As part of the film series marking International Women's Day. Documentary / DE 2025 / Director: Gerd Kroske / 113 min. / Original German version
Germany just after reunification. The second big wave of layoffs has hit the east. Women from the former big industrial companies in the GDR talk with surprising matter-of-factness about themselves and the personal independence they gained through their work. Confident and empowered, they share their surprise that suddenly only men are supposed to do their jobs. They also talk about the utopias of the past that no longer exist today. In addition, we see footage of their everyday working lives in long-gone industrial buildings and lignite mines. The interviews have been preserved on old U-matic tapes from the archives of the former Leipzig pirate radio station KANAL X.
More than 30 years later, Gerd Kroske (“SPK Komplex,” “Striche ziehen”) recovered this cinematic treasure from the “Archive of the Citizens' Movement” in Leipzig and found the female workers from back then. Like an experimental setup, the old material is re-commented and questioned by the women in a split screen. “Pride and Obstinacy” is a media encirclement that closes a gap and portrays women who have retained their pride and obstinacy to this day. What was once gained? What has been lost? What has happened?
Doors open: 2.30 pmStart: 3 pmAdmission: free
An event as part of the “Films for Women's Day” series organized by STRAZEkultur at Kultur- und Initiativenhaus Greifswald e. V. in collaboration with Nachbarschaftshilfe WGG e.V. and Schwalbe - Schönwalder Begegnungszentrum (Kinderschutzbund KV Vorpommern Greifswald). Made possible by funding from the Greifswald Partnership for Democracy from the federal program “Demokratie leben!”.
[Translate to English:] (c) Juliane Lexow
Trailer; youtube: Salzgeber