Seniors’ Free Matinee: Mädchen in Uniform

A strict headmistress tries to suppress a schoolgirl’s crush on her teacher in Leontine Sagan’s landmark film.

Germany 1931
Directed by Leontine Sagan
With Dorothea Wieck, Hertha Thiele, Ellen Schwanneke
Running time 88min
Certificate PG

‘What you call sin, I call the great spirit of love, which takes a thousand forms.’ One of the first films to feature a positive depiction of a lesbian storyline, Mädchen in Uniform is one of the key films in LGBT cinema history. Banned by the Nazis for its ‘decadence’, it depicts heated passions at a girls’ boarding school, as a strict headmistress tries to suppress a schoolgirl’s crush on her teacher. Beautifully acted by an all-female cast, it remains one of the greatest films made in Weimar Germany.

Introduced by Alex Davidson.

This screening is free to over-60s; otherwise tickets available at normal matinee price.