Take one look Monika Treut -- her black leather jacket, dark sunglasses and icy demeanor -- and you know she isn't someone to be taken lightly, like the dominatrices in some of her films.
But meeting her in person is another thing. Upon her arrival in Taipei last week, where seven of her films are showing, the Hamburg-based German director looked relaxed and spoke in a soft tone without a trace of a German accent, quite unlike the domineering women in many of her movies.
"I make films about liberal ideas and human rights. Most importantly I wish to touch people's hearts."
Perhaps the hot weather has mellowed her out a bit.
Presenting her debut work in 1985, Treut quickly established herself as a pioneer in exploring sexuality, desire and gender identity in women. The women in Treut's films are not necessarily lesbians or bi-sexuals, but they are always affirmed as strong women who explore their sexuality in unconventional ways.
In the 1990s, Treut was seen by American gender studies departments as heralding breakthroughs in gay and lesbian studies, along with fellow German filmmakers Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Ulrike Ottinger. She was called "the mother of New Queer Cinema."
"I am always fascinated by images of strong, powerful and fearless women. I think there are still not enough such strong women in the world. Women are afraid of what people think of them. This is still the old trap for women," Treut said when talking about her many S&M-related films.
Treut's first film, Seduction: The Cruel Woman, is about this kind of woman. The movie, which borrowed its title from her doctoral thesis The Cruel Woman, Female Image in the Writing of Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch is a reworking of the S&M cannon. "In this film I wanted to twist the classic relationship between the sadist and the masochist. In S&M literature, the male masochist demands that his female lover become the sadist. But in my film, she is the dominatrix by herself."
Treut's 1997 work, Didn't Do it for Love, is a documentary about another strong and unique heroine, Eva Norvind. The blonde from Norway is a Mexican "B"-movie actress turned high-class hooker who moves to New York where she becomes a famous self-employed dominatrix. "Working with Eva was fun and a pain," Treut said. "Because she was so energetic and demanding on the set, I had to make myself a dominatrix to put her in my picture."
Treut's Warrior of Light continues in the theme of strong women in another documentary about activist Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, who works to help street children deal with violence, poverty and AIDS.
De Mello manages Children of Light, a progressive project committed to the protection and education of kids living in the streets and slums of Rio de Janeiro. "Yvonne's being strong-willed enough to cross the boundaries of social class and to challenge the macho society of Brazil is the point I wanted to stress," she said.
It is perhaps Treut's only film that is not directly related to sexual politics. "But it is the most satisfying film I've made in the sense of the actual influence it has had," she said. The film has helped the project raise more than 20,000 euros.
The most interesting part of Treut's films, perhaps, is her bending of all stereotypes in gender and sexuality, taking her audience through an adventure in gender. "I wish to present real people's lives and voices and thereby lead [the audience] to thinking," Treut said.
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