BeFreier und BeFreite Filming Locations
BeFreier und BeFreite Filming Locations
Freudenstadt is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is the capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west and Tübingen to the east. The city lies on a high plateau at the east edge of the north Black Forest, and is well known for its fresh air.
Berlin, Germany’s capital, dates to the 13th century. Reminders of the city's turbulent 20th-century history include its Holocaust memorial and the Berlin Wall's graffitied remains. Divided during the Cold War, its 18th-century Brandenburg Gate has become a symbol of reunification. The city's also known for its art scene and modern landmarks like the gold-colored, swoop-roofed Berliner Philharmonie, built in 1963.
Minsk is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region and Minsk District.
BeFreier und BeFreite (1992)
Helke Sander interviews multiple German women who were raped in Berlin by Soviet soldiers in May 1945. Most women never spoke of their experience to anyone, due largely to the shame attached to rape in German culture at that time. She documents the pregnancies, abortions, illegitimate children that resulted, as well as the break down in family relationships, the stigmatization these women experienced, and mental and physical duress these women underwent at the time of the rapes and as treaties were passed between the German and Soviets that never mentioned reparations for the rapes. She also interviews Soviet and German soldiers who admitted to raping women during the war. Sander uses archival footage, re-enactment, personal testimony, and voice over commentary to describe the extent and result of wartime rapes. She also makes clear that her work is politically motivated to bring wartime rape to the attention of international committees, arguing that war rapes continue today. Her film convinced the UN to list wartime rape as a war crime.
