THE BOSS - A PORTRAIT OF ALICE SCHWARZER

On 3. December 2002 Alice Schwarzer turned 60. She did not like that one bit, as her story shows very clearly: She is a woman brimming over with energy, endless strength and a certain instinct for power.

"Power", she said once "is not obscene. It is necessary should you really want to change something". Her life's motto is: One – go in, two – pull back. Not everybody can or wants to stand so much energy. And yet it is her matter of fact radicalism paired with her biting sarcasm that draws people under her spell. From the mid 60's Ms Schwarzer is undividably connected to the history of, first the French, later the German feminist movement, whose figure head she becomes. Everything starts 1971 when she launches a spectacular action against the paragraph 218 (German abortion legislation): On June 6th the magazine "Stern" publishes the faces of 24 well known women under the headline: "we had an abortion". That directed the attention towards the central issues of the young feminists: the role that sexuality plays in the incapacitation, the degradation and the exploitation of women. A highly emotional discussion. Ms Schwarzer feels instinctively the role of front–row fighter for women's rights will turn her into a public person and she starts enjoying her own power.

At the same time the establishment fights back: As men do not feel safe in their own bedrooms anymore, they pour out such malice over Ms Schwarzer that is in its brutal debasement of her as a woman unprecedented. "Any other woman", she says "would have kicked the bucket"; Not her. Her many further sensational appearances are managed with the cleverness and the wit of a talk–show master.

Birgit Schulz's film confronts Ms Schwarzer with her legendary actions and TV appearances. It shows the survival strategies of a fighting woman. And sometimes in little quiet moments, the film allows a look at the traces that were left by the injuries done to her.

A film by ARTE, 2002
45 min. documentary

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