Maedchen in Uniform

A milestone of Queer Cinema, Maedchen in Uniform is Géza von Radványi’s 1958 screen adaptation of the groundbreaking play by Christa Winsloe. Romy Schneider (The Trial) stars as Manuela, a sensitive pupil who forms an attachment to a compassionate instructor (Lilli Palmer, Body and Soul) while at a militaristic boarding school. After performing the role of Romeo in the school play, an intoxicated Manuela openly declares her love for Miss von Bernburg, scandalizing the student body and inciting the wrath of the school’s conservative headmistress (Therese Giehse). Previously filmed in 1931 by Leontine Sagan, Maedchen in Uniform is a timeless coming-of-age classic that captures the heartache and confusion of a young woman’s sexual awakening.