Helke Sander: Aufräumen

Summary

Helke Sander: Cleaning House

Documentary film about the filmmaker Helke Sander, who has been an icon of the German women's movement for about 60 years. The film follows her life and her cinematic work, creating a portrait of a pioneering feminist and artist. In 1966, Sander belonged to the first class of the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb), but she had always been politically active. In the wake of the 1968 student protests, she founded the "Action Council for the Liberation of Women," which many consider to be the beginning of the German women's movement. She was one of the founders of the first children's centers and founded the first feminist film magazine "Frauen und Film" in 1974. In her films, too, she repeatedly addressed unequal power and gender relations. Despite all this, Sander did not achieve the same status in the public consciousness as her male contemporaries. Through a combination of film excerpts, biographical descriptions, and old and new interviews, the film illustrates how Helke Sander became a champion of women's rights.