Synopsis
FEMOCRACY tells the story of the women who, from reconstruction after Second World War until today, have unrelentingly fought for and improved women‘s rights in politics and in the country. They paved the way for Angela Merkel, the first female German Chancellor.The female pioneers literally had to fight for their place in democracy with success-obsessed and position-hungry men. Modern approaches to Aids education of a female minister lead to a conservative outcry in the country. Housewives realized that their vote counts and they started to stand up for themselves. Women in politics also brought new issues to parliament. Rape in marriage - which was not a punishable offence until the late 1990s - became officially chargeable. Abortion was subject to renegotiation as well. Still a criminal offence, it was no longer prosecuted. Thus women’s rights were strengthened more and more. Furthermore, topics like the NATO dual track decision were discussed by female politicians from a different perspective and therefore brought a deeper dimension into the debates of the German Bundestag.Undaunted, ambitious and with infinite patience, the female heros of FEMOCRACY followed their path and defied prejudice and sexual discrimination. Female politicians of the past get a chance to speak today. Their memories are bothfunny and bitter, absurd and sometimes frighteningly current. Interwoven with partly unseen archive excerpts, the documentary filmmaker and journalist Torsten Körner (Angela Merkel – The Unexpected) has succeeded in creating an emotionally moving chronicle of West German politics from the 1950s to the German reunification. The images he found unfold a force that allows the cinema to be rediscovered as a place of political self-assurance. An insightful contemporary document that makes an unmistakable contribution to the current debate.
with: Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Marie Elisabeth Klee, Ursula Männle, Christa Nickels, Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, Renate Schmidt, Rita Süssmuth u.a.
