At the end of his life, Dieter Engel, Germany’s most legendary brothel owner reveals his secret art collection. A journey for him to find peace after the tragedy of war.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
Engel was 8 at the end of WWII, fatherless and extremely poor. Turbulent times and big social changes. A world in search of sexual freedom. While Germany was reconstructing the country, Engel was building a new kind of bordello. He revolutionised the sex industry by creating a brothel that challenged societal norms and provided insight into the hitherto hidden world of female sexuality. Uniquely, he treated his female workers with respect and, for the first time in history, provided them with social insurance and pension rights. We are deconstructing prejudices, thus critically questioning his then journey through strong female voices.
Before his death, he fulfilled his dream of establishing a museum to showcase the ‘rare’ remarkable erotic art pieces he had collected over nearly fifty years.
The imagination and the creation of the museum joined into the combined healing of his disrupted German identity.
Directors
Peter Woditsch & Sophie Simon en 2024-2025
DOP Johan Legraie – Stijn Grupping – Leo Foulet
Music and sounddesign Lucas Lauwers
Editing Antje Mertens – Peter Woditsch
Prizes and festivals -Partners
Sophimages in association with VAF Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds- Magellan films – BE taxshelter –
Catndocs (FR – salesagent)
BANGKOK movie awards – Best documentary film award – Golden Elephant Award
EF best film Award at Bizarre art Film Festival – Spain “best long documentary Film” at 10 th edition –
BEST Documentary Film at Golden Harvest Film Festival – TOKYO Japan 2025 – GOLDEN HARVEST AWARD
WORCESTER Film Festival – UK 2025
Better World Film Festival at Munich film F , Germany – The SUNRISE TROPHY for best documentary
Angelic Stars international Film Festival, Los Angeles 2025
The Women’s Bioscope intl Film Festival , Delhi, India (official selection)
