FEMSPECTIVES 2020 - Moments of Resistance

MOMENTS OF RESISTANCE - PLAESION Film + Vision e.U.

Women have always played roles–often large ones–in leading many resistance movements throughout history, despite many not receiving their proper amount of recognition. Jo Schmeiser’s debut documentary is aware of that­, focusing solely on the women fighting against the rise of far-right ideologies in Germany while giving voice to former resistance fighters who worked against fascism in the 1930s and 40s.

Each modern activist is introduced through voice over–the camera zooming into their eyes as the subtitles scroll. Many of the modern-day activists interviewed for this are working for immigration rights, due to numerous policies and the general atmosphere in many EU countries which have directly affected immigrants and made them feel unsafe–as shown during a self-defence class involving one of the activists and a group of Muslim women. Another one of the activists is a part of a collective working in helping immigrants living in the country.

The story of these women is juxtaposed against those of women who fought in anti-Nazi movements during WW2. As many of these women have long passed away, some were interviewed in audio recordings over the years–acquired from various archives. These audio clips are played over what would appear to be mundane imagery–construction sites, a printing press at work, airport, and even a lecture hall being cleaned–but all of this imagery reinforces the working-class nature of the women and many of the people who stood up against the Nazis.

MOMENTS OF RESISTANCE - PLAESION Film + Vision e.U.

Despite often using the talking head format–the documentary does break from the typical mould. Schmeiser and editor Michael Palm use simple black screen/white lettering to display things from quotes to name. Letters are often displayed–presenting only the words written on them while others are read aloud to give the full effect of the document, many of them being letters between resistance fighters and their families after being captured during the war.

Moments of Resistance – Jo Schmeiser’s documentary – is a sombre and clear-eyed view of women’s role in the continuing fight against fascism in Germany while also shedding light on the women who fought in the resistant movements against the Nazis. Despite the clear-eyed view–thanks to Michael Palm’s editing–the film ultimately cannot draw a clear connection between the two different forms of resistance, despite the similarities in their nature. The information is presented, and the viewer is left to find the answers within, which while can be a rewarding way of experiencing something it does not work well for this documentary. Nonetheless, this is still a strong debut from Schmeiser.