The first lady awarded with the "Golden Lion" will present her latest film "Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey Into the Desert"
Margarethe von Trotta has rightly been called the "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement and is one of the most important feminist filmmakers in the world. Born in 1942 in Berlin, she grew up with her mother in Düsseldorf. After graduating from the Munich School of Drama, she began working as an actress in the theatre and starred in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff. She partnered with Schlöndorff to write and direct such films as "Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach" (1971) and "The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum" (1975). At the time, from 1971 to 1991, Schlöndorff was her husband. In 1972, Margarethe von Trotta received the German Critics Award for her role in Volker Schlöndorff's film "Strohfeuer". Her directorial debut was in 1978 with the film "The Second Awakening of Christa Klages".
In 1981, her film "Marianne & Juliane" made her the first woman to win the Golden Lion and five more prestigious awards in Venice, followed by two German Film Awards and the David di Donatello Award for best foreign director, as well as the East and West German critics ovations. "Sheer Madness", starring Hanna Schygulla and Angela Winkler, was in the Berlinale competition programme in 1983, and "Rosa Luxemburg", dedicated to the famous German-Polish socialite, premiered at Cannes in 1986, where it won Barbara Sukowa the Best Actress Award. The film also received an honorary award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Margarethe von Trotta returned to Cannes in 1988 with "Three Sisters" and in 2018 with "Searching for Ingmar Bergman". Her 2003 drama "Rosenstrasse", presented exactly 20 years ago at the 8th Sofia Film Festival by actress Katja Riemann, was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress (Katja Riemann) in Venice, followed by the Italian Golden Globe and David di Donatello Award, as well as a nomination for the European Film Awards - Best European Actress. The psychological drama "Hannah Arendt" (2012) won two German Film Awards and earned the actress in the title role Barbara Sukowa a nomination for the European Film Awards.
Margarethe von Trotta will be a special guest at the 28th Sofia Film Festival in March and will receive the Sofia Municipality Award for her contribution to the art of cinema. The world-famous German director, screenwriter and actress will also personally present her latest film "Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey into the Desert", telling the story about the relationship between Austrian poet and writer Ingeborg Bachmann and Swiss playwright and writer Max Frisch. The coexistence of love and suspicion is the deepest unspoken truth in the director's gripping film narrative, and her greatest strength is her ability to bring out this paradox in the relationship between men and women. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2023.
At the 35th European Film Awards in 2022, the European Film Academy presented actress, director and screenwriter Margarethe von Trotta with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding work.
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