BeFreite (Liberators Take Liberties) on rape committed by soldiers of the Red Army
was very controversial.
2005 Mitten im Malestream (documentary)
2001 Village (TV documentary)
1999 Muttertier - Muttermensch (TV documentary)
1997 Dazlak
1992 BeFreier und BeFreite (documentary)
1989 Die Deutschen und ihre Männer - Bericht aus Bonn (TV documentary)
1989 Die Meisen von Frau S. (documentary short)
1988 Felix (segment "Muss ich aufpassen?")
1987 Nr. 5 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1986 Nr. 8 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1986 Seven Women, Seven Sins (segment "Völlerei? Füttern!")
1985 Nr. 1 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1984 Love Is the Beginning of All Terror
1983 Die Gedächtnislücke - Filmminiaturen über den alltäglichen Umgang mit Giften (documentary)
1981 Der subjektive Faktor
1981 Wie geht das Kamel durchs Nadelöhr? (documentary)
1978 Die Allseitig reduzierte Persönlichkeit - Redupers
1973 Männerbünde (TV documentary)
1973 Macht die Pille frei? (TV documentary)
1971 Eine Prämie für Irene (TV movie)
1970 Kinder sind keine Rinder (documentary short)
1969 Das schwache Geschlecht muss stärker werden - Weibergeschichten (TV movie)
1968 Die rote Fahne (documentary short)
1967/68 Brecht die Macht der Manipulateure! - about the campaign of the student movement against Springer, a German media group. Made for Finnish television. (documentary film)
1967 Silvo (documentary short)
1967 Subjektitüde (short)
1965 Naurukierukka (TV movie)
1965 Skorpioni (TV movie)
1965 Teatterituokio (TV series)
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
film director and writer.
Sander attended a drama school in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. While married to Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
writer Markku Lahtela, with whom she had a son, she worked as director at the worker's theatre and for Finnish television. She returned to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1965.
From 1966 to 1969 she studied at the newly founded film school 'Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie'. Sanders' work in cinema is very closely linked to her political engagement as a feminist. In 1968 she co-founded the Aktionsrat zu Befreiung der Frauen (Action Committee on the Liberation of Women). In September 1968 she participated at the conference of the Socialist Students Association (SDS). Her speech, in which she criticized her male colleagues for their sexist attitudes, was yelled at.
Together with Claudia von Aleman she organized the feminist film conference 'Erste internationale Frauenfilmseminar' which took place in 1973 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1974 she founded Frauen und Film (journal), the first feminist European film journal, which she edited until 1981. Her film The All-Around Reduced Personality is among the most important German feminist films of the seventies. Her 1992 film BeFreier und BeFreite (Liberators Take Liberties) on rape committed by soldiers of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
was very controversial.
Films
Director (28 titles)2005 Mitten im Malestream (documentary)
2001 Village (TV documentary)
1999 Muttertier - Muttermensch (TV documentary)
1997 Dazlak
1992 BeFreier und BeFreite (documentary)
1989 Die Deutschen und ihre Männer - Bericht aus Bonn (TV documentary)
1989 Die Meisen von Frau S. (documentary short)
1988 Felix (segment "Muss ich aufpassen?")
1987 Nr. 5 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1986 Nr. 8 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1986 Seven Women, Seven Sins (segment "Völlerei? Füttern!")
1985 Nr. 1 - Aus Berichten der Wach- und Patrouillendienste (short)
1984 Love Is the Beginning of All Terror
1983 Die Gedächtnislücke - Filmminiaturen über den alltäglichen Umgang mit Giften (documentary)
1981 Der subjektive Faktor
1981 Wie geht das Kamel durchs Nadelöhr? (documentary)
1978 Die Allseitig reduzierte Persönlichkeit - Redupers
1973 Männerbünde (TV documentary)
1973 Macht die Pille frei? (TV documentary)
1971 Eine Prämie für Irene (TV movie)
1970 Kinder sind keine Rinder (documentary short)
1969 Das schwache Geschlecht muss stärker werden - Weibergeschichten (TV movie)
1968 Die rote Fahne (documentary short)
1967/68 Brecht die Macht der Manipulateure! - about the campaign of the student movement against Springer, a German media group. Made for Finnish television. (documentary film)
1967 Silvo (documentary short)
1967 Subjektitüde (short)
1965 Naurukierukka (TV movie)
1965 Skorpioni (TV movie)
1965 Teatterituokio (TV series)
Writings
- Die Geschichten der drei Damen K., München : Frauenbuchverlag, ISBN 3-88897-123-3
- Oh Lucy : Erzählung, 2. Aufl., München : Kunstmann, 1991, ISBN 3-88897-044-X
Secondary sources
- Julia Knight, Women and the New German Cinema, Verso 1992
- Helke Sander : mit den Füßen auf der Erde, mit dem Kopf in den Wolken, [ed.] Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek e.V. [Red.: Michael Töteberg], Berlin : Freunde der Dt. Kinemathek, 2003 (=Kinemathek Nr. 97), ISBN 3-927876-21-6