Rosa von Praunheim Add a review

Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous queer activists in the German-speaking world. A pioneer of Queer Cinema and gay activist from the very beginning, von Praunheim was a key co-founder of the modern lesbian and gay movement in West Germany and Switzerland. He was an early advocate of AIDS awareness and safer sex. Furthermore, he is one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.

His films center on queer-related themes and strong female characters, are characterized by excess and employ a campy style. They have featured such personalities as Keith Haring, Larry Kramer, Diamanda Galás, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Judith Malina, Jeff Stryker, Jayne County, Divine, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and a row of Warhol superstars. In over 50 years, von Praunheim has made more than 150 films (short and feature-length films).

The film historians and curators of the Museum of Modern Art came to the conclusion: „Rosa von Praunheim’s radical treatise on gay culture and politics exploded post-Stonewall activism in the early 1970s, and has internationally redefined queer liberation ever since.“