Laughing Bodies, Eccentric Gestures
Female comics and divas in the films of the 1910s
1 - 24 June 2007 Austrian Film Museum www.filmmuseum.at

photo: Asta Nielsen in Vordertreppe und Hintertreppe directed by Urban Gad, 1914 (A romantic story between an officer and the daughter of a tailor for poor people. The romance becomes turbulent because of a lottery ticket...)

In the 1910s women had significantly more importance in film than today - and you can find different roles for women - such as the "Flappers".

Actresses such as Asta Nielsen functioned in Germany as subversive narrators starring as "Flappers". They presented the audience their relation to authority figures; and they didn't shy away from sexually provocation, ugliness, and inappropriate behaviour. This “Flapper” genre acquired prominence during a time when in bourgeois circles flamboyant and body conscious female behaviour was not accepted.

The curators Claudia Preschl and Katja Wiederspahn have selected more than 40 films from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, UK, and US to present the different roles of women: meet the comics, divas, female workers - the goddesses of film of the early days.

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