Tina Bara, Cornelia Schleime & Gabriele Stötzer
Rebels

  • Germany
  • de
  • en
  • 84'
Rebels
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Synopsis

Tina Bara, Cornelia Schleime and Gabriele Stötzer are rebels. As fearless young women in the 1970s and 1980s in the GDR, they made art expressing their anger against the oppressive regime, and claiming their right to freedom. Their uncompromising photographs convey what it feels like to be at the mercy of a system that suffocates young creative voices. But when the conflict with state security escalates, they have to make a decision: stay or go.

What you will find in this film

A form of photographic resistance born in the GDR of the 1970s and 1980s • Three artistic trajectories shaped by the desire for freedom, surveillance, and creation • Practices combining photography, performance, and Super 8 • A female counter-imagery standing against state propaganda • The intimate, political, and artistic cost of dissent.

Keywords

Reportage & Society Masters of Photography Experimental & Alternative Photography History of Photography Photographic memory
I see myself as the tool. I’m the brush. It’s not about me.
I was always searching for a parable for this feeling of being trapped.
Feminism didn’t exist as a concept, but they used the term to insult us. And I thought: they’re taking notice. I’m somebody, not just anybody.
And the body and photos were also only a means of conveying this unspeakable message.
It’s not only about political statements. That would be too banal. It’s always about the sensuality of the images, some kind of magical moment.

Documentaries about photography, and about the people who make it. 
You can try it free for 7 days.

What you’ll find

Portraits of photographers, names everyone knows and others you’ll discover here. Films about street photography, war, fashion or portraiture, about printing and historical processes. About the trades of photography too. And then suggestions for going further, with Focuses, articles, interviews, bibliographies.

A small independent team

Documentaries about photography were rarely shown on television, and hardly at all on streaming platforms. We created The Darkroom Rumour to give them a place of their own. We are a small team, and we choose every film ourselves, with no school to defend.

Inspire your photography

In these films, you see photographers at work, in the field as well as in the darkroom. If you take pictures, you’ll often come away with an idea to try. If you simply like looking at images, you may start to see them differently.

How it works 

You can watch the films online, anywhere in the world, on a computer, tablet or phone, and on TV by mirroring your phone’s or computer’s screen. Every film is available in French and English, with no ads. New releases come out on Saturday or Sunday. The trial lasts 7 days, and if you stop before day 8, you pay nothing.

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The authors/artists

Tina Bara
Tina Bara
Photographer
Cornelia Schleime
Cornelia Schleime
Photographer
Gabriele Stötzer
Gabriele Stötzer
Photographer
Pamela Meyer-Arndt
Pamela Meyer-Arndt
Film Director

Further exploration

Selected bibliography

• Sara Blaylock, Parallel Public: Experimental Art in Late East Germany, MIT Press, 2022. Libraries

• Tina Bara, Lange Weile, Edition Fotohof, 2016 (in German). Libraries

• Gabriele Schor (ed.), Feminist Avant-Garde: Art of the 1970s, Prestel, 2025. Libraries

Online

• Rebellinnen, interview, SKD Voices.

• Rebellinnen – Fotografie. Underground. DDR, festival, DOK Leipzig.

• Rebel Women, Yorck Kinos.

• Rebellinnen, review, IndieKino (in German).

• Rebellinnen – Fotografie. Underground. DDR, Salzgeber (in German).