After her first theater engagements, Maria Schrader moved to the movie industry in 1989 and began writing scripts simultaneously. For her work as an actress she was awarded the German Filmpreis twice as well as the Bavarian Filmpreis. She received the Max-Ophüls Prize, the Hessischer Filmpreis and the Silver Bear of the Berlinale. Amongst others she worked with Margarethe von Trotta, Max Färberbock, Doris Dörrie, Peter Greenaway and Agnieszka Holland, whose film IN DARKNESS 2012 was nominated for the OSCAR as the best foreign language film. Most recently, Maria Schrader was seen in the series "Deutschland 83", which was awarded the EMMY in 2016.

In 2007, she directed her first film, LIEBESLEBEN, after having co-directed MESCHUGGE in 1998. In 2016, her second film VOR DER MORGENRÖTE became an international success and Austrian OSCAR contender in 2017. Amongst other Maria Schrader received the Herbert Strate Prize and the Bayerische Filmpreis for Best Director.