Monika Treut

Treut’s film work includes writing, directing, editing, and acting.

• Name — Monika Treut • Born — 6 April 1954 • Birthplace — Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany • Occupation — Filmmaker • Known for — Queer films, documentaries

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.

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.

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.

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.

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