From Loyalty to Self-determination: Two Women, Two GDRs
Two female protagonists, two eras, two GDRs. Today is German Unity Day. We're taking a look back at cinema from the GDR.
In this essay episode, we discuss Rita from DER GETEILTE HIMMEL (1964) and Sunny from SOLO SUNNY (1980) – two film characters who shape the image of women in DEFA cinema in very different ways.
While Rita is considered the moral heroine of the early GDR, prioritizing loyalty over personal happiness, Sunny embodies a late, fractured reality: headstrong, pop-cultural, and nonconformist.
For German Unity Day, we're focusing on DEFA as a state-controlled yet surprisingly multifaceted film culture, in which female characters were often portrayed more complexly and modernly than one might expect from socialism.
Both films are available on Sooner. Enjoy the episode!