Monika Treut has always put the experience and the pleasure of the senses in the foreground of her films with a subtle sense of humor and a real tenderness for her characters.   —Cahiers du Cinema

For nearly two decades, German filmmaker Monika Treut's films have unselfconsciously depicted worlds that the mainstream media tends to treat as "deviant." Her work consistently explores challenging and controversial issues surrounding minority sexual and gender identities.  —glbtq

Monika Treut’s transgressive brand of filmmaking serves as a much needed intervention into the arena of sexual politics. Her misbehaving women are a vital form of resistance.  —Sight and Sound

Monika Treut studied literature and politics at Philipps-University, Marburg. Her PhD thesis, The Cruel Woman: Female Images in the Writing of Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, was published in 1984. Treut has worked as an avant-garde performance artist and, since 1982, she has written numerous essays for magazines and books in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, the U.S. and Canada.

In the mid-seventies, Treut began working with video and in 1984, Treut and Elfi Mikesch co-founded Hyena I/II, a film production company based in Berlin and Hamburg. During the mid-eighties Treut continued to write, direct, and produce award-winning independent features and documentaries. Her films have screened at numerous film festivals throughout the world and enjoy international distribution.

In her films, Treut consistently explores challenging and controversial issues surrounding minority sexual and gender identities, and she often makes films dealing with lesbianism and sadomasochistic fantasies in particular. She is considered an innovator in gay and lesbian cinema and is noted for making films that are challenging and yet sensitive.