Muttertier – Muttermensch
TV-Essay /Ger 1998 / BetaSp / colour
63 min / 4:3 / mono

Our ape-like ancestor from today’s continent of Africa, Lucy, tells us that the first humans were mothers: They built a nest to protect their children when they became too heavy to carry: They invented the house. Their voice resounded through the forests to keep contact with their children: They invented language. Women with similar problems helped each other with childbearing, breast-feeding, watching the children: They invented the original division of labour, the fundaments of humanity. Today Lucy asks mothers what they have achieved since. And the women in the film have to admit they have lost a lot of their independence since Lucy’s time and, as far as childbearing is concerned, they have done little more than reach the point where Lucy set out: the nuclear, mother-child, family unit.