Hanna Schygulla

Hanna Schygulla, born on 25 December 1943, is an acclaimed German actress and chanson singer. She is widely associated with theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, having started her partnership with him in 1965. Schygulla was a crucial contributor to the New German Cinema, winning the Berlin Silver Bear for Best Actress in 1979 for Fassbinder's 'The Marriage of Maria Braun'. Her outstanding performance in the 1983 Marco Ferreri film, 'The Story of Piera' earned her the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. Her early life was marked with struggles, being born during World War II, her father being a POW, and being a refugee in Munich. Despite these challenges, she studied Romance languages and German studies while simultaneously taking acting lessons. Throughout the 1960s, she gradually shifted her focus to acting and was particularly notable for her collaborations with Fassbinder. Schygulla had a fallout with Fassbinder during the making of 'Effi Briest' (1974) due to disagreements over character interpretations and remuneration disputes, leading to a brief gap in their professional relationship. They reunited for 'The Marriage of Maria Braun' in 1978, a film that won her critical acclaim. Starting from the 1990s, Schygulla transitioned into a chanson singer and featured in various documentary films. She has also been recognised with several lifetime career awards, cementing her legacy in international cinema. Schygulla had mainly resided in Paris but relocated to Berlin in 2014.