In 1977, a group of feminists, politically active doctors and filmmakers from the Zurich Film Collective decided to engage in a political debate by making a film. The referendum on the public petition to decriminalize abortion in the first trimester was imminent. ‘Lieber Herr Doktor’ (Dear Doctor) shows documentary footage of an abortion, a panel discussion in Ennenda in the canton of Glarus and portraits of several women who talk about their experiences of abortion. This “intervention film” intended to spark discussion, which it succeeded in doing: according to the members of the collective, it was the most widely shown documentary film in Switzerland at the time. A contribution to a heated debate caught between activism and adverse reactions.

CH 1977, Filmgruppe Schwangerschaftsabbruch, 63 min, OV with ENG subtitles
Introduction: Seraina Winzeler (Cinémathèque suisse)
In English