Martina Gedeck

Martina Gedeck (born 14 September 1961) is a German actress. She achieved wider international acclaim due to her roles in films such as Mostly Martha (2001), The Lives of Others (2006), and The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008). She has won several awards, including two Deutscher Filmpreis, in 1997 for Supporting Actress in Life is All You Get, and in 2002 for Actress in Mostly Martha.

Biography
Gedeck was born 14 September 1961 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany, and grew up in Bavaria, the oldest of three girls. In 1971, her family moved to West Berlin, where the 11-year-old Martina debuted as an actress in children's television shows. There seems to be some uncertainty regarding her year of birth 1961.

After leaving school in 1981, she enrolled at the Free University of Berlin, majoring in German Literature and History. From 1982 to 1986, Martina attended acting classes at the Berlin University of the Arts. During that time, she made her stage debut at the Theater am Turm in Frankfurt. Gedeck performed regularly at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, and appeared in plays in Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.

In 1994, Gedeck gained the attention of film audiences with her performance in Sönke Wortmann's hit comedy Maybe... Maybe Not (Der bewegte Mann). In 1995, Gedeck received critical praise for her award-winning performance in the television drama . In 1997, she boosted her reputation with her performance as Lilo in Wolfgang Becker's Life is All You Get (Das Leben ist eine Baustelle). In 1997, she received the German Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as a shy waitress in Helmut Dietl's . By the end of the 1990s, Gedeck had established herself as "one of the most prolific character actresses in Germany" with ambitious feature films such as Jew-Boy Levi (Viehjud Levi) and television dramas like Dominik Graf's Your Best Years (Deine besten Jahre). She garnered awards and nominations throughout this period of her career.



Gedeck's international breakthrough came with her performance in Sandra Nettelbeck's Mostly Martha (Bella Martha). In the film, she plays a workaholic chef who is forced to adjust to major changes in her personal and professional life that are beyond her control. The film won the Créteil International Women's Film Festival Grand Prix Award, and the Goya Award for Best European Film in 2002. It also received a German Film Award Nomination for Outstanding Feature Film. For her performance, Gedeck received a European Film Award Nomination for Best Actress (2002), the German Film Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Actress (2002), and the German Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (2003). In 2006, Gedeck appeared in five major films: The Elementary Particles (2006) as Christiane, The Lives of Others (2006) as Christa-Maria Sieland, The Perfect Friend (2006) as Marlène, Summer '04 (2006) as Miriam Franz, and Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd (2006) as Hanna Schiller, starring opposite Matt Damon and John Turturro. The Lives of Others won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2008, Gedeck played the role of Ulrike Meinhof in The Baader Meinhof Complex. In 2010, Gedeck, who is affiliated with the Green Party, served as an elector in the Federal Assembly to elect the new President of Germany. That year, she appeared in Jew Suss: Rise and Fall and Agnosía.

In 2012, she appeared in The Wall and The Door, and in 2013, she appeared in The Nun and Night Train to Lisbon. Gedeck resides in Berlin with her partner, Swiss director Markus Imboden. In 2013 she was nominated a member of the jury at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

Filmography

 * Television
 * Der Fahnder - TV series, 1 episode (1988), as Stephanie
 * Goldjunge (1988), as Brigitte Katzbach
 * Die Beute (1988), as Nelly
 * Schulz & Schulz – TV series, 5 episodes (1989–1993), as Britta
 * Hausmänner (1991), as Helen
 * Mutter und Söhne (1992), as Susanne Stoller
 * Leo und Charlotte (1993), as Sylvie
 *  (1993), as Bronka
 *  (1995), as Wanda
 *  (1995), as Hölleisengretl
 * Der Schönste Tag im Leben (1996), as Waltraut
 * Lea Katz - Die Kriminalpsychologin: Einer von uns (1997), as Lea Katz
 * Lea Katz - Die Kriminalpsychologin: Das wilde Kind (1997), as Lea Katz
 * Der Neffe (1997), as Isabella
 * Bella Block – TV series, episode "Tod eines Mädchens" (1997), as Frau Meng
 *  (1997), as Kati Treichl
 *  (1998, TV miniseries), as Elvira
 * Die beste Party - Heimatabend 1999 (1999)
 * Ich habe nein gesagt (1999), as Doris Wengler
 * Your Best Years (1999), as Vera Kemp
 * Happy Hour oder Glück und Glas (2000), as Greta Steinwender / Ladiner
 *  (2000), as Kati Treichl
 * Romeo (2001), as Lotte Zimmermann
 * Private Lies (Scheidung auf amerikanisch) (2001), as Sarah
 * Jenseits der Liebe (2001), as Helen Dubbs
 * Die Mutter (2002), as Vera Zardiss
 * Verlorenes Land (2002), as Maria
 * Andreas Hofer (2002 film) (2002), as Lebzelter-Mariandl
 * Geheime Geschichten (2003)
 * Unsre Mutter ist halt anders (2003), as Paula
 * Schattenlinie (2003), as Clara Lorenz
 * Das Blaue Wunder (2004), as Thea Eiselt
 *  (2004), as Brigitte Reimann
 * Feuer in der Nacht (2004), as Paola Winkler
 *  (2004), as Anne Stein
 * Giacomo Casanova (2004), as Madame De Roll
 *  (2005), as Prof. Sara M. Kardow
 *  (2006), as Paula Schmitt
 * Verlassen (2007), as Claudia
 * Sisi (2009), as Erzherzogin Sophie von Habsburg
 * Tatort (2010) as Jana Maitner
 * Halbe Hundert (2012)
 *  (2013), as Judith Furmann
 * Tannbach (2015) as Hilde Vöckler
 * Seit du da bist (2016), as Clara
 * The Verdict (2016 film) (2016), as Staatsanwältin Frau Nelson
 * Arthurs Gesetz - TV miniseries, 6 episodes (2018), as Martha Ahnepol / Muriel
 * Herzjagen (2019), as Caroline Binder
 * Oktoberfest: Beer and Blood - TV miniseries, 6 episodes (2020), as Maria Hoflinger


 * Cinema
 * Tiger, Lion, Panther (1989), as Nicoletta/Lion
 * Hard Days, Hard Nights (1989), as Goldi
 * Der bewegte Mann (1994), as Jutta
 * Talk of the Town (1995), as Sabine Kirsch
 * How I've Got Rhythm (short film, 1995), as Susanne
 *  (1997), as Rica Reichmann
 *  (1997), as Serafina
 * Life is All You Get (1997), as Lilo
 * Women Don't Lie (1998), as Hannah
 *  (1998), as Czerni
 * Jew-Boy Levi (1999), as Fräulein Neuner
 * Alles Bob! (1999), as Barbara
 * The Green Desert (1999), as Doris
 * Mostly Martha (2001), as Martha Klein
 * Atomised (2006), as Christiane
 * The Lives of Others (2006), as Christa-Maria Sieland
 * The Perfect Friend (2006), as Marlène
 * Summer '04 (2006), as Miriam Franzj
 * The Good Shepherd (2006), as Hanna Schiller
 * Messy Christmas (2007), as Sara
 * Geliebte Clara (2008), as Clara Schumann
 * The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), as Ulrike Meinhof
 * Bets and Wedding Dresses (2009), as Josephine Campanella
 * Jew Suss: Rise and Fall (2010), as Anna Marian
 * Agnosía (2010), as Prevert
 * Bastard (2011 film) (2011), as Claudia Meinert
 * The Wall (2012), as the woman
 * The Door (2012), as Magda
 * The Nun (La Religieuse, 2013), as Suzanne's mother
 * Night Train to Lisbon (2013), as Mariana
 * Those Happy Years (2013), as Helke
 * The Limits of Patience (2014), as Corianna Kleist
 * The Girl King (2015), as Maria Eleonara of Brandenburg
 * I'm Off Then (2015), as Stella
 * Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank (2016), as Edith Frank
 * Original Bliss (2016), as Helene Brindel
 * Wir töten Stella (2017), as Anna
 * Zwei Herren im Anzug (2018), as Theres
 * Lost in Separation (2019), as Doris Lehnert
 * Wunderschön (2020), as Frauke Abeck, Julie's Mother
 * Dark Satellites (2022)