The Grand Illusion

Celebrate Audre Lorde's birthday weekend with a screening of this very special documentary, which explores a little-known chapter of the writer’s prolific life.

Audre Lorde, the highly influential, award-winning poet, came to live in West Berlin in the 1980s and early '90s. With her active support, a whole generation of writers and poets for the first time gave voice to their unique experience as people of color in Germany. In her documentary portrait, director Dagmar Schultz distills hitherto unpublished and often personal material of Lorde among her Berlin women friends, fellow-travelers and students, many of whom she encouraged to begin writing. The film explores the importance of Lorde's lasting legacy in Germany, which encouraged Afro-Germans to make themselves visible within a culture where they had previously been isolated and voiceless. In English and German (with English subtitles).

This film was selected by our friends at the Washington-based Black Cinema Collective, a group of multicultural artists and scholars who examine and celebrate works of African and Afro-diasporic filmmakers through programmed screenings and community discussions.

“[This] poignant documentary… captures how Lorde transcended borders through her literary works and public engagements by emphasizing mutual understanding and the negotiation of differences. A powerful tribute… the movie invites us to feel, listen, see, dance, and remember the legacy of Audre Lorde… as an indomintable spirit who appealed to and will continue to appeal to many individuals across the globe.” Tiffany N. Florvil, Black Camera