Directing
Rosa von Praunheim
EN, DE cinema · 122 credits
Born
25 November 1942
Died
17 December 2025 (aged 83)
Birthplace
Riga, Latvia
Also known as Holger Bernhard Bruno Waldemar Mischwitzky
Rosa von Praunheim, born Holger Bernhard Bruno Waldemar Mischwitzky, was a German film director, author, painter and the most famous gay rights activist in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A prolific director, he has made over seventy feature films. He began his career associated to the New German Cinema as a senior member of the Berlin school of underground filmmaking. He took the artistic female name Rosa von Praunheim to remind people of the pink triangle that homosexuals had to wear in Nazi concentration camps.
Known for
Filmography
Would You Care for Me?
Would You Care for Me?
as Rosa von Praunheim
Sex und Tod
Sex und Tod
Writer, Director
Rosa <3
as Self (archive footage)
Satanic Sow
Director, Writer, Editor
Thirty Years with the Whip
Director, Author
Rex Gildo: The Last Dance
as Erzähler, Writer, Director, Producer
Isolation
as Self
Queer Cinema
as Himself
Die Nachtigall – Der grausame Sohn
Producer, Director
Darkroom
as Schlafender in S-Bahn, Director, Producer, Screenplay
Friendship of Men
as Himself, Director, Writer, Producer
Survival in Berlin-Neukölln
Director, Writer, Editor
ACT! Wer bin ich?
Director
Vater
2015
Vater
as Man in Berlin
Desire Will Set You Free
as Ezra's Agent
Praunheim Memoires
as Self, Producer, Writer, Director
Tough Love
Director, Producer, Writer
Mario Wirz
as Self, Director
Auf der Suche nach Heilern
Writer, Director
I Feel Like Disco
as Rosa von Praunheim
Rosas Welt – 70 neue Filme von Rosa von Praunheim
Actor, Editor, Writer, Producer, Director
Rosakinder
as Self
King of Comics
Actor, Director, Editor, Producer, Writer
I am a Poem
as Self, Producer, Editor
Axel und Peter - Titten für Arsch
2012
Axel und Peter - Titten für Arsch
Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
Rent Boys
as Self, Director, Writer, Producer
New York Memories
Director, Writer
20 × Brandenburg
Director
24 Hours Berlin
Director
Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please?
Director, Editor, Screenplay
Two Mothers
Actor, Writer, Director
Sechs tote Studenten
2007
Six Dead Students
Director, Screenplay
Men, Heroes and Gay Nazis
as Self, Director, Writer, Producer
Umsonst Gelebt: Walter Schwarze
Director, Writer
Wer ist Helene Schwarz?
2005
Who is Helene Schwarz?
Writer, Director
Your Heart in My Head
Director, Screenplay, Producer
Liebe und Leid – Albrecht Becker
2005
Liebe und Leid – Albrecht Becker
Director, Writer
Charlotte in Schweden
2003
Charlotte in Sweden
as Self, Director
Pfui, Rosa!
2002
Pfui, Rosa!
as Self, Director
Cows Knocked Up by Fog
Screenplay, Director
Queens Don’t Cry
Director, Screenplay, Producer
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Director, Producer
Fassbinder's Women
Director
Transexual Menace
as Self - Interviewer, Director, Writer
Neurosia: Fifty Years of Perversity
Director, Writer, Producer
I Am My Own Woman
Screenplay, Director, Producer
Ein Mann namens Pis
1991
Ein Mann namens Pis
Producer, Director
Fire Under Your Ass
Actor, Director, Writer, Producer
Positive
as Self, Director, Writer, Editor, Producer
Silence = Death
as Self, Director, Writer, Editor
Life Is Like a Cucumber
Director, Writer, Producer
Survival in New York
Actor, Director, Writer
Anita – Dances of Vice
Actor, Director, Writer, Editor, Producer
Dolly, Lotte and Maria
as Interviewer, Producer, Director, Writer
September September
as Self (archive footage)
A Virus Knows No Morals
as Rüdiger Kackinski, Producer, Writer, Director
The Bite
Actor
Horror Vacui
Director, Writer
City of Lost Souls
Director, Writer
Red Love
Director, Writer, Director of Photography
Tally Brown, New York
Actor, Writer, Producer, Editor, Director of Photography, Director
Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts
Editor, Producer, Cinematography, Writer, Director
Death Magazine: or How to Be a Flowerpot
Camera Operator, Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
George und Mike Kuchar
1977
George and Mike Kuchar
as Self, Director
Underground and Emigrants
as Self, Director of Photography, Producer, Writer, Director
Marianne Rosenberg
Director
I’m an Antistar
Director
Berliner Bettwurst
Producer, Writer, Director, Director of Photography
Monolog eines Stars
1974
Monolog eines Stars
Actor, Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Editor
Axel von Auersperg
1974
Axel von Auersperg
Director, Editor, Producer, Writer
Grotesk – Burlesk – Pittoresk
1972
Grotesk – Burlesk – Pittoresk
Actor, Director of Photography, Writer, Director
Was die Rechte nicht sieht, kommt erst recht aus dem Ohr heraus
1972
Was die Rechte nicht sieht, kommt erst recht aus dem Ohr heraus
Producer, Editor, Director, Writer
The Bed Sausage
Director, Editor, Director of Photography, Writer, Producer, Art Direction, Unit Manager
It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives
Director of Photography, Writer, Director
Macbeth Oper von Rosa von Praunheim
1971
Macbeth Oper von Rosa von Praunheim
Director, Writer
Beckett in Berlin
Director
Neurasia
Assistant Director
Von Rosa von Praunheim
Actor, Director
(A)lter (A)ction
1968
(A)lter (A)ction
Assistant Director
Silvo
as Self