Happy 40th Birthday, Anne Zohra Berrached!

31 July

Anne Zohra Berrached was born in Erfurt to German-Algerian parents. Following her studies of social pedagogy, she gained her initial directorial experience in various theatres in Berlin before beginning a directing study programme in 2009 at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. That same year, she shot her first documentary film, Der Pausenclown (2009). One year later, she made her documentary short Heilige & Hure  (Saint and Whore, 2010), which was invited to screen at more than 80 film festivals worldwide.

In 2013, Anne Zohra Berrached made her first full-length feature film Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers), a semi-documentary about a lesbian couple's difficulties conceiving a child with a sperm donor. The film premiered at the Berlinale, where it won the Perspektive Deutsches Kino prize. Berrached's second feature film 24 Wochen (24 Weeks) was the only German entry in the 2016 Berlinale competition. The disturbing drama, about a pregnant woman who learns her baby is severely disabled and must decide whether to have a late-term abortion, gained international attention and won numerous prizes including the German Film Award in silver.

Anne Zora Berrached also ventured into controversial waters with her third film, Copilot. Based on the story of 9/11 attacker Mohammed Atta, it tells of the relationship between a German-Turkish medicine student and her Lebanese husband, a Muslim who is gradually becoming radicalised.

Anne Zohra Berrached was a member of the Berlinale competition jury at this year's festival. She lives and works in Leipzig and Berlin.

Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers , 2013), directed by Anne Zohra Berrached

Katja and Isabella, a lesbian couple, want to have a child through a sperm donor, hoping to avoid giving the biological father a say in the child's custody. But the process is more difficult than they imagined. Legal hurdles, expensive mistakes and psychological stress soon threaten to cause a rift in their relationship.