+ Info: University Press of Mississippi
Margarethe von Trotta (b. 1942) entered the film industry in the only way she could in the 1960s—as an actress. Throughout her career, von Trotta added thirty-two acting credits to her name; however, these credits came to a halt in 1975. Her ambition had always been to be a movie director. Though she viewed acting as a detour, it allowed her to be in the right place at the right time, and through her line of work she met such important directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff. The latter would eventually provide her with the opportunity to codirect her first film, Die Verlohrene Ehre der Katharina Blum (The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum) in 1975. The debut’s success ensured von Trotta’s future in the film industry and launched her accomplished film directing career.
