Margarethe von Trotta ranks among the most important female directors in German cinema since the 1970s, during which time she also made a name for herself as an actress. Today primarily active as a screenwriter and director, her most well-known films include: "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" ("Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum", 1975, in co-direction with Volker Schlöndorff), "The Second Awakening of Christa Klages" ("Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages", 1977), "Sisters or the Balance of Happiness" ("Schwestern oder Die Balance des Gluecks", 1979), "Marianne and Juliane" ("Die Bleierne Zeit", 1981),"Sheer Madness" ("Heller Wahn", 1983), "Rosa Luxemburg" (1985), "The African Woman" ("Die Rueckkehr", 1990), "The Long Silence" ("Il Lungo Silenzio", 1993), "The Promise" ("Das Versprechen", 1994), and "Rosenstrasse" (2003), among others.

After the psychological drama "Ich bin die Andere" ("I Am the Other Woman") that starred a top-class cast, von Trotta once more turned to a historically important topic: In "Vision – Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen" ("Vision"), she depicts the life and the development of the legendary mystic who became famous both as a forerunner of alternative medicine and as a fierce protagonist in the matter of "women and church".