The Mensch in my life is me
Verena Stefan
A film by Christian Walther
Documentary film, 52 min, SRF, Sternstunde Kunst
Written and direxcted:: Christian Walther
Camera: Daniel Leippert, Alexandra Czok, Rénald Bellemare
Sound: Nadja Gubser, Olivier JeanRichard, Martyne Morin
music: Sandra Stadler
Edit: : Gisela Weibel
ColourGrading: Christian Müller, Schnittplatz
Tonschnitt, Mischung: himex:sounddesign Peter von Siebenthal
Producer: Pedro Haldemann, Insertfilm A
Co-Production: SRF Sternstunde Kunst
Production: Insertfilm AG / CoProd. SRF Sternstunde Kunst
«The first colonisation in human history was that of women by men.
“All common expressions (…) concerning coitus are brutal and contemptuous of women (drilling, chasing in, stabbing, tearing away)… the leftist jargon is no better: tail, pussy, fuck…”
Verena Stefan writes this in 1975. Her book “Häutungen” (Shedding) sells several hundred thousand copies, the author becomes famous, celebrated and is confronted with hostilities – even from her own ranks – and soon after retreats to the countryside. Later, she writes other books, among others about her mother and her grandfather. They are always very personal, but it is precisely for this reason that many people are able to follow on from the experiences and thoughts told by Verena Stefan.
The film “The ‘Mensch’ of My Life Is Me” tells Verena Stefan’s life with archived interviews and text passages from her works. In addition, we have extensive conversations with companion such as Cristina Perincioli in Berlin and Lise Moisan in Montréal.
We want to go back to the time when «Shedding» appeared. 1975 was the International Year of Women, but in Germany and Switzerland, women needed the permission of men to sign contracts. Abortion was forbidden. Behind the scenes there was a lot in motion: cultural, socio-political, sexual.
All these developments and experiences are reflected in the present, for example in the Swiss women’s strike in June 2019, and in the becoming and passing away of nature. Ultimately, the big question is: “How can I lead a self-determined life?
LET’S REINVENT THE WORLD: CONFERENCE AND PREMIERE MARKING 50 YEARS OF VERENA STEFAN’S “HÄUTUNGEN”
Saturday, 22 November 2025, 1.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
PROGR (auditorium), Waisenhausplatz 30, Bern
Verena Stefan’s text “Häutungen” (Moults) is a feminist manifesto – personal, eloquent, lesbian, revolutionary, sold hundreds of thousands of times. Fifty years later, the text is being revisited: two panel discussions and a reading will explore the work and influence of Verena Stefan.
Verena Stefan was one of the co-founders of the group ‘Brot und Rosen’ (Bread and Roses), which created a new awareness of the female body and its sexuality. In 1975, Verena Stefan published her debut work, Häutungen (Shedding), with Frauenoffensive, one of the small publishing houses founded at that time. With half a million copies sold, it very quickly became a huge and unexpected success. Even 50 years after its publication, Häutungen remains a text of captivating relevance and quality. In it, Verena Stefan not only traces the inseparable connections between sexuality, physicality and desire, through which power relations and hierarchical structures are constituted, but also devises a poetic process – a mixture of autobiographical notes, poems, dreams and analyses – with which she re-clothes the female body in a language of ‘skin words’.
With the production ‘Brüten wir die Welt neu aus’ (Let’s hatch the world anew) – a quote from ‘Häutungen’ (Moults) – this work is now being brought to the stage as a linguistic arrangement that attempts to approach Verena Stefan’s literature.
Scenic reading: Kathrin Veith
Illustration, colour, fabric: Dinah Wernli
Staging: Maja Bagat and Anouk Gyssler
Concept: Mariann Bühler and Tabea Steiner
PROGRAMME
1.30 p.m.: Panel discussion ‘Weggefährtinnen’ (Fellow Travellers):
Madeleine Marti, Annemarie Pfister, Liliane Studer, moderated by Marah Rikli
2.45 p.m.: Screening of ‘Der Mensch meines Lebens bin ich’ (I am the person of my life):
Documentary film about Verena Stefan by Christian Walther
4.30 p.m.: Panel discussion on ‘Tradition’:
with Christa Binswanger, Franziska Schutzbach, Therese Shire, Vera Thomann. Moderator: Seraina Walser
5.45 p.m.: Reading from ‘Fortbestand’ (Continuity):
with Jessica Jurassica. Moderator: Jann Kraus
20.30 Uhr: Premiere der Inszenierung «Brüten wir die Welt neu aus»
