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Maria Speth, born in Tittling in 1967, studied at the Konrad Wolf Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. From 1991 she worked as an assistant editor and director on feature film and television film productions. Her short film "Barfuß" (1999) was awarded the 3Sat sponsorship prize at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival. Two years later, Speth's feature film debut "In den Tag hinein" ("The Days Between") premiered at the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival. The love story about a woman in Berlin at the crossroads between a deadlocked relationship and a new love for a soulmate Japanese man won awards at the Rotterdam Film Festival, among others. Her drama "Madonnen" ("Madonnas", 2007), about a mother of five (Sandra Hüller) who tries to build a "normal" life after a prison sentence, received the Hessian Film Award for Best Film.
In 2009, Speth founded the production company Madonnen Film and realized her first documentary: "9 Leben" ("9 Lives", 2010) portrays nine teenagers who live on the street. At the DOK-Fest Leipzig, "9 Leben" was awarded the DEFA sponsorship prize.
Speth's feature film "Töchter" ("Daughters") premiered at the Berlinale 2014 Forum: The drama tells the story of a mother who in Berlin searches for her daughter who has run away from home and in the process gets to know an extremely headstrong stray. The film opened regularly in theaters in late summer 2014.
In 2015, Speth received a screenplay grant from the German Federal Film Board (FFA) for her documentary treatment "Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse" ("Mr. Bachmann and His Class") and completed filming in July 2017. After the complex editing phase of this long-term observation of a teacher on the verge of retirement and his multicultural class, the film premiered at the 71st Berlinale in 2021. Speth was awarded a Silver Bear for the film and the Audience Award at Berlinale Summer Special. She also received the Firebird Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The film eas released in German cinemas in September 2021.
During the preparation and production of "Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse," Speth received a screenplay grant from the FFA in 2016 for the feature film project "Für Kate," and a grant from the BKM in 2019 for the development of a screenplay entitled "Man lebt, weil man geboren wird."