“I’d like to thank you for this beautiful film.” It was none other than Jean Baudrillard who said this, following the press screening of Verführung: Die grausame Frau in Paris. Based on Sacher-Masoch’s cult novel “Venus in Furs” and de Sade’s “Justine”, which Monika Treut transposed to the port of Hamburg, this elegantly decadent camp film had equally prominent fans (Blumenberg) and detractors (the Minister of the Interior of the time) in Berlin when the story of the mysterious dominatrix Wanda (Mechthild Grossmann), romantic dreamer Gregor (Udo Kier), journalist and toilet slave Mährsch (Peter Weibel) as well as Justine, Caren, Friederike, Judith and Leila premiered at the 1985 Forum. So we can wait with duly bated breath to see how Germany’s cultural politicians digest what the Forum’s heart still desires: queer sensuality, subversive avant-garde stylings, cool hotties, erotic leather, independent cinema. Grossmann now in Tatort retirement, Weibel & Kier already in heaven – honest cruelty and many shining rays of remembrance emanate from this work. Thanks to Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut. Whips! Dreams! Let’s just do it! (Barbara Wurm)

Elfi Mikesch, born in 1940 in Judenburg, Austria, has lived in Berlin since 1964. She works as a photographer, cinematographer, director and lecturer. She has been making feature and documentary films since 1976. As a cinematographer, she has worked for Rosa von Praunheim and Werner Schroeter, among others. In 1984, she founded the independent production company Hyena Films with Monika Treut. Her work has been honoured with several retrospectives. In 2014, she received the Teddy Award for her lifetime achievement; for her 80th birthday, Rosa von Praunheim dedicated the book vis-à-vis to her.

Monika Treut, born in Mönchengladbach in 1954, has been shaping Queer Cinema in Germany and around the world for over 40 years with her playful and subversive feature and documentary films. She studied in Marburg and completed a PhD in literature. Her multi-award-winning films have been screened internationally in retrospectives. In 2017, she received the Teddy Award for her lifetime achievement. She teaches at universities in California and New York and has been Deputy Professor of Media at the University of Hildesheim from 2018 to 2023. In 2025, she was awarded the Helmut Käutner Prize.

Directors Elfi Mikesch, Monika Treut. Screenplay Elfi Mikesch, Monika Treut. Cinematography Elfi Mikesch. Editing Renate Merck. Production Design Manfred Blösser, Klaus Weinreich. Costumes Anne Jud, Kristin von Kalckreuth. Make-Up Rolf Baumann, Werner Püthe. Producers Elfi Mikesch, Monika Treut. Production company Hyäne I/II Filmproduktion (Hamburg, Germany). With Mechthild Grossmann, Udo Kier, Sheila McLaughlin, Carola Regnier, Georgette Dee, Peter Weibel, Judith Flex, Barbara Ossenkopp, Daniela Ziegler, George Lanann, Jürg Schlachter.

Films

Elfi Mikesch: 1970: Charisma. Eine Erinnerung an den Tod. 1979: Ich denke oft an Hawaii / I Often Think Of Hawaii (documentary, Berlinale Forum 1978), Execution A Study of Mary. 1980: Was soll'n wir denn machen ohne den Tod (documentary, Berlinale Forum 1980). 1982: Macumba (Berlinale Forum 1982). 1983: Das Frühstück der Hyäne (Berlinale Forum 1983). 1985: Verführung: Die grausame Frau / Seduction: The Cruel Woman. 1989: Marocain (Berlinale Forum 1989). 1984: Soldaten Soldaten. 1997: Verrückt bleiben – verliebt bleiben / Mind the Gap (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 1997). 2001: Mon Paradis – Der Winterpalast / Mon Paradis – The Winter Palace (documentary). 2008: Zisternen – Istanbuls versunkene Paläste (documentary). 2011: Mondo Lux – Die Bilderwelten des Werner Schroeter / Mondo Lux – The visual Worlds of Werner Schroeter (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 2011). 2014: Fieber / Fever (Berlinale Panorama 2014). 2022: Die Straße als Erzählung. 2024: Krieg oder Frieden / War or Peace (documentary).

Monika Treut: 1985: Verführung: Die grausame Frau / Seduction: The Cruel Woman. 1988: Die Jungfrauenmaschine / Virgin Machine. 1991: My Father Is Coming (Berlinale Panorama 1991). 1992: Female Misbehaviour (documentary). 1994: Let’s Talk About Sex / Erotique (compilation film). 1997: Didn’t Do It For Love (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 1998). 1999: Gendernauts (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 1999). 2002: Kriegerin des Lichts / Warrior of Light (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 2002). 2005: Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel / Tigerwomen Grow Wings (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 2005). 2009: Ghosted (Berlinale Panorama 2009). 2012: Das Rohe und das Gekochte / The Raw and the Cooked (documentary, Berlinale Culinary Cinema 2012). 2014: Von Mädchen und Pferden / Of Girls and Horses. 2016: Zona Norte (documentary, Berlinale Panorama 2016). 2021: Genderation (documentary, Berlinale Panorama Dokumente 2021).