About

The Personal is Political: The Films of Margarethe von Trotta
In UK cinemas from October 2018 until October 2019

Despite their importance at the time, there are a number of filmmakers who seem inexplicably to be forgotten or passed over.  We at the Independent Cinema Office are dedicated to changing this.

On this site, you can find new writing that we’ve commissioned about the visionary (but often overlooked) New German Cinema director Margarethe von Trotta from academics, curators and writers from different generations. We are interested in discussing her relevance for audiences in 2018 as well as understanding why she needs to be celebrated and her influence understood.

Read the introduction by our Director Catharine Des Forges and navigate below to the new writing:

Imagine (by Sarah Wood)

The Personal is Political (by Erica Carter)

Failing to Act, Acting to Fail: The Films of Margarethe von Trotta (by Emily Watlington)

‘Being useful is a form of willing slavery…’ (by Lucy Reynolds)

The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) would like to thank the BFI Audience Fund for supporting The Personal is Political – The Films of Margarethe von Trotta tour as well as the Goethe Institute and German Screen Studies Network for their support. The titles in this tour are courtesy of STUDIOCANAL UK and distributed under the Vintage World Cinema banner.