This video presents From the East. Female Film-makers and the Iron Curtain (1943–1993), a new edition of the anthological film series the Museo has organised jointly with Filmoteca Española since 2016. The programme, held from 3 November 2022 to 22 March 2023, surveys the work of thirty-four women film-makers from fifteen Eastern European countries.
Distinguished by a kaleidoscopic range of approaches — from absurdist satire to the formal adventurousness of the avant-garde — the films in this series describe the lives of women from different countries, regions, times and social classes. It also shows the creative worlds of the bold and talented directors and the countless visible and invisible obstacles they had to face to bring their visions to fruition.
The video features Dorota Lech, curator of the series, and Chema González, head of the Museo Reina Sofía’s Cultural and Audiovisual Activities, and includes fragments of the screened films and a live concert performed by cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton in homage to her life partner Chantal Akerman, who is also part of the series.