Alice Schwarzer
A film is being made about her for her 80th birthday
Nina Gummich and Alice Schwarzer on the set of “Alice”.
© rbb/Alexander Fischerkoesen
The two-part TV movie “Alice” will follow the life of young Alice Schwarzer and her journey towards founding “Emma”.
Alice Schwarzer celebrates her 80th birthday on December 3rd. Anyone who wants to learn more about the young years of the influential journalist and feminist will soon have the opportunity on television. According to the script by Daniel Nocke and Silke Steiner and directed by Nicole Weegmann, the two-part TV film “Alice” is currently being produced in Paris and Cologne, as the first announced. The film is intended to show the life of young Alice Schwarzer and her path to founding the magazine “Emma”. The main role is played by 30-year-old Nina Gummich (“A Touch of America”, “Unterleuten”, “Charité”).
Alice Schwarzer herself explains that she is, “to be honest, a bit scared. But I’m very, very excited about the film!” The idea that a feature film should be made about thirteen years of her life, “the years between the ages of 21 and 33, was of course quite strange for me at first”. After some hesitation, she agreed. “And now I’m happy about it. So far I’ve only been on the set for a very short time, but I already find Alice very convincing. Nina Gummich has my seriousness, my irony, my passion and my zest for life of these years”.
Nina Gummich calls it “the biggest challenge of my professional career so far” to play Alice Schwarzer. “Understanding a socially relevant personality in the various stages of his life and capturing it in essence is an exciting task that I can take on during this shoot.”
That’s it in “Alice”
In addition to Nina Gummich, Thomas Guené, Isabel Thierauch, Katia Fellin, Vidina Popov, Hannah Walther, Katharina Schüttler, Valerie Pachner, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Gabriele Schulze, Rainer Bock and David Rott also play in the film. As for the content, it says in advance:
21-year-old Alice (Nina Gummich) finds her way into journalism and becomes politically active. In the early 60s she went to Paris as an au pair. Through a friend and through contact with the French women’s movement, Alice is confronted with the life-threatening consequences of abortion laws. Back in Germany, she takes action against the abortion ban in Section 218 and the handling of abortions, which is also kept secret in this country. She initiates a major campaign of 374 women who confess to having abortions and makes history.
But their activism comes at a high price. Alice’s reputation as a journalist is in jeopardy, as is her relationship with Bruno (Thomas Guené), with whom she lives in Paris. The public television exchange of blows with Esther Vilar (Katharina Schüttler), a self-confessed anti-feminist, makes Alice suddenly famous and establishes her reputation as a polarizing, fearless woman. Criticism and defamation are inevitable from now on. The women’s movement also discussed her person very controversially. But Alice continues undeterred, celebrates success as a feminist bestselling author and finally founds the magazine “Emma”.