Goethe-Institut Chicago

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Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion, like renowned pro-Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman, were permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government official falls for Georg's stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa, an ambitious Stasi policeman is ordered to bug the writer's apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now, what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their lives—as well as his—in this seductive political thriller.

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Dir. Ulrike Ottinger
Germany, 1978, 137m
DCP
A group of bored and oppressed women join a lesbian pirate ship, the Orlando (named, of course, after Woolf’s novel), looking for a life of seafaring adventure. However, they end up trading one repressive lifestyle for another as the sailors soon face Captain Madame X’s sadistic ways. MADAME X is a fantastic, highly-stylized sapphic exploration of ritual, with dialogue consisting mostly of animal noises and nonsense.

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The white German graphic novelist Birgit Weyhe teaches at a US college through an academic exchange programme. At a conference of American Germanists in the Midwest, she is accused of cultural expropriation. Is she exploiting her privileges as a white writer when she tells stories about Black people?

She meets Priscilla Layne, an African American professor of German studies with Caribbean roots. Growing up, Priscilla is labelled an ‘Oreo’: too white for her Black classmates, and too Black for the white kids. Rebelling against everything and everyone all at once, she joins the skinhead movement and becomes a 'rude girl,' discovering a community where she feels valued. Music, clothes, hair, food, class, race, gender, education – her life and identity are a complex composite.

But how should Birgit Weyhe tell a life story like Priscilla’s? What mistakes does she need to avoid? The act of storytelling itself becomes its own narrative layer in this unique graphic biography.

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About the Author
Birgit Weyhe was born in Munich in 1969. She spent her childhood in East Africa and studied literature and history in Konstanz and Hamburg (MA). After graduating from art school (HAW), Birgit Weyhe has been working as a comic artist in Hamburg. Her graphic novels have been nominated for several prizes in Germany, France and Japan, and her album Madgermanes received the Bertholt Leibinger Stiftung Comic Book Prize in 2015 and in 2016 the Max-und-Moritz-Preis as best German-language comic. In 2022 she was awarded the Lessing Scholarship of the City of Hamburg.

Purchase Options
Please ensure you purchase the German version, as an English version is also available.
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Or borrow a copy from us!
Several copies are available to borrow for free from the Goethe-Institut Chicago. If you are interested, please contact us at: Lukas.Deicke.extern@goethe.de or AliHaydar.Agrali.extern@goethe.de.

Upcoming book*ish Events
Wednesday, July 9, 2025, 6pm: 'Scheiblettenkind,' by Eva Müller

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Dir. Ulrike Ottinger
Germany, 1984, 150m
DCP

Cinema icon Delphine Seyrig stars as Frau Dr. Mabuse, the head of a media conglomerate who seeks to control and ultimately destroy the handsome Dorian Gray (played by Veruschka von Lehndorff in drag). One of Ottinger’s most narrative (and comedic) works, Dorian Gray is saturated with camp, withering satire, and extravagant set designs. The film’s extended opera scenes and Seyrig’s villainous performance are also delightful to behold.