Women in German Cinema

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Women on Screen – A Century of Women in German Cinema This course offers an overview of German cinema by examining the portrayals of women in films from the past 100 years. We will move from looking at films of Weimar Germany (1919-1933) that created an image of women as dangerous seductresses, so-called femmes fatales, to the representation of women during the Nazi-era that aimed to replace this image often with the idea of the morally good and pure woman. It would take a few decades after WWII for new female images to appear on screen. We will look at the representation of women in the 1970s and 80s by renowned directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff, and also consider the view of women in films produced in the former GDR. Due to the impact of the women’s movement in the 1970s, women finally also moved behind the camera. Female directors, such as Margarethe von Trotta, Doris Dörrie, and Maren Ade, continue to shape and expand the representations of female characters. In addition to watching and examining films, we will also read texts on film theory and draw on readings from gender and sexuality studies for analyzing the films. This course will be taught in English.