"abortion, contraception, the situation of women at work, spousal abuse, and [the] traditional female role". In 2001 she was the President of the Jury at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival. She is a Professor of Film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and remains an important personality of German cinema. The Sister Films Margarethe von Trotta's second feature film was Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness (Schwestern oder die Balance des Glücks, 1979). Unintentionally, she created a "trilogy of sister films" with her succeeding works: Marianne and Juliane (Die Bleierne Zeit, 1981) and Three Sisters (Fürchten und Lieben, 1988). Barbara Quart, author of the book Women Directors, commented on the three works: "It is the quest for wholeness that is the preoccupation of von Trotta's entire sister series." The women in these films are born into a traditional time (late 1940s and '50s), but they reject the positions that society has established for women. As well, the topic of suicide plays an important role in the first two films and how the live sister connects to the dead one. These three films investigate sisterhood and their bonds within a world that is falling apart all around them; this matter places von Trotta's work into New German Cinema. Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness delves into bonds, both physically and mentally, between sisters Maria and Anna, along with a third party. The siblings are close before Anna commits suicide, but hidden behind her facial expressions is a desire to escape this feeling of frustration between following what she wants and what Maria asks of her. Maria faces post suicide trauma, coping with her devastation by transplanting the memory of her sister onto her co-worker, Miriam. This ultimately leads Maria to deal with her inner issues so she can try to move on with her life in a peaceful manner. This film garnered the Grand Prix Award at Créteil International Women's Film Festival in 1981. Marianne and Juliane (also known in English as The German Sisters) (1981) also deals with losing a sister and learning how to handle the grief. Marianne and Juliane grow much closer after Marianne is put behind bars for her radical, terrorist activities. After unexpected news of Marianne's death, Juliane becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind the supposed suicide, which she does not believe to be true. The characters are based on the real-life