Audre Lorde-The Berlin Years
Newsletter December 2016

“The message of Audre Lorde is becoming increasingly important. It is now frequently being quoted as a call for resistance. So much more important that her message will continue to be seen on the screen. And with that I mean, of course, also in my theater!”

With these words Elisa Rosi, the owner of Lichtblick Kino, a small independent theater in Berlin, asked to screen Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 every third Tuesday of the month in 2017!  She had already shown the film six times since August.

More screenings take place in Moviemento Kino, another Berlin theater, in December, one of them as part of the Berlin Art Film Festival. Encouraged by this surge of interest, which may be attributed to the political situation, we are presently contacting other theaters in Germany.

These have been amazing months for the film. Since August, we have had 18 screenings, two of them as far away as in Glasgow, Scotland and in Nicosia, Cyprus. In Nicosia, the ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) showed the film at their annual European conference.

A broad variety of organizations showed the film:

• Women’s and Gender Studies in Europe program organized by Carlton University (Minnesota), Humboldt University in Berlin
• Queerfeminist Summercamp in Münster, Germany
• Women’s center Schokofabrik in Berlin
• University of Applied Sciences in Berlin
• CIEE Study Abroad program in Berlin
• QuFalle, a new queer group in Berlin
• AfroPolitan Berlin young.black.urban
• Feminist & antiracist Seminar & Festival in*vision in Brandenburg
• Berlin Art Film Festival – the 69th Festival of the film!

We have received enthusiastic reports from the organizers of these events. Screenings are already being organized in Leipzig, Nürnberg, Prague and at New College in Sarasota, Florida for the beginning of 2017.

Here the link to short videos of Audre Lorde in Berlin, including several in which she reflects on her poetic work two months before her passing – www.vimeo.com/audrelordeinberlin

On the film web site you can link to our YouTube channel with a number of videos of Audre as well as many interviews with viewers of the film.

The other big news is the launching of the digital Audre Lorde Berlin City Tour (http://audrelordeberlin.com)

You do not have to be in Berlin to experience Audre in many of the places which she lived in, worked, and enjoyed time with friends. You hear and see Audre recite poems and discuss the meaning of one of her poems, you hear her talk about her relationship with Black Germans, encourage Afro-germans to write, give her view on the fall of the wall and German racism, discuss organizing with South-African author and activist Ellen Kuzwayo, offer us her political credo, reminisce on her childhood. You see her shopping with street vendors, dancing, paddling a boat on a lake. You can visit all the places where Audre lived, as you move around in the Berlin of the 1980s and early 1990s.

The City Tour has proved to be a useful tool to introduce students to Audre Lorde and to Berlin. Teachers can choose from the many locations as a vivid introduction to discussions on Audre Lorde and her work, on German politics, on Black Germans, on anti-semitism and racism in Germany, on (white) feminism, on the challenges we were facing in the 90s and are facing now.

Here a few examples of comments we received:

Priscilla Dionne Layne, University of North Carolina “This is awesome! Thanks so much for sending this. I am currently teaching an undergraduate course in German on Berlin. I will definitely share this with my students and ask them to write a paragraph reaction to it. I can share their reactions with you in a few weeks.”

Asma-Esmeralda AbdAllah-Portales, Hannover and Cuba “There is wonderful footage contained and invaluable information. It definitely supports and enriches the already existing documentary films and archives of Audre Lorde in the world. We all shall be able to pass her legacy on to our children and grand-children and great-grand-children!”

Anna Weitemeyer, Berlin “Thank you so much - this is an amazing website: I see that I will learn new things not only about Audre but also about Berlin!”

Ana Marija Sobocan, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia “A wonderful initiative, a beautiful website and what a wealth of photos, memories and live history! Congratulations to the makers, this is a real gem!”

Henry Louis Gates, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., US “This is wonderful news and a fitting tribute to a great writer.”

We have not only expanded the City Tour, but also made it more manageable. There will soon be a Table of Contents for all the locations!

Please share the Tour with friends and colleagues! And please use the Contact page and let us know your critical comments.

Audre Lorde’s words, her visions, her ways of relating and acting, continue to be ever more relevant! For all of us!

Click HERE to purchase your North American DVD (NTSC) today.
The European DVD (PAL) is available from www.jcp.de. The DVD is in English with subtitles in German, French and Spanish.