Margarethe von Trotta
A film by Peter Buchka
Margarete von Trotta can be described as the most important woman among German directors. Her films emphasize the feminine, women’s fates are clearly at the center of the her films, fates which extend into the political realm on a very conscious level. Although her own political and feminist views varied from film to film early in her filmmaking career (the former actress began as a co-author for Volker Schlöndorff), these have fused continuously since her Ensslin film "Die bleierne Zeit"), which has served to make her films increasingly complex.
Two main themes dominate Margarete von Trotta’s films: The sister theme as the most elementary form of confrontation between women, and the societally-proscribed involvement of women in politics, whether through breaking the law ("Christa Klages"), through terrorism ("Die bleierne Zeit") or through the feminine vision of a more just world ("Rosa Luxemburg").
In contrast to Wim Wenders, Margarete von Trotta has always concentrated on accentuating her theme rather then its filmic form.
She is clearly in the tradition of the political film, which tales a current or historical event as its starting point in order to express a personal judgement on the state of society.
For this reason von Trotta’s films never lacked controversy in Germany. But they are without question a legitimate expression of the form of cinema that takes part in open discussion with personal commitment, and through its own individual stance takes an unmistakable stand.
Margarete von Trotta has been living in Italy for the last several years, where she was considered one of the most important German filmmakers from the start. She has found her own form of fusing very personal experiences with political themes, and a process of maturation is clearly visible which has taken her from involvement in current events to an all-embracing portrayal of human nature.
| Author and Director | Peter Buchka |
| Director of Photography | Claus Gottschall, Thomas Bresinsky |
| Sound Mixer | David Heinemann, Oliver Lumpe, Björn Jensen |
| Editor | Matti Bauer |
| Production Manager | Björn Jensen, Jutta Göller |
| Co-Producer | Hubert von Spreti (BR) |
| Producer | Jörg Bundschuh |
A Kick Film production in coproduction with BR
