DIE BLEIERNE ZEIT
by Margarethe von Trotta, Fiction, 106', 1981, 35mm, GERMANY
With Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins, Dorothy Shupenes

Two sisters: while Juliane is committed as a reporter, her sister joins a terrorist organization. After she's caught by the police and put into isolation jail, Juliane remains as her last connection to the rest of the world. Marianne kills herself in her cell, but Juliane questions the way her sister was treated and this official version. The film is based on real facts: the suicide in prison of Gundrun Ensslin (of the Baader-Meinhof Group) and the research carried out by her sister Christiane into this death.

MARGARETHE VON TROTTA
Born in Berlin, Margarethe von Trotta studied German and Romance languages in Paris and Munich. Her acting career started in 1965 at the Stuttgart Theatre. She became one the most famous actresses of the New German Film, staring in movies by Herbert Achternbusch, Rainhard Hauff, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In 1975, she co-directed The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum with Volker Schlöndorff. Her first film was The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (1977) was followed by 15 feature films that obtained many international awards (gold Lion in Venice for Die Bleierne Zeit). Retrospective of her work was screened in Créteil in 2003.