A longtime resident of Brooklyn, the acclaimed German actress, Barbara Sukowa, is currently starring in, Vision, a new film about the 12th century mystic and composer Hildegarde Von Binghen  playing at the Film Forum.

The film, the latest collaboration between Sukowa and German director, Margarethe von Trotta, explores the 12th century world of monastic religion. Stephen Holden in his review of Vision in the New York Times says of Sukowa that, “(she) makes Hildegard a likable and charismatic woman who risks a great deal to do good in an environment that leaves women little room for self-expression. Her intelligence and enthusiasm make her a proto-feminist force to be reckoned with.”

Together Sukowa and von Trotta have created a body of work about strong, female characters, including Rosa Luxemberg, the 1986 portrayal of the Polish born Marxist philosopher and activist, and Marianne and Julianne, the true story of a member of a 1970’s German militant group and her sister. 

Sukowa, who lives in Brooklyn with her husband, painter Robert Longo and their children, also starred in many films directed by Rainer Maria Fassbiner, including Berlin Alexanderplatz and Lola.