Aimee and Jaguar, dir. Max Fäberböck, 1999 - real-life love story of a lesbian member of the Jewish underground, Felice Schragenheim, and a German Hausfrau Lilly Wust, during the last years of WWII

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Alles was wir wollen (Everything We Want) dir. Beatrice Möller, 2013 - a documentary film about three female protagonists turning 30 and navigating life, careers, relationships, and heath

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Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin (A Woman in Berlin) dir. Max Färberböck, 2008 - adapted from a memoir of survival during th last weeks of the war

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Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven), dir. Fatih Akin, 2007 - follows the lives of three very women of different cultures, genders, and occupations

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Barbara, dir. Christian Petzold, 2012 - a female doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital because she applied for a permission to travel to the West

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BRD-Trilogie: Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979), Lola (1981), Veronika Voss (1981) dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder - melodramas centered on strong, but flawed female protagonists in the post-war era of the “economic miracle”

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Ben annemin kiziyim – Ich bin die Tochter meiner Mutter (I Am My Mother’s Daughter) dir. Seyhan Derin, 1996 - through interviews, voice-over narrative, and the use of photos and letters, the film shows Derin and her family in Germany and with her mother on a trip in Turkey, where she interviews her mother, grandmother, aunt, and friends

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Betongold – Wie die Finanzkrise in mein Wohnzimmer kam, dir. Katrin Rothe, 2013 - a documentary and partially animated film about the struggle of a woman in gentrifying Berlin to keep her apartment and her dignity

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Der Beginn aller Schrecken ist Liebe (The Trouble with Love, literally: The Beginning of all Fright is Love) dir. Helke Sander, 1984 - fusion of personal/autobiographical and political/historical comedy with irony

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Deutschland, bleiche Mutter (Germany, Pale Mother) dir. Helma Sanders-Brahms, 1979 - grim portrayal of a female protagonist and her daughter in the aftermath of WWII

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Die allseits reduzierte Persöhnlichkeit (REDUPERS – The All-Round Reduced Personality), dir. Helke Sander, 1978 - the film documents a fictional struggle of  collective of feminist photographers discussing the means of production for their photo series about women in Berlin, and access to potential exhibition spaces, ranging from an art gallery to billboards in the city

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Die bleierne Zeit (Marianne and Julianne) dir. Margarethe von Trotta, 1981 - story of the relationship between two sisters caught up in the West German terrorist movement of the Red Army Faction (RAF)

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Die Patriotin (The Female Patriot) dir. Alexander Kluge, 1979 - witty, essayistic collage

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Hannah Arendt, dir. Margarethe von Trotta, 2012 - portrayal of the political philosopher during the years around the Eichmann trial

 

Hungerjahre (Years of Hunger) dir. Jutta Brückner, 1980 - portrayal of a mother and daughter in the post-war years

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The Invisible Frame, dir. Cynthia Beatt, 2009 - Tilda Swinton bikes along the outlines of the Berlin Wall 21 years after she biked along the actual Wall in the film “Cycling the Frame”

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Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) dir. Tom Tykwer, 1998 - strong female protagonist has three chances to help her distressed boyfriend

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Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in Uniform) dir. Leontine Sagan, 1932 - provides insights into the roots of fascism within patriarchy though representation of homoerotic rebellion against Prussian order and rigidity. Based on the play Gestern und heute (Yesterday and Today) by Christa Winsloe

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Männer (Men) dir. Doris Dörrie, 1985 - one of the most commercially successful German comedies since WWII

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Rosa Luxemburg, dir. Margarethe von Trotta, 1986 - biography of the famous socialist revolutionary’s life and tragic death

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Solo Sunny, dir. Konrad Wolf, 1980 - portrayal of a female singer in the GDR and her struggle with sexism

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Sommer vorm Balkon, dir. Andreas Dresen, 2005 - portrayal of two female protagonists in Prenzlauer Berg after Reunification and their quest for companionships

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Toni Erdmann, dir. Maren Ade, 2016 - a reluctant woman (Sandra Hüller) must spend time with her estranged father (Peter Simonischek) when he comes for a surprise visit

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Winter Adé (Farewell to Winter) dir. Helke Misselwitz, 1989 - documentary on women’s lives in East Germany that in many ways anticipated the changes that would come with the fall of the Wall later that year

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