Berlin

One of German cinema's most famous and respected actresses, Hanna Schygulla, is receiving a multi-film hommage as part of this year's 60th anniversary celebrations of the Berlinale. This iconic actress, who is most associated with the work of German pioneering director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, has been a prolific actress since the 1960s and is one of the only German talents known around the world for her vivid acting style.

Hanna Schygulla was born in 1925 in Königshütte, Upper Silesia, to German parents Antonie and Joseph Schygulla. Her father, a timber merchant by profession, was then drafted as an infantryman in the German Army and was captured by American forces in Italy, subsequently being held as a prisoner of war until 1948. In the 1960s, Schygulla studied Romance languages and German studies, while taking acting lessons in Munich during her spare time. 

Acting eventually became her focus, and she became particularly known for her film work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom she collaborated on more than 8 films. Their collaboration (with Fassbinder acting as her muse) defined the New German Cinema movement of the late 1960s and 1970s that put German moviemaking on the international map.

Their collaboration was not without its bumpy patches. During the making of EFFI BRIEST (1974), an adaptation of a classic German novel, Fassbinder and Schygulla fell out over divergent interpretations of the character. Also a problem for Schygulla was low pay, and she led a revolt against Fassbinder on this issue. Fassbinder's response was typically blunt: "I can't stand the sight of your face any more. You bust my balls.". Despite this feud, they continued to work together, culminating in the classic collaboration of THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (1978), which was a great international hit for its director and lead actress.

After Fassbinder's death in the late 1980s, Schygulla has acted in French, Italian, and American films. In the 1990s she also became known and well-regarded as a chanson singer. In Juliane Lorenz's documentary film LIFE, LOVE AND CELLULOID (1998), Schygulla performs several songs and reminisced about the early days of the German cinema movement.

After almost retiring from the screen, she made a triumphant comeback in 2007 as the mother who travels to Turkey to find her lesbian daughter in German director Fatih Akin's arthouse hit THE EDGE OF HEAVEN. Schygulla  will receive a special award later this week for her impressive and indelible body of work.

Sandy Mandelberger, Berlinale Dailies Editor