Film / reading in Graz, 5th June 2018 

Gerda Lerner was born 1920 in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family as Gerda Hedwig Crown but was able to escape to the USA in 1938. But in the USA she and her husband were threatened again during the persecution of Communists in the 1940s. When Gerda was 38 years old she began to study history, became involved in the civil rights movement and in 1966 she was a founding member of the national organization for women which is today's largest feminist organization in the United States. Finally in 1972 she wrote the overdue study "Black women in White America" and 1986 "The Emergence of the Patriarchate" and with that she built the women historiography. In 1955 she wrote the partly autobiographical Roman No Farewell which is now also published in German.

In addition to the novel the film of Renata Keller (2017, 90 min) will also be presented. The film takes a detailed look at the personal, professional and political life of Gerda Lerner and will answer the question: How can the knowledge of our own history inspire us to shape a better future? The film also takes a look into the future based on the revolutionary achievements of women in the 20th century and the question: where are women today?

Introduction and moderation: Agnes ALTZIEBLER / Heimo HALBRAINER 

Reading: Ninja ENRICHES 

This is an event of CLIO and Literaturhaus Graz.