Elisabeth Bentley

Elisabeth Bentley started work on A HIDDEN LIFE, the story of Franz Jagerstatter, Austrian farmer and draft-resister under Hitler, in 2007 and began collaborating directly with his widow, Franziska Jagerstatter, in 2010. Bentley brought Terrence Malick on to direct the film in 2015, the first time Malick has directed a film he didn't originate. A HIDDEN LIFE premiered in competition at Cannes and received the Ecumenical Jury Prize. The film was released by Fox Searchlight in December 2019. Bentley's previous films include BEAUTIFUL DARLING (2010) about Candy Darling, Warhol superstar and transgender pioneer and NANKING (2008). Bentley has been nominated for a WGA Award for NANKING and shortlisted for the Documentary Oscar. Her films have screened at the Berlinale, Sundance, MoMA, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Telluride, Cannes and Toronto. She attended Harvard College and received an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 2019 Bentley founded MARGINALIA PICTURES to bring new visions and methods into legacy filmmaking systems.