Past Film/Video | Classics | Series & Festivals

City of Lost Souls

(Rosa von Praunheim, 1983, Germany)

Tow men stand facing eachother shirtless wearing angel wings.

This 1983 underground trans punk musical is a rarely seen pillar of no-budget queer cinema. 

Rosa von Praunheim is one of Germany’s most transgressive filmmakers and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. His revolutionary City of Lost Souls captures the gender-defying American exiles who sought refuge in the 1980s Berlin club scene. Featuring star turns from trans punk legend Jayne County and groundbreaking icon Angie Stardust, the film follows the eccentrics and outcasts at Berlin’s Hamburger Queen diner and connected boarding house, drawn to this city of “lost souls” where they can be their true selves. A major influence on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, City of Lost Souls is like a great cabaret hangout session with the people kindred spirit John Waters would call queer “filth elders.” In English, German, and Spanish with English subtitles. (94 mins., digital video)

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IMAGE CAPTION
City of Lost Souls, courtesy of MissingFILMS.

"Raucous, hilarious, gloriously hybrid, trans-representational-vanguard mayhem."
Cerise Howard, Senses of Cinema

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COPROMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Getaway Brewing
Seventh Son
Antiques on High

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
Ohio Department of Development

Greater Columbus Arts Council

The Wexner Family 
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts 
CampusParc 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation 
Axium Packaging 
Nationwide Foundation 
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Mike and Paige Crane 
Nancy Kramer 
Ohio State Energy Partners 
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection 
Larry and Donna James 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Bruce and Joy Soll 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman 
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle 
Jones Day 
Alex and Renée Shumate

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City of Lost Souls