VIRGIN MACHINE

Dorothee Müller (Ina Blum) is a German journalist researching an article about the nature of romantic love – something she desperately needs, given her dysfunctional relationships with former lover Heinz (Gad Klein) and brother Bruno (Marcelo Uriona). In the Oz of San Francisco, Dorothee finds exactly what she was looking for – and then some – thanks to the help of lesbian strip show barker Susie Sexpert (Susie Bright), drag king Ramona (Shelly Mars), and her mysteriously kinky neighbors (Cleo Dubois and Fakir Musafar). When Dorothy surfaces like a dazzled tourist on the wilder shores of the city’s thriving lesbian community, she has discovered her true sexuality…and left some illusions behind. Part German Expressionist satire, part sapphic travelogue, VIRGIN MACHINE is a seminal – and fiercely controversial – work of lesbian cinema.

“If the film’s sexual politics relate Treut to Fassbinder – it’s like THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT without the angst and melodrama – the black-and-white look of the film harks to the velvet of Germany’s glory days, the expressionist films of the 20s.” – John Harkness, NOW