Elfi Mikesch

Elfi Mikesch, born in 1940 in Judenburg, Austria, is a pioneering cinematographer, director, and photographer whose work has shaped feminist and queer cinema in the German-speaking world. After training as a photographer and working as a painter, Mikesch moved to Frankfurt am Main in the 1960s, where she met Rosa von Praunheim. Together, they relocated to West Berlin and published the influential photo-novel "Oh Muvie" in 1969, chronicling the Berlin underground.

Mikesch made her film debut in 1970 with the Super-8 short "Charisma. Eine Erinnerung an den Tod." In 1971, she shot her first feature, "Leidenschaften," a documentary journey around the world with Fritz Mikesch and Rosa von Praunheim. The following year, she was responsible for makeup and costumes on Werner Schroeter’s "Salome," and went on to work as cinematographer for numerous productions by Praunheim, Schroeter, Peter Lilienthal, and Monika Treut. By the late 1970s, Mikesch had begun directing her own films, noted for their poetic and experimental visual language—such as "Ich denke oft an Hawaii" (1978, German Film Award) and "Execution: A Story of Mary" (1978/80, German Film Award).

She also worked as a documentary filmmaker for ZDF and received international acclaim for her visionary cinematography, including the German Camera Award ("Malina," 1992), the Bielefeld Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Film Prize (with Werner Schroeter, 2010), and the Teddy Award for Lifetime Achievement (2014). In 1984, she co-founded the independent production company Hyäne Films in Hamburg with Monika Treut. From 1983 to 1984, she taught directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb).

Since 1991, Elfi Mikesch has been a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts, Section for Film and Media Arts. In recent years, her photographic work and films have been celebrated in exhibitions such as "Catching the Light" (2020, Berlin). Mikesch lives and works in Berlin.