Mädchen in Uniform April 20 @ Crocker Art Museum

Directed by Leontine Sagan, one of the first female directors in Europe, Mädchen in Uniform is a pioneeringly naturalistic portrayal of young female psyche at a time when the world was bracing for war. Drawing on elements prevalent in German Expressionist film like chiaroscuro, thought provoking mise-en-scene and very deliberate narrative pacing, Sagan’s classic of queer filmmaking tells the story of Manuela and her experiences as a new boarder at an all-girls boarding school headed by the overbearing Fräulein von Nordeck zur Nidden. Made at the height of liberal Weimar decadence, Mädchen in Uniform occupies a moment in German cinema between the dramatic, expressive works of filmmakers like Robert Wiene and the formalist propaganda films, like Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi party documentary Triumph of the Will, that would follow.