Seduction: The Cruel Woman + Introduction (1985)

A screening of the 1985 queer S&M drama Seduction: The Cruel Woman, introduced by season curator Nico Hughes.

Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut's 1985 film follows Wanda, a dominatrix who stages sadomasochistic rituals as spectacles in a Hamburg gallery, inspired by Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs. Banned for 18 years by the German Federal Board of Censorship, it is now regarded as a seminal work of queer cinema. The 84-minute screening, in German with English subtitles, is part of the Collective Visions of Pleasure season and will be introduced by its curator Nico Hughes.