Female Misbehavior

Retrospective 2019

In four short films, three women and a transgender man talk about their sexuality. In Bondage, Carol, a New York activist in the lesbian leather scene, explains her embrace of sadomasochism. Annie is a portrait of mousy Ellen Steinberg, AKA performance artist Annie Sprinkle, whose eccentric erotic shows give audiences, quite literally, insight into her anatomy. In eloquent and provocative dialogue, academic and social critic Camille Paglia talks about the differentials within the feminist concept in Dr. Paglia. And finally, in Max, the subject describes the emotional and physical changes wrought by his transformation from lesbian Anita to heterosexual Max Valerio … A pioneer of queer cinema in Germany, Monika Treut plumbed the various expressions of deviant sexuality long before Madonna’s song and adage “express yourself” made them acceptable to the cultural mainstream. In this film, her subjects’ unfiltered testimonials turn their “female misbehaviour” into a demonstration of female self-empowerment.

by Monika Treut
with Annie Sprinkle, Camille Paglia, Max Valerio Germany 1992 English 81’ Colour Documentary form

With

Annie Sprinkle
Camille Paglia
Max Valerio

Crew

Written and Directed by	Monika Treut
Producer	Monika Treut

Additional information

DCP: Salzgeber & Co Medien, Berlin

Monika Treut

Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany in 1954, she completed a PhD in literature at Marburg in 1984. She began working with video in 1976 and founded Hyena Films with Elfi Mikesch in 1984. Her feature and documentary films have shaped Queer Cinema for over 35 years. The love story Seduction: The Cruel Woman, the sex melodrama Virgin Machine and the comedy My Father is Coming were followed by a series of documentaries including the multi-award-winning trans-futuristic Gendernauts. Her films have featured at the Berlinale 13 times already; in 2017, she received the Teddy Award for her lifetime achievement. She also teaches at universities in California and New York and, since 2018, has been Deputy Professor of Media at the University of Hildesheim.

Filmography (selection)

1985 Verführung: Die grausame Frau (Seduction: The Cruel Woman); co-director: Elfi Mikesch 1988 Die Jungfrauenmaschine (Virgin Machine) 1989 Annie; short documentary 1991 My Father is Coming 1992 Max; short documentary · Female Misbehavior; documentary · Dr. Paglia; short documentary 1998 Didn’t Do It for Love; documentary 1999 Gendernauts; documentary 2001 Kriegerin des Lichts (Warrior of Light); documentary 2005 Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel (Tigerwomen Grow Wings); documentary 2009 Ghosted 2012 Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked); documentary 2014 Von Mädchen und Pferden (Of Girls and Horses) 2016 Zona Norte; documentary 2021 Genderation; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021