Gerd Korske once again surveys the past and the state of affairs of East Germany. His protagonists, female employees of large factories in a country that no longer exist, are concerned with both labour power and women’s issues, such as the opportunities available to women in terms of employment, active participation in social life and self-realisation. Kroske creates an experimental setup with split screens and asks, “What was once gained, what is lost?” The film has an apt title, placed at the intersection of the work of directors Alexander Kluge and Oskar Negt, and writer Jane Austen.