“Emilie Kempin-Spyri”: Film Screening and Talk by Rahel Grunder

Deutsches Haus at NYU, in partnership with the Consulate General of Switzerland New York and SALA (Swiss American Lawyers Association), presents a screening of the Swiss documentary Emilie Kempin-Spyri. Rahel Grunder, the film’s director, will be present and speak about her film and the life of Emilie Kempin-Spyri.

About the film:

Emilie Kempin-Spyri. Written and directed by Rahel Grunder. Switzerland, 2015, 52. min, in German with English subtitles.

Emilie Kempin-Spyri was the first female Doctor of Law in Europe. As a woman, however, she was not admitted to the bar, nor allowed to lecture at university. Emilie found a way out of her dissatisfying situation with a courageous journey into the unknown: In 1888, she emigrated with her husband and their three children to New York. With the help of influential women, she founded the first Woman’s Law Class, which then was integrated into the law school at NYU. Her tireless efforts paid off, and Emilie was even allowed to lecture men. After only three years though, Emilie left to be with her family. Her husband, not able to acclimate to the foreign city, had returned to Switzerland with the children a year earlier. Emilie was finally allowed to work as a private lecturer at Zurich university, but her fight to be admitted to the bar remained unsuccessful again. She emigrated to Berlin and drafted articles on family law for the German Civil Code. Without stable social relationships, separated from her husband, and in an economically precarious situation, Kempin-Spyri suffered a breakdown in 1897. She was initially treated in a sanatorium in Berlin. In 1901 she tragically died at the age of 48 in a mental institution in Switzerland.

Rahel Grunder creates authentic, sensitive, and female-driven stories as a writer and director in both fictional and documentary films. Her documentary Emilie Kempin-Spyri about Europe’s first female lawyer received high critical and public acclaim. The TV comedy Daddyhunt was broadcast during prime time on the biggest Swiss network. Rahel’s first short Happy Tobikomaki screened at the World of Women Film Festival in Australia, the Moscow Short Film Festival, and the Tucson Slow Food Film Festival. Her documentary Swimmers of Hope won the audience award at the Science et Cité Cinéma festival in Switzerland, and her documentary Farm Women the audience award at the Regard Bleu festival. Originally from Zurich, Rahel Grunder moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and graduated from the American Film Institute (AFI) in 2012. Rahel Grunder has an academic background in anthropology, film history, and art history. She’s an avid dancer, and a hiking, running, and cycling enthusiast. She teaches documentary filmmaking at University of Zurich, and is a mentor for the Munich Screenplay Workshop.

Attendance information:

Events at Deutsches Haus are free of charge. If you would like to attend this event, please send us an email to [email protected]. Space at Deutsches Haus is limited, please arrive ten minutes prior to the event. Thank you!