Documentary film screening / discussion

Sarah Diehl (Germany): Abortion Democracy

(2008, 50 min, Engl. subtitles)

In her first film Abortion Democracy Berlin journalist and director Sarah Diehl asks why are illegal abortions more accessible in Poland than legal ones in South Africa. She has explored the history of ideological conflicts, generated by pro-abortion advocacy, and their legal consequences for women. In South Africa and Poland, she interviewed feminist activists, gynaecologists and women who had to resort to more expensive and dangerous illegal terminations of pregnancy, due to prohibition or the inaccessibility of abortion. One of the proven theses of the documentary is that the legal status of abortion is related to the (un)successfulness of feminist insistence on the inalienable right to control one’s own body.

Sarah Diehl is an expert on African and Gender Studies. She lectures on reproductive rights, as well as on the new media tactics of pro-life groups. She is the editor of two publications, Brüste Kriegen (Verbrecher, 2004) and Deproduktion – Schwangerschaftsabbruch im internationalen Kontext (Alibri, 2007). She is currently working on her second documentary, Pregnant Journeys, about the long journeys women have to make in some places in Europe, Africa and Central America to terminate their pregnancy in a safe and legal way.

The film screening will be followed by a discussion with the author (in English) and another documentary film screening, Angie Young’s film The Coat Hanger Project (19.30).

Link: http://www.abortion-democracy.de

No entrance fee.