In the GDR, there were extremely active and vibrant networks of lesbian-feminist artists. What spaces were they able to create for themselves, and which were denied them?  Drawing on Therese Koppes’ documentary Im Stillen laut (2019) and Judith Geffert’s radio play Kontaktanzeigen. Queere Generationendialoge in Ostdeutschland (in collaboration with Mike Dele Dittrich Frydetzki and Jule Gorke, 2024), the two speak with Nina Weller about artistic practices, collective strategies and forms of self-empowerment among lesbian artists in the GDR.

Therese Koppe is a documentary filmmaker, writer and film educator based in Berlin. She studied sociology and art history, as well as documentary film directing, at the Film University Babelsberg and Brunel University London, amongst other institutions. Her work explores socio-political and queer perspectives. Her award-winning film Im Stillen laut premiered at DOK Leipzig in 2019.

Judith Geffert is a freelance radio writer. She studied literature and theatre studies, as well as the culture and history of Central and Eastern Europe, in Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder). She produces radio plays, features and podcasts on topics including lesbian-feminist networks in the GDR. She co-curated the exhibition Gemeinsam sind wir unerträglich. Die unabhängige Frauenbewegung in der DDR. Her radio play Kontaktanzeigen. Queere Generationendialoge in Ostdeutschland was first broadcast on Deutschlandradio in 2024

Nina Weller is a specialist in Slavic studies and literary studies. At the Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL), she conducts research into popular culture, cultures of remembrance and documentary literature in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.  She also works as a literary educator and translator.

The event is a cooperation with Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung (ZfL).