Taxi to the Toilets

Frank Ripploh's 1981 film is an autobiographical work he wrote, directed and starred in. Frank, a schoolteacher in Berlin, lives a double life spent in the classroom by day and in public toilets and cinemas by night; meeting Bernd, a calm and affectionate museum worker, leaves him caught between the comfort of domestic partnership and the freedom of the night. Ripploh really was a teacher in Berlin and faced disciplinary action after coming out openly on a magazine cover in 1978. The film is unmatched as a record of the short interval after gay liberation and before the AIDS crisis. Because it shows sex explicitly it ran into serious distribution obstacles; the uncut version was not approved in Britain until 2011. The tone is unself-pitying, sardonic and surprisingly cheerful. Who it's for: viewers interested in queer film history, independent production in West Berlin, and autobiographical filmmaking. Who it's not for: anyone uncomfortable with explicit sexual content, or who wants plot and structure.