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Rosa (Holger) Praunheim (Mischwitzky)Director
Date of Birth: 25.11.1942
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Biography of Rosa (Holger) von Praunheim
- The Beginnings of Rosa von Praunheim
- The Pseudonym and Early Films
- Political Activism and "The Pervert is Not the Gay"
- The AIDS Crisis and New Themes
- Exploring Transvestites and Later Works
Biography of Rosa (Holger) von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim, whose real name is Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky, was born on November 25, 1942, in Riga. Until the age of ten, he lived with his parents in East Germany, but in 1953, the Mischwitzky family managed to escape to West Germany and settled in Frankfurt am Main.
The Beginnings of Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim first demonstrated his stage abilities as a high school student when he directed a play in Latin. Despite not completing his secondary education, he enrolled in the School of Arts in Offenbach and later in the College of Fine Arts in Berlin, but did not finish either.
The Pseudonym and Early Films
In the early 1960s, Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky adopted the pseudonym "Rosa von Praunheim" - "Rosa" in memory of the pink triangle patch that homosexuals had to wear in Nazi concentration camps, and "von Praunheim" after the district in Frankfurt am Main where he lived. His early films were characterized by sharp social criticism. In 1970, Rosa von Praunheim directed the film "Bologna in Bed" (Bettwurst), which still holds its cult status. The film tells the story of Lucy, a lonely girl who becomes involved with a young man from a criminal background. According to "Frankfurter Allgemeine," this film represents an "extremely rare mixture of artistic ideas, social awareness, and humor" in Germany.
Political Activism and "The Pervert is Not the Gay"
Rosa von Praunheim never hid his homosexuality, but his political activism in this field began only in the late 1960s. In 1969, Germany's criminal code was amended to remove the "paragraph on homosexuality," and Rosa von Praunheim received a commission to make a film about gay men from a Bavarian film studio. The film, "The Pervert is Not the Gay, but the Situation in Which He Lives," was first shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 1971 and on television two years later. It shocked everyone, including gay people themselves. According to the author, gay individuals were horrified that the film, contrary to their expectations, was not about "good gays" but rather depicted the political passivity, cowardice, and other negative qualities of contemporary gay individuals. This film contributed to the activation of the gay movement in Germany in their fight for tolerance and equal rights.
The AIDS Crisis and New Themes
In the early 1980s, when Western Europe and America were gripped by the fear of AIDS, Rosa von Praunheim introduced a new theme in his work and public activism. Von Praunheim became an advocate for safe sex and engaged in educational work. In protest against the discrimination of homosexuals, he exposed a number of German celebrities, sparking a major public scandal. According to von Praunheim, his action aimed to encourage famous gay individuals to take an active public stance.
Exploring Transvestites and Later Works
In the 1990s, Rosa von Praunheim explored the theme of transvestites. In 1995, he created the film "I Am My Own Wife," which depicted the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (real name Lotar von Berfeld), during the Nazi dictatorship and the GDR regime. During the same period, von Praunheim published his autobiography titled "Fifty Years of Debauchery." On his sixtieth birthday, he made a self-portrait film titled "Phew, Rosa." Since October 2000, Rosa von Praunheim has been teaching at the College of Film and Television in Berlin.
