Rebellinnen – Fotografie. Underground. DDR.

The artistic careers of Tina Bara, Cornelia Schleime, and Gabriele Stötzer began in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. Their work was driven by an uncompromising determination to create defiant, independent art in a system that surveilled, censored, imprisoned, and oppressed them—as it did many other artists. Today, all three are internationally recognized figures who, despite the restrictions and persecution they faced in the GDR, forged their own successful artistic paths.

In Pamela Meyer-Arndt's documentary, the three artists look back on their beginnings, offering a powerful reflection on what happens when an authoritarian state collides with the unyielding desire for artistic and personal freedom. Their expressive, performative photography continues to resonate today, presenting a strikingly different vision of a country that no longer exists, yet whose long shadow can still be felt.