Women Power

BERLIN GLOBAL invites you to a screening of the film to honour this significant step and discuss enduring continuities and the power of networked activism today.

Whether abortion rights, equal pay, or the fight against violence towards women, the global struggles for women’s equality and freedom are far from over. A milestone in Poland and Germany was the hard-fought women’s suffrage achieved in 1918.

The documentary feature film “Women Power” traces the journey of real-life figures Kazimiera Bujwidowa, Maria Dulębianka, Zofia Nałkowska, and Paulina Kuczalska.

Bujwidowa advocated in the 1880s for women to attend the University of Warsaw. Maria Dulębianka is considered the first female candidate for the Polish parliament. The writer Nałkowska demanded gender equality, and Paulina Kuczalska, the “Pope of Feminism”, also fought for the equality of men and women.

Dzido and Śliwowski have created a film that follows the struggle of Polish women for their rights – at a time before Poland appeared as an independent nation on the map. At the same time, this struggle did not occur in isolation but in transnational exchange, particularly with activists in Germany.

After the film screening, we invite you to a moderated discussion with Marta Dzido, Piotr Śliwowski, Anna Krenz, and the audience. The focus will be on lessons and continuities:

What is the significance of the suffragettes’ internationally networked activism today? What can we learn from our great-grandmothers? Where are the current fronts in the fight for women’s rights in Poland and Germany, and what role does Polish-German solidarity play? The cultural scholar, activist, and author Aleksandra Nowak will moderate the evening.

This event is part of the programme for the Open Space “Liberty, Equality, Solidarność. Polish Viewpoints in Berlin” by Ewa Maria Slaska, Anna Krenz, and Jemek Jemowit.

The film will be shown in the original Polish with German subtitles. The subsequent discussion will be held in English with simultaneous German translation.

“Women Power” is a film by Marta Dzido (director) and Piotr Śliwowski (producer) featuring Maria Seweryn, Klara Bielawka, Marta Ojrzyńska, Katarzyna Wala, among others. Duration: 70 minutes.

Marta Dzido, born in 1981, is a Polish writer, documentary filmmaker, and film editor. Dzido has worked as a director and cinematographer on a number of documentary films, including the award-winning “Downtown” (2010) and “Solidarity According to Women” (2014). In 2018, she followed up with the docudrama “Women Power”. Dzido is the author of several novels and the non-fiction book “Kobiety Solidarności” (approximately: “Women of Solidarity”). For her novel “Frajda” (2018), she was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature.

Piotr Śliwowski, born in 1972, is a Polish documentary filmmaker, film director, and producer. From 2005 to 2013, he was a co-founder of the Polish cultural TV channel TVP Kultura, working as a reporter, television documentary author, and television programme editor. As a co-director and producer, he has collaborated with Marta Dzido on a series of documentary films, including “Downtown” (2010), “Solidarity According to Women” (2014), and “Women Power” (2018). Śliwowski has received multiple awards for his cinematic achievements.

Born in 1976 in Poznań, Poland, artist, architect, author, and activist Anna Krenz has lived in Berlin since 2003. She is the founder of the Dziewuchy Berlin collective and the Ambasada Polek e.V. association. Since 2001, she has collaborated with the Danish Centre for Renewable Energy – Folkecenter for Renewable Energy on sustainable development projects. Anna Krenz is part of the women’s project studio Sinus_3, which combines architecture, ecology, visual arts, and the design of public spaces. From 2003 to 2012, she was co-director of the ZERO gallery in Berlin. Together with Ewa Maria Slaska and Jemek Jemowit, she conceived and realised the Open Space “Liberty, Equality, Solidarność” at BERLIN GLOBAL.

Aleksandra Nowak is a journalist, writer, cultural scholar and activist. Nowak is the (co-)author of several books, including the 2021 volume “Dziwki, zdziry, szmaty. Opowieści o slut-shamingu” (approximately “Whores, Sluts, Rags: Stories about Slut-Shaming”), published together with Paulina Klepacz and Kamila Raczyńska-Chomyn. In 2024, Nowak published the essay collection “Wypdalać! Historia kobiecego gniewu” (approximately “F*** Off! The History of Women’s Rage”). She is co-founder and editor of the feminist magazine “G’rls ROOM” and the Adelfi Space project, through which she organises events for women in Berlin. Having been connected to Warsaw for many years, she now lives and works in Berlin.