"But She’s a Thinker"

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My essay, "But She's a Thinker" began as a solely professional endeavor: the journey towards making a film about Hannah Arendt had been long and hard and it was an interesting tale to tell. I hoped it would inspire other filmakers to persevere in their desire to produce challenging projects. But as I began to write, the essay took on a personal note quite beyond my control. I realized the depth to which my own background — the daughter of a German-Jewish emigre who grew up among intellectuals on the Upper West Side of New York — had fueled my passion for a film about Hannah Arendt. How the life and work of this great woman had influenced by own life, in large part without my realizing it. Like most personal discoveries, I realized this after the fact — mostly while writing this initially objective essay. I also understood the fascinating position in which I had placed myself — I was between two powerful and brilliant women: Hannah Arendt, a German-Jewish emigre, and Margarethe von Trotta, a German filmaker who has devoted her life to understanding the world in very much the same spirit as Arendt herself. Distilling this experience on paper compelled me to understand much about myself and why I was able to sustain my energy and hope during the many years that were required to write and produce our film.

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