Sophie Holzberger

Dissertation

Title: Messy Histories: Collective Filmmaking and Feminist Activism in West Germany

Supervisor: Toby Lee

This dissertation examines the politics of collective filmmaking in West German feminist film history between the 1970s-1990s focusing on activist films and videos from different feminist movements. Whereas feminist film historiography oftentimes emphasizes single figures, this dissertation argues that the slow but steady change that feminist film- and videomaking enabled in terms of film aesthetics and working conditions was only made possible through collective and collaborative work, situated in concrete relationships, and their messy life worlds. By centering films that are not considered part of the German feminist archive and conceptualizing film production and distribution networks as intimate and affective political labor, the focus of this dissertation is twofold: it aims to broaden film studies’ concept of political film while questioning notions of a singular and white feminist history in Germany.

Bio

Sophie Holzberger’s research focusses on collective labor in feminist film history. They are a PhD candidate at the Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies at New York University. Next to their academic work they curate, most recently as part of feminist elsewheres (https://www.arsenal-berlin.de/en/cinema/film-series/feminist-elsewheres/). Sophie holds an MA in Film Studies from Freie Universität Berlin and a BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from University of Munich.