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The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (15*)

The Second Awakening of Christa Klages

In her solo directorial debut, a complex take on the chase film, Margarethe von Trotta explores her favourite theme: the powerful and often mysterious psychic bond among women.

Three people rob a bank to help a day care centre that's in debt. Wolf is captured, Werner identified, police suspect Christa (Tina Engel) is the third. On the run, she is pursued by the police and more ambiguously, also by Lena, the young woman who was her hostage in the raid.

Shot on a shoestring budget, this compelling and convincing drama explores female relationships, sisterhood and the troubling uses and effects of violence.

It was also one of a handful of contemporary films that responded to the events surrounding the national terrorist collective Baader-Meinhof, a topic that von Trotta returned to in her later work (such as The German Sisters, 1981).

Germany 1978 Dir Margarethe von Trotta 93 min

* = Locally classified by The City of London Corporation

In association with the ICO, courtesy of Studiocanal and screening under the Vintage World Cinema banner. With thanks to the Goethe-Institute London.

‘The Personal is Political – Films by Margarethe von Trotta’ is a touring programme delivered by the ICO with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from The National Lottery. Find out more here

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