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Monika Treut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monika Treut
Monika Treut in 2016
Monika Treut in 2016
Born (1954-04-06) April 6, 1954 (age 72)
Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
OccupationFilmmaker
Known forQueer films, documentaries
Notable work

Monika Treut (born April 6, 1954, in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German filmmaker. She made her feature film debut with Seduction: The Cruel Woman (co-directed by Elfi Mikesch), a film that explores sadomasochistic sex practices. She has made over 20 films, including the short documentaries Annie and My Father is Coming. Treut’s film work includes writing, directing, editing, and acting.

Education

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Treut attended at an all-girls state high school.[citation needed] She studied literature and political science at Marburg University.[1] After passing the state examination she graduated in 1978. In 1984, Treut earned her doctorate degree in philology from Marburg University.[citation needed] She wrote her PhD thesis about The Cruel Woman: Female Images in the Writing of Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.[1]

Career

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Known for her queer films,[2] Treut also makes documentaries.[3] Her subject matter varies from film to film, from one woman's efforts to help street children in Rio de Janeiro[4] to about the culinary arts of Taiwan.[5]

Throughout her career Treut has been involved in several aspects of filmmaking, including acting, directing, producing, writing, and editing.[6][7] Her film catalogue includes over 20 films, both in her native language German and in English.[8]

Early film career

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During her studies at university in the mid-1970s she began working with video. She worked as a media associate in Marburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin.[citation needed] In 1984 she founded Hyena Filmproduktion together with Elfi Mikesch, and began producing, writing, and directing independent feature films. The following year Treut made her feature film debut with Seduction: The Cruel Woman, a film that explored sadomasochistic sex practices. Treut also spent time in America during the 1980s.[9] Traveling and working in San Francisco and New York City, Treut met and worked with Annie Sprinkle[10] and Werner Schroeter.[citation needed] These relationships led to the films Annie,[11] My Father is Coming,[12] and Encounter with Werner Schroeter.[13]

Later film work

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Of Girls and Horses [de] (2014) focuses on the relationship that develops between 16-year-old high school dropout Alex and upper-class Kathy at a horse farm. Alex works at a horse farm for a school internship, supervised by lesbian riding instructor Nina.[14] In an interview for AfterEllen conducted by Marcie Bianco, Treut said she "wanted to picture this situation [of a queer teenager's insecurity] and find a way of coming out of it."[15]

Zona Norte (2016) revisits Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, the human rights activist working with street children in Rio de Janeiro, 15 years after Treut's 2001 documentary Warrior of the Light. The film follows up on the lives and progress of the children from the previous documentary, who have now grown into young adults.[16]

Her 2021 film, Genderation, is a documentary that revisits the subjects of Treut's previous film, Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities, 20 years later. The film looks at how the city of San Francisco has changed from being a hub for the LGBTQ+ community to being take over by gentrification and the presidency of Donald Trump.[17]

In The Raw and the Cooked, Treut travels around Taiwan, exploring its culinary traditions and their relationship to the island's culture. The film also seeks out people who are attempting to create sustainable food system projects.[5] The film had its world premiere in the Culinary Film section of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012.[18]

In the edited book New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics, Ya-chen Chen contributes a chapter about Treut’s film Ghosted. Chen praises Treut for her ability to "exceed not only the essentialist restriction of physiology but also the corporeality that ghosts lose after deaths.” Chen also praises Treut's portrayal of a variety of different religions in China and their beliefs regarding ghosts.[19]

Humanitarian work

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Treut has been involved with "PROJETO UERE", an organization to help the street children of Rio de Janeiro founded by Yvonne Bezzerra de Mello, the subject of Treut's film Warrior of Light.[citation needed]

Teaching

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Since 1990, Treut has been teaching, lecturing, and curating retrospectives of her work at institutions across the United States including Vassar College, Hollins University, Dartmouth College, San Francisco Art Institute, Indiana University Bloomington,[20] University of Illinois Chicago,[21] University of California San Diego,[22] and Cornell University.[23]

Works

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  • How Does the Camel Go Through the Needle's Eye? (Wie Geht das Kamel durchs Nadelöhr?, 1981)
  • Unknown Gender (Das Dritte Geschlecht, 1983)
  • Bondage (1983)
  • Seduction: The Cruel Woman (Verführung: Die Grausame Frau, 1985)
  • Virgin Machine (Die Jungfrauenmaschine, 1988)
  • Annie (1989)
  • My Father is Coming (1991)
  • Dr. Paglia (1992)
  • Max (1992)
  • Female Misbehavior (1992)
  • Erotique (Let's Talk About Sex, 1994)
  • Didn't Do It For Love (1998)
  • Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities (1999)
  • Warrior of Light (Kriegerin des Lichts, 2001)
  • Encounter with Werner Schroeter (Begegnung mit Werner Schroeter, 2003)
  • Tigerwomen Grow Wings (Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel, 2004)
  • Jumpcut: A Travel Diary (Axensprung: Ein Reisetagebuch, 2004)
  • Tigerwomen Grow Wings (Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel, 2005)
  • Made in Taiwan (2005)
  • Ghosted (2008)
  • Lesbian Nation (2009)
  • The Raw and the Cooked (Das Rohe und das Gekochte, 2012)
  • Of Girls and Horses [de] (Von Mädchen und Pferden, 2014)
  • Zona Norte (2016)
  • Genderation (2021)
  • Cooking Up Democracy (2026)

Awards

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Teddy Award 2017 for her life's work.
Year Work Festival Category Ref.
1991 My Father Is Coming Torino Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Best Feature Film [24]
1999 Gendernauts Best Documentary Film
São Paulo International Film Festival Audience Award [25]
Berlin International Film Festival Jury Teddy Award for Best Documentary [26]
2002 Warrior of Light Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Audience Award [27]
2017 Berlin International Film Festival Special Teddy Award for Lifetime Achievement [26]
TLVFest Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement [28]
2024 Sicilia Queer filmfest Nino Gennaro Award [29]

Further reading

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  • Stocker, Gerfried; Schöpf, Christine, eds. (2000). "Gendernauts". Next sex: sex in the age of its procreative superfluousness. Wien: Springer. ISBN 978-3-211-83499-2.
  • Knight, Julia (1995). "The Meaning of Treut". In Wilton, Tamsin (ed.). Immortal, invisible: lesbians and the moving image. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-10724-2.
  • Kuzniar, Alice A. (2000). "The Queer Nationhood of Monika Treut et al". The queer German cinema. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3748-7.
  • Treut, Monika (1995). "Female Misbehavior". In Pietropaolo, Laura; Testaferri, Ada (eds.). Feminisms in the cinema. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34500-4.

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "About Monika Treut: Biography". Hyena Films. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21.
  2. ↑ Stuart, Jan (28 April 1998). "The saintly dominatrix". The Advocate. No. 758. p. 69.
  3. ↑ Wissot, Lauren (2015-06-30). "Queer Film Pioneer Monika Treut on Of Girls and Horses". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  4. ↑ Holden, Stephen (2003-09-12). "FILM IN REVIEW; 'Warrior of Light'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  5. 1 2 da Silva, Michelle (2012-07-11). "The Raw and the Cooked dishes up tasty Taiwan". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  6. ↑ "Monika Treut". ACMI. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  7. ↑ "Monika Treut". MUBI. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  8. ↑ "Monika Treut". filmportal.de. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  9. ↑ Klesse, Christian (February 2014). "European Cinema Research Forum Conference 2013: The Other" (PDF). Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies (26): 3–4.
  10. ↑ Crepeault, Jacob. "Monika Treut: Transcending Gender". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  11. ↑ "Female Misbehavior". TIFF. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  12. ↑ "My Father is Coming". TIFF. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  13. ↑ "Regisseurin Monika Treut mit dem Helmut-Käutner-Preis ausgezeichnet". Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf (in German). 2025-06-13. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  14. ↑ "Of Girls and Horses". IMDB. 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Bianco, Marcie (15 June 2015). "7 Questions With Legendary Lesbian Filmmaker Monika Treut". Afterellen. Totally Her. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  16. ↑ Pope, Garry (2016-10-28). "Zona Norte". TAKE ONE Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  17. ↑ "Genderation". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  18. ↑ P., Terry (2012-01-26). "Film Lineup of 6th Culinary Cinema of the 62nd Berlinale". VIMooZ. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  19. ↑ Chen, Ya-chen (2014). "Cinematic Visualization of Spiritual Lesbianism in Monika Treut's Ghosted: Countering the Essentialist Concerns about Li Ang's Literary Works". In Chen, Ya-chen (ed.). New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty. Routledge.
  20. ↑ "Monika Treut, Friday, October 21, 2011 3:00 pm". Indiana University Cinema. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  21. ↑ "Past Visiting Faculty". Germanic Studies | University of Illinois Chicago. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  22. ↑ "Literature Undergraduate Course Descriptions Fall 1998". Literature UCSD. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10.
  23. ↑ "Artists in Residence". Cornell University Institute for German Cultural Studies. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  24. ↑ "Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  25. ↑ "GENDERNAUTS: A JOURNEY THROUGH SHIFTING IDENTITIES". MUBI. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  26. 1 2 Roxborough, Scott (2017-01-17). "Berlin: German Lesbian Filmmaker Monika Treut to Get Teddy Award". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  27. ↑ Sturmey, Christine (2002-03-12). "Documentaries put names to the innocent faces of headline horror". eKathimerini.com. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  28. ↑ "Genderation". Internationales Frauen Film Fest. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  29. ↑ "Helmut-Käutner-Preis für Monika Treut". duesseldorf queer (in German). 2025-05-26. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
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