Toronto International Film Festival 2009
 

 Synopsis
 A child of a wealthy German family, Hildegard is handed over to a Benedictine Monastery from the age of 8. Taught in the arts of herbal medicine, reading and writing by her mentor Jutta, she quickly excels in all. When Jutta dies, Hildegard is horrified by evidence of selfflagellation on her body and vows to change the ways of the order. Composer, scientist, doctor, writer, poet, mystic, philosopher, politician, ecological activist... A woman ahead of her time. Hildegard’s musical, literary and philosophical works are still loved today and her influence in holistic medicine is growing.

Program Note
 From The Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum, Rosa Luxemburg, The German Sisters to The Women Of Rosenstrasse, Margarethe von Trotta always talked about real stories of women in struggle. In her new biographic movie Vision, she again talks about a real woman called Hildegard von Bingen, a sister who lived in the middle ages. Hildegard was a truly talented woman with a tremendous amount of expertise as a nature scholar, scientist, philosopher, medical botanist, composer, painter, and writer in the 12C, a dark age for women. In other words, Hildegard was a herald at that time marching forward with extreme velocity. Margarethe von Trotta, however, brings more focus on Hildegard as a feminism activist and ‘mother’ sister with courage and decision, rather than displaying her talents or accumulating achievements. Vision sheds light on the process of finding her own place with her exceptional talents of seeing divine revelation in the totally male dominant society, which was completely occupied by aristocrats and Catholic power. Trotta’s inquisitive mind about women’s bonds is revealed by the close and sometimes painful mother-daughter relations repeatedly seen between Hildegard and other nuns in the nunnery. It seems inevitable that Trotta, who always pictured strong and progressive woman in history, chose Hildegard at this time when her psychosomatics and medical botany along with her interest in environment are drawing special attention. (KWON Eun-sun)