German filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim died overnight at the age of 83, sources close to him confirmed to dpa on Wednesday.
Von Praunheim was a significant figure in the gay rights movement in Germany. Just a few days ago, he married his long-time partner Oliver Sechting.
Throughout his career, the Berlin director made around 150 films, including “The Bed Sausage,” “It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives,” and “Rex Gildo: The Last Dance.”
Von Praunheim also painted, and wrote plays and books.
His unusual appearances
Von Praunheim, who often wore unusual costumes, was also known for his contentious appearances, for example on talk shows. In what was perhaps his most controversial action, he outed the presenter Alfred Biolek and comedian Hape Kerkeling on television in 1991.
Von Praunheim later defended the move. He said that people who are present in the media have a responsibility to show that homosexuality is an equal way of life. “We need to be visible,” he said. Others criticized the move as intrusive.
Icon of independent cinema
Von Praunheim’s film “It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives” from 1971 is said to have sparked the German gay civil rights movement.
The artist engaged with the AIDS crisis in the film “A Virus Knows No Morals,” and also sex work and his own past.
The documentary “My Mothers – Tracing the Path in Riga” was made after his mother told him late in life that he was not her biological son.
He told dpa in 2022 that he imagined death to be something wonderful: “Sex after death – I strongly believe in it.”