Margarete von Trotta will be a special guest at the 28th Sofia Film Fest in March and will receive the Sofia Award of the Sofia Municipality for her contribution to the art of cinema. The world-famous German director, screenwriter and actress will personally present her latest film "Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey in the Desert", dedicated to the relationship between the Austrian poet and writer Ingeborg Bachmann and the Swiss playwright and writer Max Frisch.
The first lady awarded with the "Golden Lion" is rightly called the "leading force" of the "New German Cinema" movement and is one of the most important feminist directors in the world.
Born in 1942 in Berlin, she grew up with her mother in the German city of Düsseldorf. After graduating from the Munich School of Drama, she began working as an actress in the theater and appeared in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff. Partnered with Schlöndorff on the script and direction of films such as The Sudden Riches of the Poor People of Kambach (1971) and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975). At that time, from 1971 to 1991, he was her husband. In 1972, Margarete von Trotta received the German Critics Award for her role in Volker Schlöndorff's film Strohfeuer. Her independent directorial debut was in 1978 with the film "The Second Awakening of Christa Klages".
In 1981, her film Lead Time made her the first woman to win a Golden Lion at Venice, followed by two German Film Awards and Italy's Donatello David, as well as the East and West German Critics' Prize. Pure Madness, starring Hanna Szygula and Angela Winkler, was part of the competition program in Berlin in 1983, and Rosa Luxemburg, dedicated to the famous German-Polish socialist, premiered at Cannes in 1986, where she wore to Barbara Sukova the award for best actress. The film also received an honorary award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Margarete von Trotta returned to Cannes in 1988 with the film "Fear and Love" and in 2018 with "In Search of Ingmar Bergman". Her 2003 drama Rosenstrasse, presented exactly 20 years ago at the 8th Sofia Film Fest by actress Katia Riemann, was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress (Katia Riemann) in Venice, followed by the Italian Golden Globe" and "Donatello's David", as well as a nomination for the European Film Awards - for the best European actress. The psychological drama Hannah Arendt (2012) won two German Film Awards and earned lead actress Barbara Sukova a nomination for the European Film Awards.
Her latest film Ingeborg Bachmann - A Journey in the Desert, about the relationship between the Austrian poet and writer Ingeborg Bachmann and the Swiss playwright and writer Max Frisch, has been nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2023.
At the 35th edition of the European Film Awards in 2022, the European Film Academy presented the actress, director and screenwriter Margarete von Trotta with the overall contribution award - in recognition of her exceptional work, Sofia Film Fest recalls. /BGNES
