Zeitzeugengespräch: Iris Gusner (2014)

Iris Gusner, German director and screenwriter, speaks about her time studying at the film school Gerasimow Institute for Cinematography (WGIK) in Moscow, film activities and about the time after leaving the country GDR/East Germany. She was among the first East German filmmakers to focus on the role and emancipation of women in the GDR. In 1970 she took a job in Berlin with DEFA, the East German state-owned film studio. Her first assignment involved working as a production assistant on Konrad Wolf's film, "Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment" (1971). In 1972, Gusner began directing feature films for DEFA Films, where she continued to work for many years. Her own first film, "The Dove on the Roof" (1973) was not released for general viewing in the GDR and the original footage was destroyed at the studio.