Trailblazing German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Film Academy for her outstanding body of work. A press release announced the news.
After launching her career as an actress, von Trotta made her solo debut as a director with 1978’s “The Second Awakening of Christa Klages.” She won Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion in 1981 for “Marianne & Juliane,” a drama about sisters fighting for women’s rights that went on to receive two German Film Awards. Her other credits include “Rosa Luxemburg,” “Love and Fear,” and “Hannah Arendt.”
The multi-hyphenate’s latest film, 2018 doc “Searching for Ingmar Bergman,” explored the iconic filmmaker’s life and work. “Phantom Thread” breakout Vicky Krieps toplines her next film, “Bachmann & Frisch,” a drama inspired by the relationship of writers Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch.
“The figures that appeal to me are always strong women who also have moments of weakness; therefore, I never try to make heroines out of them. Instead I show how they fought to find their own way, how they put themselves out there, and how much they had to swallow in order to find themselves,” von Trotta shared in an interview. “I am fascinated by how they overcome obstacles in order to achieve their goals.”
Von Trotta will receive her honor at the European Film Awards, set to be held December 10 in Reykjavik.
