Female Misbehavior

In four short films, three women and a transgender man talk about their sexuality. In Bondage, Carol, a New York activist in the lesbian leather scene, explains her embrace of sadomasochism. Annie is a portrait of mousy Ellen Steinberg, AKA performance artist Annie Sprinkle, whose eccentric erotic shows give audiences, quite literally, insight into her anatomy. In eloquent and provocative dialogue, academic and social critic Camille Paglia talks about the differentials within the feminist concept in Dr. Paglia. And finally, in Max, the subject describes the emotional and physical changes wrought by his transformation from lesbian Anita to heterosexual Max Valerio. A pioneer of queer cinema in Germany, Monika Treut plumbed the various expressions of deviant sexuality long before Madonna’s song and adage “express yourself” made them acceptable to the cultural mainstream. In this film, her subjects’ unfiltered testimonials turn their “female misbehaviour” into a demonstration of female self-empowerment. (Berlinale)