Nicht der Homosexual ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt (It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives). 1971. West Germany. Directed by Rosa von Praunheim. DCP. English dubbed. 67 min.
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. The film focuses on a Pretty Young Thing named Daniel who moves to West Berlin to immerse himself in gay life, only to find that each new reinvention of his character is another way of assimilating into a toxic and heteronormative structure. All of this is a guise for some of Praunheim’s more notable positions on anti-capitalism, anti-identitarianism, and the meaning of queer solidarity. Notoriously scrappy and cheap, the film’s aesthetic reflects its grassroots politics. Queer film scholar and MoMA staffer Vito Russo wrote to Praunheim: “Your film deserves to be shown here in America. The gay and straight community alike here must be made aware that these things are being discussed and presented elsewhere in the world. It is only through constant exposure and expression that we can ever hope to overcome what has for so many years, for too many years, been an irrational taboo. When people spend their lives fighting for a cause in which they believe, it gives them immeasurable comfort to know that there are others fighting for freedom of expression both in their lives and in their art.”
Footage from Q&As with Rosa von Praunheim, including MoMA’s Cineprobe Screening, 1972. Digital. 28 min.
Accompanying Praunheim’s film is footage from rare guerilla recordings of Q&As following the film’s debut as part of MoMA’s Cineprobe program, and the Gay Activist Alliance downtown. Shoddily assembled from segments of handheld 16mm footage and roughly synchronized with a reel-to-reel audio recording, the footage features the audience haranguing Praunheim about the possible effects of the film on the perception of the queer liberation movement, both in New York (just a year or so after Stonewall) and internationally. Although the film’s reception may strike us as trite today, it’s a vital document of the trends in activism of the era, as well as MoMA’s role in fostering debate.