Drum at the 52nd Academy Awards. The commercial success of The Marriage of Maria Braun strengthened the negotiation position of Fassbinder in his subsequent film projects. He received a financing agreement for one of his favorite projects based on Pitigrilli's novel Cocaine and was able to increase the budget for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Several German commercial film producers expressed an interest in making films with Fassbinder. The seasoned film producer Luggi Waldleitner would produce the Fassbinder film Lili Marleen with Hanna Schygulla in the main role. Horst Wendlandt would produce the two other films in the BRD Trilogy, Lola and Veronika Voss. His success also allowed him to realize his last project, Querelle which was co-financed by Gaumont. As Fengler had oversold the rights to the film, the profit share of Fassbinder was an open question. Eckelkamp saw himself as the sole owner of all rights, but sent a check in the amount of 70,000 DM to Fassbinder in 1982 to appease the director. After Fassbinder's death his mother and heiress Liselotte Eder revived the claims, but was rejected by Eckelkamp. In the course of legal proceedings Eckelkamp was ordered in 1986 to disclose the film's finances to the newly founded Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. Eckelkamp's Trio Film disclosed a budget of almost 2 million DM, additional marketing costs of 1 million DM and a net profit of 1 million DM. When Trio-Film was ordered to pay to Fassbinder's heirs 290,000 DM Eckelkamp refused. At the request of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation Trio Film had to declare bankruptcy in 1988. In the course of the continuing legal proceedings, the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf certified in 1990 that Fassbinder was not a co-producer of the film. The ruling was upheld by the Federal Court of Justice, but also ruled that the Fassbinder heirs were entitled to a share of the film's profits. Today all film rights are owned by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. References Notes Bibliography (screenplay) (novel based on the film) Further reading Anton Kaes. From Hitler to Heimat: The Return of History as Film. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1989. External links Die Ehe der Maria Braun at Film Portal Die Ehe der Maria Braun at the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation's Official Website A Market for Emotions: The Marriage of Maria Braun Production History an essay by Michael Töteberg at the Criterion Collection 1978 films 1978 drama films German drama