Uferfrauen - Lesbian Life and Love in the GDR (2020)

• 77%
• 2020
• Documentary
• Barbara Wallbraun

Uferfrauen shows six protagonists who lived in the former German Democratic Republic: Christiane from Berlin, Carola from Dresden, Pat from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as well as Elke and long-time couple Sabine and Gisela from Saxony-Anhalt. The women share their stories about their everyday lives, their fight for self-determination, their first love, unconventional ways to build a family as well as struggles with the SED and the law. The documentary explores how being a lesbian under the conditions of the socialist regime and its society continues to have an effect to this day. By staying true to themselves, the protagonists stood up to the GDR policies and were subjected to political repression. Uferfrauen conveys the omnipresent feeling of loneliness as an outsider, the social stigmatization of homosexuality, the compulsive conformity and adaptation in a repressive state - living on the (private) fringe of society, always in an inner conflict: jumping into cold water or staying on the safe shore. Yet despite their differences, the protagonists pursued the same goal: happiness and the joy of love.