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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Margarethe von Trotta
fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ulrike Ottinger
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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 [+lire aussi :
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Q&A : Maren Ade
fiche film]; Valeska Grisebach and Angela Schanelec, armed with their most recent works (respectively Western [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jonas Dornbach
interview : Valeska Grisebach
interview : Valeska Grisebach
fiche film], seen on the Croisette in 2017, and Music [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], which scooped Best Screenplay at the latest Berlinale); Maria Speth, who won the Silver Bear for Mr. Bachmann and His Class [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]; Maria Schrader, who bagged the Audience Award at the European Film Awards by way of Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe [+lire aussi :
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interview : Maria Schrader
fiche film]; and Emily Atef with her portrait of Romy Schneider as we’ve never seen her before in 3 Days in Quiberon [+lire aussi :
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interview : Emily Atef
fiche film].

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

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