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Max

Panorama 40 2019
© Hyena Films
This documentary - probably the first cinematic portrait of a trans man - is one of numerous pioneering works by Monika Treut, who is herself an icon of emancipation movements. In this work, Native American Max Wolf Valerio reveals his journey into becoming a different gender. Displaying an extraordinary capacity for self-analysis, he proudly recounts his experiences with the male sex hormone testosterone and talks about the queer community’s hostility towards transsexuals and the adventure of becoming a heterosexual man after having been a lesbian woman.
On 11 April 1994, he wrote in a letter to the director: “I want you to know, Monika, that you’ve done a great service with this film to the gender community. There’s so little about FTMs out there that is positive and real. People have thanked me, even coming up to me in the street – total strangers – thanked me for being in the film and now I want to thank YOU! I know that you didn’t create this film to promote gender education or any type of ‘social service’ for its own sake but it has provided hope and inspiration to many who are trying to figure out whether or not they should take the path that I have.”
by Monika Treut
with Max Wolf Valerio Germany 1992 English 27’ Colour Documentary form

With

  • Max Wolf Valerio

Crew

Written and Directed by Monika Treut
Cinematography Steve Brown
Editing Steve Brown
Sound Kate Pourshiarti, Caren Bierman
Producer Monika Treut

World Sales

Hyena Films

https://www.hyenafilms.com/ https://www.hyenafilms.com/

Produced by

Hyena Films

https://www.hyenafilms.com/ https://www.hyenafilms.com/

Photos

Monika Treut

© Salzgeber

Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany in 1954, she completed a PhD in literature at Marburg in 1984. She began working with video in 1976 and founded Hyena Films with Elfi Mikesch in 1984. Her feature and documentary films have shaped Queer Cinema for over 35 years. The love story Seduction: The Cruel Woman, the sex melodrama Virgin Machine and the comedy My Father is Coming were followed by a series of documentaries including the multi-award-winning trans-futuristic Gendernauts. Her films have featured at the Berlinale 13 times already; in 2017, she received the Teddy Award for her lifetime achievement. She also teaches at universities in California and New York and, since 2018, has been Deputy Professor of Media at the University of Hildesheim.

Filmography (selection)

1985 Verführung: Die grausame Frau (Seduction: The Cruel Woman); co-director: Elfi Mikesch 1988 Die Jungfrauenmaschine (Virgin Machine) 1989 Annie; short documentary 1991 My Father is Coming 1992 Max; short documentary · Female Misbehavior; documentary · Dr. Paglia; short documentary 1998 Didn’t Do It for Love; documentary 1999 Gendernauts; documentary 2001 Kriegerin des Lichts (Warrior of Light); documentary 2005 Den Tigerfrauen wachsen Flügel (Tigerwomen Grow Wings); documentary 2009 Ghosted 2012 Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked); documentary 2014 Von Mädchen und Pferden (Of Girls and Horses) 2016 Zona Norte; documentary 2021 Genderation; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021