Rebel Dykes

In the organizer's words:

Rebel Dykes tells the story of a group of young, non-conformist and gender-nonconforming women, or dykes, who create their own radical, lesbian and sex-positive culture in 1980s London. They came together via a feminist protest camp and the punk and squatter scene. An important center of their activities is the Chain Reaction, a club where they start a regular BDSM night, among other things. Their rebellious attitude is also a reaction to the adverse social circumstances in which they live: the homophobic and transphobic everyday life, the emerging AIDS crisis, the depressing policies of the Thatcher government and the censorship of homoerotic publications. In addition, there is the hostility from the lesbian-feminist movement itself, whose narrow image of feminism is incompatible with the desire for BDSM, leather and fetish clothing.

Using interviews, a wealth of previously unpublished archive material and self-designed animations, the documentary reconstructs an important piece of lesbian movement history. Trans and Black perspectives are also at the center. The film is accompanied by a great soundtrack, which also makes the music of the forgotten feminist (post-)punk bands of the time audible again. In some cases, the filmmakers digitized songs that only existed on cassette. Rebel Dykes thus creates a brilliant, rousing portrait of the scene.