As part of the EU Film Days, we present the Japan premiere of “Die Unbeugsamen 2 – Guten Morgen, Ihr Schönen”. The documentary is a sequel to the successful 2021 film “Die Unbeugsamen” (Femocracy) and paints a vivid group portrait of East German women from a wide variety of social backgrounds in the GDR. Fifteen self-assured women recount how, even in a country where equality was mandated by the state, patriarchy still reigned, thereby creating a powerful kaleidoscope of gender relations in the ‘workers’ and peasants’’ state.

Featuring: Brunhilde Hanke, long-time mayor of Potsdam, farmer and “Heroine of Labor” Solveig Leo, DEFA assistant director Barbara Mädler, historian and journalist Annette Leo, painter Doris Ziegler, behavioral biologist Marina Grasse, writer Katja Lange-Müller, visual artist and punk Gabriele Stötzer, peace activist Ulrike Poppe, actress Katrin Sass, drummer Tina Powileit, metallurgist Katrin Seyfarth, comic artist Anke Feuchtenberger, dental assistant Kerstin Bienert, and the daughter and estate administrator of painter Annemirl Bauer, Amrei Bauer.

These women speak about the dual burden faced by their mothers and grandmothers; they share their own concerns and dreams, which they have often been able to come to terms with only through clever strategies. Complemented by numerous archival recordings, director Torsten Körner completes this journey through time and, by turning the audience into eyewitnesses, opens a door to a better understanding between East and West. A cinematic journey into a past that resonates in the present.

On May 24, 2026, a double feature of the two films “Die Unbeugsamen” & “Die Unbeugsamen 2” will also take place at the Imageforum and the Goethe-Institut Tokyo, followed by a discussion with protagonists from both films and Japanese politician Kiyomi Tsujimoto. Further information about the event can be found on our website.