From Hitler to Hepburn: A Discussion of Women's Film Production and Reception

Abstract

Lenssen: Most of them refuse any models. Helma Sanders-Brahms is one of the exceptions and says she owes stylistic elements to Godard. Most of our women filmmakers started making films before any of us heard about Dorothy Arzner or read any American or French film criticism. Furthermore, many of us read about Arzner and Yvonne Rainer before we could even see any of their films. So the limited influence by women filmmakers has been primarily theoretical. As to the influence of men, I think that the misogyny of the German male filmmakers has been so great, that the women have simply had to ignore them as possible models. It's typical of a general cultural problem in West Germany. This is why our women filmmakers have been less attached to models than American women.