Maria Reiche: Das Geheimnis der Nazca-Linien

Peru in the 1930s: While fascism is spreading across Europe, the young woman from Dresden, Maria Reiche (Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu), earns a living as a mathematics teacher in the capital city of Lima. Yet her true calling awaits further south of the cosmopolitan metropolis, in the desert of Nazca. The French archaeologist Paul (Guillaume Gallienne) persuades Maria to translate some documents for him, from which he hopes to gain clues about an ancient canal system in the area. Instead, in the midst of the dusty solitude, they stumble upon one of the greatest mysteries of human history: gigantic lines and figures carved into the sand with mathematical precision, which immediately captivate Maria. Almost obsessively determined to unravel the secret of the geoglyphs, she is ready to leave behind her previous life, her love, and her work as a teacher. Alone and on her own, Maria devotes herself with unwavering commitment to the study and preservation of the Nazca Lines … even against the resistance of Peru’s powerful elite.

In MARIA REICHE: THE SECRET OF THE NAZCA LINES, writer and director Damien Dorsaz traces the extraordinary life path of Dresden-born Maria Reiche, a fascinating personality who stood her ground in distant Peru under the most adverse circumstances – and, like many other female researchers, is almost forgotten today. European Shooting Star Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu, known from the Netflix series THE EMPRESS, Olivia Ross (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING), and Guillaume Gallienne (THE FRENCH DISPATCH, ME, MYSELF AND MUM) take cinema audiences on a journey of discovery through the mystical Peru of the 1930s. A historical tale full of adventure and romance – but above all the story of a strong woman who left everything behind to follow her true calling and to solve the millennia-old human mystery of how and for what purpose the Nazca people once carved giant figures into the sand.

More than 1,500 of these images exist in the region in the southeast of Peru. The geoglyphs were created between 200 BC and 600 AD by the indigenous Nazca culture. However, most of them had not yet been discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. That they are preserved today and belong to the UNESCO World Heritage is thanks to Maria Reiche. This passionate scientist dedicated her entire life to the research and preservation of these lines.