All lesbian (2011)

Directed by: Mildred Roethof | 68 minutes | documentary

We may present ourselves as an open-minded people, but apparently we are less tolerant than we always thought. Just ask gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. Who doesn’t know the stories of gay couples who are bullied away in their own neighborhood or lesbians who are beaten up when they show themselves in public with their girlfriend? The documentary ‘Allemaal lesbian’ (2011) by Mildred Roethof (the lady who had to justify herself to her interviewees in ‘De Wereld Draait Door’ for her series ‘Rauw en Puur’, about ‘gangster girls’ and youth culture in the Netherlands) teaches us that lesbians still face all kinds of prejudice in the twenty-first century. Religious fanaticism in particular is often a stumbling block. Incidentally, this has little to do with the multicultural society; nowadays it is mainly Muslims who have a reputation of being intolerant towards gays and lesbians, but the conservative Protestants have been just as guilty of this (in the past but certainly also in the present).

In her film, Roethof gives us a glimpse into the life of the modern lesbian woman and shows how they have struggled in their own way (or still do) with their coming-out. Saskia Wieringa, for example, director of the institute for women’s history and good for some delightful eighteenth-century anecdotes, grew up in the sixties and seventies, the time of free love, but she too was confronted with homophobia when she lived in the late 1970s. the Vondelpark was beaten up with sticks. With a photo as proof. More recent is the story of Ikram, a Moroccan woman who fled to the Netherlands six years ago because she was not accepted by her family. It is shocking to hear how her father, whom she says she always admired and who always told her to be herself, locked her up in their own house for half a year after telling her that she likes women. Her mother did nothing all this time, until Father was away from work for a few days and she let Ikram ‘escape’. “You’ve got to get out of here,” she told her very own daughter. Once in the Netherlands she feels liberated, but because she still receives death threats from her brother, she does not always feel safe.

On the other hand, there are the stories of Dutch women who ‘come out’, at first sight with a lot less fear than Ikram, but you can bet that it was just as much a liberation for them. They are all strong, admirable women who do not show themselves and fight for what they are worth. Bianca Hagenbeek, known as the winner of the second season of ‘Big Brother’, started an organization ‘Let’s be open’ to help women who struggle with their sexuality. She also organizes Flirtation, women-only parties where hundreds of women come to meet each other. Parties also attended by Susanne, who works as a behavioral therapist for young women with mental retardation. Then there are DJ Tamara and fashion model Fabiana, confident young lesbians who have found their place in the world. This is not yet the case for Gelieny, the youngest of the interviewees who has only been ‘coming out’ for a year and who has to compete with the prevailing norms and values ​​of the deeply religious community in which she lives. Although she has clearly been liberated since her coming out, she still seems to have trouble finding her place, just like Ikram. But both are on the right track.

‘All lesbian’ shows a handful of women who may be ‘different’, but in fact also quite ordinary. For girls who are (or were) in the same boat, this documentary will be very recognizable and for anyone who hasn’t come out yet, the stories of these women can be an inspiration. It is a pity that the film remains very superficial. Only sporadically is there room for deepening. It also paints a rather one-sided picture, because no attempt is made to give a nuanced picture of those people who would rather have a girl like Gelieny stay ‘in the closet’. Perhaps Roethof has deliberately kept her film light-hearted and accessible in order to attract the largest possible audience, which can also be defended, of course: she focuses her film on people with prejudices and fears about homosexuality. They should open their sights to anyone who is different, not the women in the film itself. Still, a little more depth and space for people who have a different view of the story would certainly have made her documentary more interesting and captivating.