Monika Treut

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

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

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

Early film career 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. 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. Traveling and working in San Francisco and New York City, Treut met and worked with Annie Sprinkle and Werner Schroeter. These relationships led to the films Annie, My Father is Coming, and Encounter with Werner Schroeter.

Later film work (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. 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."

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.

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.

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. The film had its world premiere in the Culinary Film section of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012.

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.

Humanitarian work 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.

Teaching 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, University of Illinois Chicago, University of California San Diego, and Cornell University.

Works 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) (Von Mädchen und Pferden, 2014) Zona Norte (2016) Genderation (2021) Cooking Up Democracy (2026)

Awards

+YearWorkFestivalCategoryRef.1991My Father Is ComingTorino Gay & Lesbian Film FestivalBest Feature Film1999GendernautsBest Documentary FilmSão Paulo International Film FestivalAudience AwardBerlin International Film FestivalJury Teddy Award for Best Documentary2002Warrior of LightThessaloniki Documentary FestivalAudience Award2017Berlin International Film FestivalSpecial Teddy Award for Lifetime AchievementTLVFestHonorary Award for Lifetime Achievement2024Sicilia Queer filmfestNino Gennaro Award

Monika Treut

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