New Dietrich biopic 'Berlinweh' to be directed by Agnieszka Holland

Agnieszka Holland is set to direct a new biopic about late German-American film icon Marlene Dietrich called "Berlinweh - Yearning for a Home," Berlin-based production company X Filme Creative Pool said on Tuesday.

"Marlene Dietrich was a tangle of contradictions," Holland said.

She described the actress, who died in 1992, as "a glamour star, yet an outstanding actress, singer and soldier; a selfish ego-centrist and a loyal, magnanimous friend and lover; a fighter for human rights, full of fears and uncertainties; a German who, in the eyes of many of her countrymen, became a traitor."

Filming is due to begin in the second half of 2027, with the role of Dietrich yet to be cast.

The film is set to focus on four key days in the actress' life: in Paris in 1937, Bergen-Belsen in 1945, Tel Aviv in 1960, and again Paris in 1983.

Dietrich was born in 1901 in Berlin's Schöneberg neighbourhood. She studied to become a concert violinist but later turned to acting after being introduced to the roaring nightlife of Weimar Berlin.

She garnered world fame with films including "The Blue Angel," "Morocco" and "Shanghai Express."

She refused to work in Germany during Nazi rule, which led to her films being temporarily banned. She received US citizenship in 1939.

Dietrich passed away in Paris on May 6, 1992, and was buried in her native Berlin.