That Man: Peter Berlin

Directed by: Jim Tushinski
When: 10 pm Friday April 1 2005
Where: Muvico 1 - Centro Ybor

Special Sneak Preview

"That Man" Peter Berlin (Armin)

That Man: Peter Berlin is a feature-length documentary that recounts the life and times of photographer, filmmaker, model, and gay male sex icon Peter Berlin.

Berlin shot to international fame in the early 1970's with two wildly successful 16mm films, Nights in Black Leather and That Boy, and quickly entered the hearts and fantasies of gay men everywhere.

Peter Berlin's take on male sexuality was different from anything else available at the time. He preferred suggestive, skin-tight clothing to nudity, served as his own photographer, model, and fashion designer, and ended up redefining self-portraiture. Berlin was the basis for several Tom of Finland drawings and is remembered as creating some of the most recognizable gay male imagery of the 1970's.

Dubbed the "Greta Garbo of porn," Berlin displayed everything for the camera but remained an aloof, enigmatic figure to his fans, rarely making public appearances.

That Man: Peter Berlin is also a portrait of Armin, the man who created the icon - a man from an aristocratic German family who lost everything and grew up poor in post-war Germany. Early on, Armin discovered the power of his youthful beauty and used it to his advantage, beginning a globetrotting existence that eventually led to stardom and encounters with Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Sal Mineo, among others. Eventually, Armin turned away from the spotlight, saw most of his friends die, and continues to live quietly in San Francisco.

That Man: Peter Berlin is a journey through a most unusual life, featuring hundreds of Peter's personal and professional photographs, excerpts from his films and previously unseen videos, and interviews with Peter Berlin, John Waters, Armistead Maupin, Wakefield Poole, Jack Wrangler, Robert W. Richards, Rick Castro, and other fans and friends.

The documentary is directed and produced by Jim Tushinski and co-produced by Lawrence Helman.

For more information, please visit the film's website www.thatmanpeterberlin.com.