Fokus: Wütende Stummfilm-Pionier*innen

In the organizer's words:

These rarities from the early years of film history offer a special kind of revenge film. They make use of the sensational new possibilities of cinema for supernatural spookiness and nastiness. Unvarnished, they show the liberating potential of female rage. Rage & horror films avant la lettre.

The Dairymaid's Revenge
Frank S. Armitage
USA 1899 1'
#me too in 1899: A milkmaid effectively defends herself against a sexual assault. Down with patriarchy and the oppression of the working class!

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La revanche des esprits
Émile Cohl
FR 1911 5'
It is not without retribution that the man mocks the spirits at a séance. The supernatural revenge makes him tame.

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The Doll's Revenge
Lewin Fitzhamon with Gertie Potter
GB 1907 3'
A young woman is delighted with her new doppelganger doll, which her brother then jealously maltreats. The women surpass themselves and devour the culprit in a duet.

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La paresse de Polycarpe
Ernest Servaès
FR 1914 5'
Polycarpe's wife is rightly angry because he is an incredibly lazy man. Something doesn't seem to be going right, but his angry wife's orders are miraculously completed anyway.

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A fly hunt or the revenge of Mrs. Schultze
Max Skladanowsky with Frida Cotrelli
DE 1905 8'
Mrs. Schultze's neighbor makes a racket with his music at all hours of the day and night, so that she can't sleep a wink. She takes revenge on the troublemaker with a fly.

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L'uomo meccanico
André Deed with Valentina Frascaroli
IT 1921 Fragment 40'
The adventuress and gang leader Mado cunningly frees herself from prison and takes possession of a giant robot that can run faster than an automobile. Unleashed, she directs L'uomo meccanico from her control center and wreaks maximum havoc.

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Les araignées de Rosalie
Roméo Bosetti with Sarah Duhamel
FR 1912 3'
Rosalie discovers a spider while cleaning: A spider in the morning brings sorrow and worry. She kills the fateful insect with collateral damage, only to discover a second spider at lunchtime while serving ...

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Le rêve d'une féministe
FR 1909 6'
A housewife dreams of a world in which gender roles are reversed. She takes part in a feminist rally where fierce demands are formulated. In her dream, she meets children's husbands and policewomen.

Silent movie accompaniment:

Gunda Gottschalk
She plays improvised and contemporary music on violin and viola and combines her sound work with dance, theater, film, composition, visual arts and literature. She performs at festivals throughout Europe with various ensembles.

Mariá Portugal
The drummer, composer and singer has been rooted in the Brazilian songwriter scene for twenty years. The crossover between songwriting, improvisation and electronics is the basis of her current debut solo album Erosao, which she developed as improviser in residence at the Moers Festival.

All information about the International Women's Film Festival Dortmund+Cologne can be found at frauenfilmfest.com and on our social media channels Facebook and Instagram.