From the "People" Archives:

by Aaron Krach

As difficult as it is to find a documentary on the big screen (unless it's about Woody Allen or Mohammed Ali), it's just as impossible to find a contemporary German film. All the more reason to take note of Monika Treut's, "Didn't Do It For Love," a new German documentary. About the extraordinary Eva Norvind, a Norwegian-born, Mexican film starlet, New York Dominatrix and Mother Theresa volunteer, Treut's sexy biopic follows Norvind through a 90-minute, self-guided tour of herself.

Norvind's story offers enough transgressive images to fill several films, but under Treut's watchful eye, the film stays focused on Norvind as an example of fractured identity at the end of the millennium. "Didn't Do It For Love" is being released by First Run Features.

indieWIRE: Your reviews came out this weekend. Do you care about them anymore?

Monika Treut: Not really. Although we had a wonderful review in Variety of all places. That is really cool. The guy who reviewed it really understood the film. He said I was smart and that Eva Norvind isn't for everyone but the film introduces her to you and then lets you make up your own mind. It was very fair. Everyone else, like the New York Times review tells the story of the film and then says, "Oh well. There are no answers." What the fuck, think for yourself.

iW: "Didn't Do It For Love" includes footage from all over the world. How long did it take to shoot?"

Treut: We couldn't shoot in one piece, because Eva is doing stuff all over. So we shot over a period of one year. We shot a week in Mexico, a week in Norway and a week in New York.

iW: What was your relationship with her during the making of the film.

Treut: I was her Dominatrix. I had to be. I didn't realize how difficult it is to direct a Dominatrix. It's impossible. You have to top the Dominatrix. It's something I don't enjoy that much anymore. I am more a mellow person, but it was inevitable. I had to say, "Eva. Shut up. Sit Down. Do This." My god, but it was worth it. We had a lot of arguments but we also laughed a lot. She has a good sense of humor. I liked that about her. She's slowly coming into her own. Now that she's a grandmother, she's better.

iW: It was originally Eva's idea to make the movie, but was she involved in post-production?

Treut: No. I didn't even give her the number of the editing room. She was furious, but I finally gave her a tape on the final day before I left New York. I knew it would take her weeks to be able to appreciate it. She had a hard time looking at it. She was in turmoil because it's like looking into a mirror. Then it helped her, because she started showing it around to her friends and they all liked it very much. Then in Berlin she was overjoyed. The Europeans were all over her and they loved it, so she had a good time. It's great, because she became the best P.R. person. I think it's changing her life for the better. She has something new to think about.

iW: Did you ever figure out who the real Eva Norvind is?

Treut: She is probably a kid. She doesn't know herself. Since she doesn't know who she is she will continue pushing limits and pursuing different things. I'm not surprised, just imagine if your mother pushed you to be a sexual dancer at age 15. And you are the main bread winner of the family. It's kind of weird. At times she can be an exhibitionist. She is fearless and funny to watch. She can also ask all the inappropriate questions. She can be a pain.

iW: You started your career making fiction features. Are you happy working in documentary?

Treut: At the moment I am. I find real life more interesting than fiction. Because there is no more independent film. Everything is gone corporate. Indie film is dead. I had one experience in Hollywood which was really devastating. The film, "Erotique" with Lizzie Borden and Claire Law. It was unbelievable. Every worst nightmare came true. It was the first time I had a decent budget and I had to suffer for it. So I said, "no more, goodbye." Now I work on very small budgets and make documentaries. I'm going underground now, because I want to have fun and I want to be independent. There are all these ideas in my head and I ask if I can do it documentary style. Then I just go, instead of waiting around and talking.

iW: You are one of the only living German directors who consistently finds international distribution. What was the German reaction to this film?

Treut: We opened in Berlin right after the Berlin Film Festival. The reaction was good. I'm still the "lesbo, underground director." I'm an outsider, but I have nice name recognition so I always get some money. It's not the government money, but television money. Hamburg TV does some risky stuff but they are being weary of this one. In Berlin there's a lot of international distributor interest, but my producer is taking care of that stuff.

iW: How did you get started as a director and a director of explicitly sexual films?

Treut: I didn't go to film school. I started writing theory and by accident became a director. I wrote my Ph.D thesis and it got published in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was about the Marquis de Sade. I'm intellectually interested in S&M. I had my phase of being into S&M clubs and stuff, but it's too much work. You have to schlep too many clothes around. Now I schlep a camera around. I don't want to be schlepping collars and leather and all this stuff around.

iW: What do you think of the New York Times calling you a, "German Lesbian Feminist Filmmaker?"

Treut: I don't care. It's just stupid that they have to continue to use these labels. For me as a European it's a different story. For me being gay is not such a big deal, especially not in Germany, Scandinavia or Holland. It's a big deal in France in some ways, because people are not "out" there. I've always been out in Germany. In this country it's so political. Everyone knew Fassbinder was gay and nobody gave a shit. With Rosa Von Praunheim and Ulrika Ottinger, we are decadent queers. Instead of being in the street marching up and down we are making our films. Once in a while we have a gay subject, but then we don't.