Key figure of the New German Cinema and, alongside Margarethe Von Trotta, the only woman of the group to achieve international recognition. Unlike most other New German directors, Sanders-Brahms has remained a radical in terms of both her content (Marxist- and feminist-inspired canvases on life, politics and love) and form (use of alienation techniques, symbolism, interweaving of past/present and dream/reality).

Sanders-Brahms (she is related to the famed composer on her mother's side) began her career as a TV announcer and turned to directing several years later. Through the 1970s she turned