Hot Docs 2018: THE ARTIST & THE PERVERT, North American Trailer Debut

Our attention turns to the upcoming Hot Docs Film Festival here in Toronto in April. Of the many films that will raise eyebrows and questions the film The Artist & The Pervert by directors Beatrice Behn and René Gebhardt is sure to be one. Their documentary about the marriage between composer Georg Friedrich Haas and kink expert Mollena Williams-Haas will have its North American premiere at the festival and Screen Anarchy is pleased to debut the North American trailer.

Separating an artist’s life and work has always been an issue. But when Georg Friedrich Haas – “the most important living composer,” according to Classic Voice Magazine – and his wife Mollena, a renowned kink expert/storyteller, gave a frank interview to the New York Times, some seemed to lose their minds.

Up-front and comfortable, they “came out” about their master-slave BDSM relationship – a personal choice fraught with sexual & gender politics to the outside world.

According to their critics the fiercely-independent Mollena Williams-Haas was a woman subjugating herself to the desires of a man in a patriarchal society. Worse, she was an African-American taking on the “slave” role in the equation.

Their story “should have been left in the dark recesses of their plantation bedroom where it belongs.” Even some in the music world suggested Haas’ work would now always be associated with kink.

Beatrice Behn and René Gebhardt’s documentary The Artist & the Pervert reveals touching truths about the couple, who indeed, have taken their personal life and incorporated it into their work under the world’s glare.

There is a link to the festival page below where you can purchase your tickets to see The Artist & The Pervert.