We Can Only Help Ourselves (1974)

Overview

Gardi Deppe’s film follows women completing a six-week course of treatment in a health clinic (unique in West Germany at the time) for ‘working girls and women between the ages of 15 and 21.’ The film shows striking differences between the perception of the patients and the approach of the clinic and its exclusively male doctors. The women attribute their health problems to social and labour policies. The health clinic responds with medication, sports programs and occupational therapy. The film underlines the need for self-organization and ends with the realization that these women must develop their own strategies.