Christel, Paula and Karolina work in the oldest trade in the world and are considered to be »ready for the scrap-heap«. Frauenzimmer tells of three Berlin women of advanced age who make a living in the sex trade. They are not interested in justifying themselves or in showing off. Their widely varied personalities reveal the very different ways that they look on prostitution and why they decided to take up this career. With pride, self-confidence, sometimes with no words, sometimes very verbally and humorously, they show what this work means to them and how much love they have that is not for sale. The documentary gives an insight into three extraordinary life stories, and into in part surprisingly bourgeois everyday lives.

Jury statement: Three women in negligées in their Berlin apartments. They are all over 45 and work as prostitutes. Without being voyeuristic or making judgments, the camera portrays their everyday lives with a self-assured gaze. It subtlety captures an otherwise hidden moment of waiting. Eva Maschke manages to show the banality of everyday life in a way that is anything but banal. She displays a talent in making use of the available light, and in the interview sequences she sets the light to create some very atmospheric images. We can sense a good and trusting cooperation between the director of photography and the film director, who maintain the dignity and beauty of the protagonists at all times.