Margarethe von Trotta Retrospective: Die bleierne Zeit

Following a lecture by Nora M. Alter (Professor of Film and Media Art, Temple University, Philadelphia) in English, presented by the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein

Marianne and Juliane are pastors' daughters. The younger of the two, Marianne, has dedicated herself to armed struggle in the Federal Republic and gone underground. Juliane is the editor of a feminist women's magazine; she condemns her sister's radicalism. When Marianne is arrested, Juliane visits her repeatedly in prison. Their conversations also touch on their shared childhood: her father's strict upbringing, the bombing nights of World War II, the horror of Nazi crimes, and early forms of youthful rebellion. When Marianne is found dead in her cell, Juliane refuses to believe it was suicide.