He slept with Sal Mineo, was photographed by Andy Warhol, and he was lusted after by millions of men around the world. Model, photographer, filmmaker, clothing designer, and porn icon Peter Berlin is his own greatest creation. Berlin is front and center in this bio documentary from director Jim Tushinski, and featuring interviews with director John Waters, novelist Armistead Maupin, 70s porn director Wakefield Poole and more, all with Berlin as the subject. This intimate film reveals the legendary man with the white saran wrapped pants, undersized leather vests, and Dutch-boy haircut

Live concert from Berlin, Germany

The film guides the viewer through the process of making contact with a figure who exists only in his own photographs—70’s gay sex icon Peter Berlin. The film is structured in three parts, which were made chronologically. In the first part, the filmmaker appropriates Peter Berlin’s outfits and poses, playfully attempting to embody Peter Berlin’s artistic persona. Each frame of the original 16mm film was then hand-painted to distort the image, producing an animated effect that prevents the viewer from seeing the full performing body. In the second part, a voice over relates a story riddled with anxiety about a potential meeting with Peter Berlin that is paired with images of mansions and window displays. The third and final section is an interview with Peter Berlin in his apartment, describing a moment of exchange that crosses lines of gender and generation, a moment where the identities of two filmmakers briefly coalesce.

Johann Sebastian Bach - St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 - Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars (2014)