Things you should know about Audre Lorde: she loved flowers, she had a deadpan sense of humor, and after her cancer diagnosis, she believed that being in Berlin added years onto her life.

In 1984 Lorde began teaching at the Berlin Free University, and from the beginning, her work in West Berlin focused primarily on bringing together the far-flung, disjointed community of Afro-German women. Lorde would spend the better part of the next decade between two homes, West Berlin and St. Croix, living with the same vitality she brought to her writing and her work. Students remembered her for her unfailing encouragement, activists for her uncompromising vision of justice. But what makes this film shine are the moments of banter between her and her friends—her complaining about why Germans refuse to match their pillowcases to duvets or her lover teasing her about never admitting when she’s wrong.

Dagmar Schultz, Lorde’s German publisher, colleague and friend has crafted a lyrical, humanizing snapshot of the iconic writer for the twentieth anniversary of her death in 1992. Through lectures, discussion groups, and intimate journal-like audio entries, Lorde’s forceful, captivating personality shines through.

Feminist giant Audre Lorde wanted an “irresistible revolution”, and as this lively documentary testifies, as a revolutionary, Lorde herself is irresistible.

— TRISTA S. KENDALL

In English and German with English subtitles.

AT&T Audience Award Text Voting Code: D201

Co-presented by:

NIA Collective