ARTISTS IN FOCUS
Rosa von Praunheim
Âge D’or
Passing away last December, director Rosa von Praunheim leaves behind a body of work comprising over 150 films. This summer, the Goethe-Institut and CINEMATEK invite you to explore the filmography of the most camp and queer filmmaker of the New German Cinema, through a selection of twenty works that have been far too rarely shown in Belgium.
In 1967, Rosa von Praunheim attended the fourth edition of EXPRMNTL in Knokke-le-Zoute. It was his first film festival, having previously focused primarily on painting, writing, and performance art. The vibrant ecosystem he encountered at EXPRMNTL captivated him: there, he discovered the "brilliant and trashy" films of the American underground, a cinema he would champion throughout his life as a major influence, alongside Expressionist art. The radical queer imagery of Jack Smith and Gregory J. Markopoulos, whose assistant he soon became, acted as a revelation: "That is where I saw gays and their erotic dreams on screen for the first time", von Praunheim wrote in his memoir, 50 Jahre pervers.
It was also in Knokke that he met director Werner Schroeter, with whom he forged a friendship. Schroeter, in turn, introduced him to his muse, Magdalena Montezuma, who became the heroine of one of von Praunheim’s very first films, Macbeth Oper von Rosa von Praunheim.
From the Belgian festival, Rosa von Praunheim took away the emancipatory potential of experimental cinema. He embraced their DIY (Do It Yourself) ethos and developed his own style of filmmaking: one based on ingenuity, joyfully messy and collaborative, in constant friction with the mores and norms of mainstream culture. Camp, kitsch, "bad filmmaking," and poor taste became, for von Praunheim, formidable critical tools against post-war West German bourgeois society (Die Bettwurst and its sequel Berliner Bettwurst).
Among all the openly gay filmmakers of the New German Cinema—Ulrike Ottinger, Monika Treut, Elfi Mikesch, Werner Schroeter, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder—Rosa von Praunheim was the only one to claim an openly gay and revolutionary cinema, making it an essential part of his persona. In the 1960s, he adopted the feminine name "Rosa von Praunheim," a reference to the Rosa Winkel (pink triangle) that LGBTQIA+ prisoners were forced to wear in Nazi concentration camps.
In 1971, von Praunheim collaborated with sexologist Martin Dannecker on It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives, a provocative film credited with sparking the contemporary gay and lesbian liberation movements in Germany. Conceived as an indirect sequel, Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts documented the North American queer emancipation of the 1950s–1970s. The Einstein of Sex later revisited the activism of one of the pioneers of German and European LGBTQIA+ militancy: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld.
In the 1980s, Rosa von Praunheim became a major figure in the fight against HIV/AIDS and a staunch advocate for safe sex. With A Virus Has No Morals, he created a biting musical comedy, a radical artistic attack on the failings of governments and the media. His 1990 Die Aids-Trilogie focused its first two parts (Positive and Silence = Death) on how New York's queer communities organized against the virus. In contrast, Fire Under Your Ass, the third part of the trilogy, denounced the total lack of HIV/AIDS activism in Germany. The film led Rosa von Praunheim to perform one of the most controversial political gestures of his career: publicly outing—without their consent—a series of German television presenters, in the manner of the "guerrilla" actions of the Queer Nation collective.
Undeniably provocative, von Praunheim's films (and public stances) composed a cinema of revolt that also proved to be a cinema of care. His most virulent works, such as It Is Not the Homosexual..., were systematically accompanied by public discussions. He also created portraits of women and marginalized individuals that, behind a layer of corrosive camp, reveal incredible tenderness: for his actors (such as his friend Lotti Huber in Unsere Leichen leben noch), for his collaborators (notably cinematographer Elfi Mikesch in Leidenschaften, Anita - Tänze des Lasters, or Horror Vacui), for forgotten old stars (Ich bin ein Antistar, Tally Brown), and for his biological and adoptive mothers (Meine Mütter – Spurensuche in Riga).
Finally, Rosa von Praunheim dedicated a series of works to trans and drag communities which, while not without certain awkwardness, provided a platform for political and artistic expression that was rare at the time (City of Lost Souls in 1983, I Am My Own Woman in 1992, and Transexual Menace in 1996).
In collaboration with
With the financial support of
Thursday 16.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Tally Brown, New York
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1979 ⁄ color ⁄ 98' ⁄ V: EN ⁄ ST - OND: —
Sunday 19.07 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Une armée d’amants, ou la révolte des pervers
Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts
Armee der Liebenden oder Revolte der Perversen
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany, USA 1979 ⁄ color ⁄ 107' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
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Monday 20.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Le Soldat américain
The American Soldier
Der amerikanische Soldat
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany 1970 ⁄ Karl Scheydt, Elga Sorbas, Jan George ⁄ B&W ⁄ 80' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Wednesday 22.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Nos cadavres vivent encore
Unsere Leichen leben noch
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1981 ⁄ Lotti Huber, Helen Adam, Luzi Kryn ⁄ color ⁄ 98' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Friday 24.07 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Red Love
Rote Liebe
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1983 ⁄ Helga Goetze, Eddie Constantine, Sascha Hammer ⁄ color ⁄ 85' ⁄ ST - OND: NL - FR
Sunday 26.07 21:30 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
City of Lost Souls
Stadt der verlorenen Seelen
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1983 ⁄ Angie Stardust, Jayne County, Judith Flex ⁄ color ⁄ 93' ⁄ ST - OND: NL - FR
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Tuesday 28.07 21:15 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Horror Vacui: The Fear of Emptiness
Horror Vacui: Die Angst vor der Leere
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1984 ⁄ Lotti Huber, Joaquin La Habana, Folkert Milster ⁄ color ⁄ 89' ⁄ ST - OND: NL - FR
Thursday 30.07 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Un virus sans morale
A Virus Knows No Morals
Ein Virus kennt keine Moral
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1986 ⁄ Dieter Dicken, Maria Hasenäcker, Christian Kesten ⁄ color ⁄ 85' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Wednesday 05.08 20:15 PLATEAU Cart
Thursday 13.08 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Survival in New York
Überleben in New York
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany, USA 1989 ⁄ Ulrike Buschbacher, Claudia Steinberg, Anna Steegmann ⁄ color ⁄ 90' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Tuesday 11.08 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
Tuesday 18.08 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
I Am My Own Woman
Ich bin meine eigene Frau
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1992 ⁄ color ⁄ 95' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Saturday 15.08 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Positive
Die Aids-Trilogie: Positive – Die Antwort schwuler Männer in New York auf AIDS
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1990 ⁄ color ⁄ 76' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
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Saturday 15.08 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Silence = Death
Die Aids-Trilogie: Schweigen = Tod - Künstler in New York kämpfen gegen AIDS
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1989 ⁄ color ⁄ 55' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Fire Under Your Ass
Die Aids-Trilogie: Feuer unterm Arsch - Vom Leben und Sterben schwuler Männer in Berlin
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1990 ⁄ color ⁄ 50' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
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Friday 21.08 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Transexual Menace
Vor Transsexuellen wird gewarnt
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1996 ⁄ color ⁄ 78' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
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Saturday 22.08 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Our Story : Pink Camp, Rosa, the political Queen & A Portrait of Transness
LECTURE
Mémoires des années de jeune fille d’un homme
- Paul B. Preciado ⁄ ladestructiondesespacesvides - ÂGE D'OR ⁄ FR ⁄ 60 ⁄ FREE ADMISSION
En dialogue avec la rétrospective Rosa von Praunheim, Paul B. Preciado viendra présenter les Mémoires des années de jeune fille d’un homme de N.O. Body. « Ce livre est un livre de la vérité » : ainsi débute le puissant et bouleversant témoignage de N.O. Body, publié anonymement en 1907 en Allemagne. « Né garçon » mais « élevé en fille », un jeune homme raconte comment il a été enfermé dans une assignation sexuelle qui ne lui correspond pas. En décembre 1905, N.O. Body rencontre Magnus Hirschfeld, futur fondateur de l’institut de sexologie de Berlin, qui l’épaule dans sa démarche de changement de « sexe » officiel, obtenu en 1906, et l’encourage à écrire ses Mémoires. Plus d’un siècle après, Paul B. Preciado reçoit ces Mémoires comme une bouteille à la mer, et écrit un hommage à Karl M. Baer et aux survivant.e.s dissident.e.s de l’assignation binaire normative. Une nouvelle histoire de la sexualité avec et contre Foucault, une généalogie politique du nom propre et un cri pour une abolition des systèmes binaires d’assignation sexuelle et du genre à la naissance.
Saturday 22.08 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
L’Einstein du sexe
Der Einstein des Sex
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany, Netherlands 1999 ⁄ Kai Schumann, Friedel von Wangenheim, Ben Becker ⁄ color ⁄ 102' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Monday 24.08 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Monday 31.08 18:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Meine Mütter - Spurensuche in Riga
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 2007 ⁄ color ⁄ 87' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Thursday 27.08 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Sunday 30.08 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Tough Love
Härte
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 2015 ⁄ Hanno Koffler, Andreas Marquardt, Marion Erdmann ⁄ color ⁄ 89' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Thursday 18.06 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Our Story : Pink Camp, Rosa, the political Queen & A Portrait of Transness
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Anita, Tänze des Lasters – trailer
- Lorem ipsum, West Germany 1987 ⁄ Lotti Huber, Ina Blum, Mikael Honesseau ⁄ color ⁄ 2' ⁄ ST - OND: NL
Ich bin ein Gedicht
- Elfi Mikesch, Germany 2012 ⁄ color ⁄ 18' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Anita, Dances of Vice
Anita – Tänze des Lasters
- Rosa von Praunheim, Germany 1986 ⁄ Lotti Huber, Ina Blum, Mikael Honesseau ⁄ B&W + color ⁄ 85' ⁄ ST - OND: EN
Screening presented in English by Elfi Mikesch, filmmaker and colleague of Rosa von Praunheim, followed by a discussion between Elfi Mikesh and Lukas Röder.
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Thursday 25.06 21:30 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Macbeth Oper von Rosa von Praunheim
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1971 ⁄ Magdalena Montezuma, Lynn French, Berryt Bohlen ⁄ B&W ⁄ 44' ⁄ V: EN ⁄ ST - OND: —
Sunday 28.06 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Ce n’est pas l’homosexuel qui est pervers, mais la société dans laquelle il vit
Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1971 ⁄ Bernd Feuerhelm, Berryt Bohlen, Ernst Kuchling ⁄ 67' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Screening presented in French by ladestructiondesespacesvides, followed by a discussion with the audience.
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Thursday 02.07 19:00 LEDOUX Cart
Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Our Story : Pink Camp, Rosa, the political Queen & A Portrait of Transness
LECTURE
Petite histoire du camp dans le cinéma queer (II): Rosa von Praunheim
- ⁄ ladestructiondesespacesvides ⁄ FR ⁄ 60 ⁄ FREE ADMISSION
Intimement lié à l’histoire du drag et, avant cela, à celle des sous-cultures gays de l’Angleterre moderne, le camp est une pratique parodique, où l’outrance et le mauvais goût sont pensés comme tactiques de résistance queer. Le camp distord jusqu’à l’excès les conventions esthétiques et morales de la culture dominante. Il bafoue l’iconographie chrétienne, dégrade les portraits de la famille nucléaire, trashe le capitalisme et la société de consommation. Il se fait le royaume des rebuts et des rejetés et affectionne les sujets monstrueux, carnavalesques ou gothiques, et ce, jusqu’à parfois tomber dans des formes d’exotisation ou d’orientalisme. Après un premier détour, l’année dernière, par le cinéma de la « papesse du camp lesbien », Ulrike Ottinger, Our Story vous propose un nouveau volet de sa petite histoire du camp en s’attardant, cette fois-ci, sur le cinéma révolutionnaire et anti-assimilationiste de Rosa von Praunheim. Contre les valeurs d’une bourgeoisie allemande qui peine à se dénazifier après la guerre, Praunheim brandit un cinéma criard, brouillon ; son utilisation du camp convie les extrêmes, parfois provocateur jusqu’à la corrosion, parfois d’une tendresse radicale, toujours au service des dissidences sexuelles et des marginalisé·es de la société de consommation.
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Friday 03.07 20:30 PLATEAU Cart
Tuesday 07.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Die Bettwurst
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1971 ⁄ Luzi Kryn, Dietmar Kracht, Steven Adamczewski ⁄ 81' ⁄ ST - OND: FR
Sunday 05.07 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Passions
Leidenschaften
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1972 ⁄ Fritz Mikesch, Taylor Mead, Tony Carroll ⁄ B&W + color ⁄ 73' ⁄ V: DE - EN ⁄ ST - OND: —
Monday 06.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Friday 10.07 20:00 PLATEAU Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
Berlin Bed Sausage
Berliner Bettwurst
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1975 ⁄ Luzi Kryn, Dietmar Kracht, Berryt Bohlen ⁄ color ⁄ 89' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL
Sunday 12.07 21:00 LEDOUX Cart
Rosa von Praunheim : Âge D’or
I’m an Antistar
Ich bin ein Antistar – Das skandalöse Leben der Evelyn Künneke
- Rosa von Praunheim, West Germany 1976 ⁄ Cristina aus Amsterdam ⁄ color ⁄ 75' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL