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Ina Weisse, born on 12 June 1968 in Berlin, completed her acting training at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich. She had her first acting engagements at the Münchner Kammerspiele (1991/92) and at the Nationaltheater Mannheim (1991-1994). At the same time she studied philosophy in Heidelberg and Paris (1992-1996).
Weisse made her big screen debut in 1996 with a supporting role in the crime comedy "Echte Kerle" (Regular Guys"). In the following years she appeared in leading and supporting roles almost exclusively in television productions. For example, as an educator in the much-praised drama "Ein Vater unter Verdacht" (1997), about an (alleged) child abuse. In Uwe Janson's comedy "Single sucht Nachwuchs" (1998), based on the novel by Ulrich Limmer, she played a leading role as a widow alongside Heino Ferch. Stephan Wagner cast her in the crime and relationship drama "Liebestod" (2000) as an ex-policewoman and unfaithful wife.
From 2000 to 2002 Weisse studied film directing at the Hamburg Media School, where Hark Bohm was one of her teachers. Her 19-minute graduation film "Alles anders" (2002) won the First Steps Award and was nominated for the Studio Hamburg Young Talent Award.
In 2003 Weisse played a leading role as wife and mother of the Taschenbier family in the feature film "Sams in Gefahr" (My Magical Friend Sams"). In the TV film "Katzenzungen" (2003), a character study of three girlfriends, she was seen alongside Meret Becker and Birge Schade. She had a supporting role in Hans W. Geissendorf's existentialist drama "Schneeland" ("Snowland", 2004). In 2005 Weisse was a member of the ensemble of the award-winning multi-part play "Die Patriarchin" ("The Patriarch") alongside Iris Berben, Ulrich Noethen and Christoph Waltz. In Martin Gypkens' episodic film "Nichts als Gespenster" ("Nothing But Ghosts", 2007), based on the volume of stories by Judith Hermann, she embodied an architect trying to get over a failed love affair. Directed by her future husband Matti Geschonneck, she played a policewoman at the side of Jürgen Vogel and Iris Berben in the highly acclaimed thriller "Duell in der Nacht". She has had recurring roles as an outspoken neighbor in the eight-part crime series "Blackout - Die Erinnerung ist tödlich" (2006) and as a primary school teacher in the first season of the satirical series "Doktor Martin" (2007), with Axel Milberg in the title role.
At the Hofer Filmtage 2008 Ina Weisse presented her first full-length film as a director: "Der Architekt" ("The Architect") was about a family brought to the brink of break-up by repression, fear and self-deception. Matthias Schweighöfer, Josef Bierbichler and Sandra Hüller starred in the leading roles. At the Max Ophüls Preis film festival, Weisse won the Best Screenplay prize together with her co-author Daphne Charizani; at the Nuremberg Film Festival Türkei/Deutschland she received the main prize for Best Film.
Despite this success, "Der Architekt" ("The Architect") was Weisse's last directorial work for about ten years. She remained very active as a television actress instead. Rainer Kaufmann's "Ich will Dich" ("Unexpected", 2014), about two supposedly heterosexual women who discover their love for each other, won her the German Television Prize and the Prize of the German Academy for Television. She was also awarded the German Television Prize each for her portrayal of a defence lawyer in "Das Ende einer Nacht" (2012) and as the daughter of a life-weary patriarch (Matthias Habich) in "Ein großer Aufbruch" (2016). Matti Geschonneck directed both films. For "Das Ende einer Nacht" she also received the Grimme Award 2017 (together with the main cast). On the big screen she appeared in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "Werk ohne Autor" ("Never Look Away", DE/IT 2018) in a leading role as the wife of an SS-Obersturmbannführer.
As director Ina Weisse made the 48-minute documentary "Die Neue Nationalgalerie" in 2017. At the Toronto Film Festival in September 2019 she presented the feature film "Das Vorspiel" ("The Audition"). In this German-French co-production, Nina Hoss played a teacher at a music high school who is preparing a 12-year-old applicant with increasing obsession for his entrance exam. Hoss received several awards for her performance. The German theatrical release was in January 2020.