Eritrea, 1980

The Eritreans have been fighting against the illegal annexation of their country by the Ethiopians since 1961. In their film “Alone against the Mighty” made in 1977 Troeller/Deffarge deal with the social aspirations of the liberation struggle and the woman’s role in it.
More than 30% of the 70.000 freedom fighters are women. The declared aim of the EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front), apart from the country’s independence, is also women’s liberation. They have realised that only an equitable participation can bring about a fundamental change in the relationship between the sexes. The new society’s worth will be judged by the situation of the women. This means that men and women equally share responsibility, whether in war or in economic production. Together they can then build an independent Eritrea.
Gender equality is not to be taken as an ideal but to be understood as a living experience. By doing this, the power structures of a strictly patriarchal society can be recognized and dismantled.

a film by Gordian Troeller and Marie-Claude Deffarge
in cooperation with Ingrid Becker-Ross
original title: Im Dienst der Revolution
camera: Gordian Troeller
sound: Ingrid Becker-Ross, Elmar Schmidt
editor: Ingeburg Forth
colour
43 minutes

This film only exists in the German version.

Download the script