IM STILLEN LAUT | 9 November

(c) Salt shaker

Annual Theme – curated by Lea Lünenborg

Erika and Tine are both 81 and have been a couple for over 40 years. They live and work together at the Kunsthof Lietzen in Brandenburg – and can look back on an eventful shared history. With their curiosity and open-mindedness, Erika and Tine question everything, both the past and the present.

Therese Koppes’s multi-layered documentary portrait is a film about life, art and the spaces of freedom people carved out for themselves in the GDR, about love in old age, and the question of how one can remain true to oneself and one’s ideals.

“Im Stillen laut” arose from the idea of highlighting the diversity of artistic creation in the GDR. From the very beginning, it was important to me to focus on the personal stories of women who, unlike their male counterparts in the GDR, usually received very little attention. Women who, with creativity and determination, consistently pursued – and continue to pursue – their aspirations, both in art and in their outlook on life. During my research, I met Erika and Christine, two women who, despite the political circumstances, remained true to their love for one another, their creative individuality and their belief in artistic self-determination and freedom. It was important to me to make a documentary that shows the nuances of life in the GDR, thereby illustrating the complexity of engaging with the system. Not just the loud protests, but the shaping of a life within a self-created space such as the Kunsthof Lietzen. The Kunsthof can stand as a symbol of the many artistic spaces of freedom that people created for themselves in the GDR…” Director Therese Koppe