06/12/2023 - The 35th edition of the festival will host its traditional section on female filmmakers hailing from a specific Central and Eastern European country, showcasing 13 titles by as many German directors

German cinema is set to be the focus of the traditional Wild Roses programme - unspooling within the Trieste Film Festival (whose 35th edition will run 19 - 27 January) - which homes in on women filmmakers from a different country in Central and Eastern Europe each year. As such, after Poland, Georgia and Ukraine’s turn, it’s now a selection – curated by the Berlinale’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek – of contemporary Germany’s most interesting filmmaking approaches which is set for the showcase. The Wild Roses focus is organised with the support of German Films, Goethe-Institut Rom and DeutschZentrum Triest.

Thirteen titles by as many authors are on the agenda; films which have often won awards all over the world, but less internationally known films too, unveiling new names for Italian audiences to discover, which – according to Nicoletta Romeo, the artistic director of the Trieste Film Festival – “will reveal a modern, inclusive and multicultural country, which is a far cry from stereotypes”.

Heading up the German delegation is Margarethe von Trotta, who’ll be attending Trieste to present her new film Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey Into the Desert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile] (soon to hit Italian cinemas, courtesy of Movies Inspired). A representative of Neuer Deutscher Film and a winner of the Golden Lion in Venice 1981 via The German Sisters, she’s just one, alongside Ulrike Ottinger (who’ll be screening Paris Calligrammes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ulrike Ottinger
film profile]), of a generation of women masters who are still hard at work today.

Other names on the guest list are Maren Ade, revealed in Cannes 2016 and who introduced the extraordinary actress Sandra Hüller to the world via Toni Erdmann [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile]; Valeska Grisebach and Angela Schanelec, armed with their most recent works (respectively Western [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Dornbach
interview: Valeska Grisebach
interview: Valeska Grisebach
film profile], seen on the Croisette in 2017, and Music [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which scooped Best Screenplay at the latest Berlinale); Maria Speth, who won the Silver Bear for Mr. Bachmann and His Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; Maria Schrader, who bagged the Audience Award at the European Film Awards by way of Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe [+see also:
trailer
interview: Maria Schrader
film profile]; and Emily Atef with her portrait of Romy Schneider as we’ve never seen her before in 3 Days in Quiberon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emily Atef
film profile].

We’ll also be treated to the cosmopolitan talent of Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu (Anishoara [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and Ayse Polat (In the Blind Spot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ayşe Polat
film profile]), and the audacious Nicolette Krebitz (Wild [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile]) and Frauke Finsterwalder (Sisi & I [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Frauke Finsterwalder
film profile]).

As Mariëtte Rissenbeek explains: “Wild Roses is a real inspiration when it comes to anti-conformist and courageous filmmakers, and films which stimulate and entertain me, but which I also find difficult and uncomfortable. There are no roses without thorns”.

In collaboration with

(Translated from Italian)