Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) presents a major retrospective of legendary filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta (*1942 in Berlin). In 1981, she became the first woman to be awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, for The German Sisters (Die bleierne Zeit), a drama inspired by the story of the Ensslin sisters. Throughout this and many other works, von Trotta pioneered the exploration of German history, iconic female figures, and the relationship between the personal and the political – particularly from a feminist perspective. Influenced by Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, and the French Nouvelle Vague, she creates psychologically complex characters while illuminating historical contexts as one of the central auteurs of New German Cinema.

At n.b.k, numerous film excerpts, photographs – some previously unpublished – screenplay drafts, and diaries provide insight into von Trotta’s life and work. The exhibition focuses on her sustained engagement with the perspectives and struggles of both contemporary and historical female figures, as well as with pivotal moments in German history. Her portrayals of influential thinkers such as Rosa Luxemburg, Hildegard von Bingen, Hannah Arendt, and Ingeborg Bachmann stand alongside her longtime collaborations with actors including Angela Winkler, Jutta Lampe, Katja Riemann, and Barbara Sukowa.

Film Program – Margarethe von Trotta

September 19 – November 9, 2025

Babylon Kino, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, 10178 Berlin

With talks and lectures by Nora M. Alter, Marius Babias, Michaela Richter, Klaus Theweleit, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Thilo Wydra

Parallel to the exhibition, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein is screening a selection of von Trotta’s films at Babylon Kino. The program spans her early political works from 1975 onward, later biopics on historical female figures such as Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt, and her examinations of German history in works like Die bleierne Zeit (1981) and Rosenstraße (2003). At the center of these films is the question of how protagonists from different generations respond to the social power structures of their time. The program also includes her only documentary to date, Auf der Suche nach Ingmar Bergman (2018), in which she takes a personal approach to tracing the life of the iconic director whose work first inspired her to become a filmmaker.

Find more information as well as all screening dates here

Publication

On the occasion of the exhibition, a bilingual publication (DE/EN) will be published in the series "n.b.k. Exhibitions" published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne.