Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) awards the Venice Golden Lion-winning director Margarethe von Trotta, one of the key figures of the New German Cinema movement, with the festival’s second Lifetime Achievement Award.
The decades-spanning career of Margarethe von Trotta (b. 1942, Berlin) began with several co-operations with another central figure in Germany’s independent cinema, Volker Schlöndorff, first as an actress on „The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach“ (1971) and then co-director and co-writer on „The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum“(1975). The two collaborated on one more film – „Coup de Grâce“ (1976) – after which von Trotta moved on with her solo career.
In 1978 von Trotta directed her first solo feature "The Second Awakening of Christa Klages", 1978), while achieving the international breakthrough with her next film "Marianne and Juliane" (1981), for which she won the Golden Lion at Venice IFF, marking the first time a female director has won the festival's top award. This positioned her as one of New German Cinema's most prominent and internationally acclaimed filmmakers.
This was followed by a row of artistically praised films that competed for the main prizes at some of the top film festivals in the world over the next three decades: Friends and Husbands (Berlin, 1983), Rosa Luxemburg (Cannes, 1986) , Three Sisters (Cannes, 1988), L’Africana (Venice, 1990), Rosenstrasse (Venice, 2003), Hannah Arendt (Tokyo, Tallinn Black Nights, 2012), Forget About Nick (Tokyo, 2017).
Common themes in von Trotta have addressed many points of special concern to women, their position in the society in the face of repressive social norms and the psychological challenges rising from it. This has offered a uniquely female perspective to social developments in post-war German society and offered endless inspiration to other filmmakers, German and otherwise.
Tiina Lokk, the director of Black Nights commented: „Margarethe von Trotta is a remarkable creative phenomenon, rising to the top of author cinema during an era when film-directing was still very much a man’s playground. She has been a true icebreaker, providing, through her films and their subject matter, the much needed female perspective on the 20th century. She has been doing it with admirable artistic merit and helped to pave the way to a wave of strong female directors that came after her.“
The award ceremony will take place prior to the screening of Marianne & Julia on Sunday, the 22nd of November. Sadly von Trotta will not be able to the event due to the risks caused by a surge of COVID-19 cases in Germany and Estonia. The award will be accepted Simone Baumann, the Managing Director of German Films on behalf of the director.
As previously announced, the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the festival went to Estonian-Canadian cinematographer Alar Kivilo.
The 24th edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival runs from the 13th until the 29th of November.
Still from Marianne and Juliane
The Second Awakening of Christa Klages | Das zweite Erwachen der Christa, 1977
Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness | Schwestern oder Die Balance des Glücks, 1979
Marianne & Juliane | Die bleierne Zeit, 1981
Friends and Husbands |Heller Wahn, 1983
Rosa Luxemburg, 1986
Three Sisters | Paura e amore, 1988
L’Africana, 1990
The Long Silence | Il lungo silenzio, 1993
The Promise | Das Versprechen, 1994
Rosenstrasse, 2003
Vision, 2009
Hannah Arendt, 2012