"The Virgin Machine is to pornography what chocolate ice cream is to a double helping of pig's feet," a German alternative daily noted, and indeed the film's frank depiction of stale hetero-sexual and ecstatic lesbian sexuality is made highly palatable by Ina Blum's golly-gee lead performance and Elfi Mikesch's elegantly off-kilter black and white cinematography.

Treut is at the height of her laconically funny storytelling powers in this film. Her next feature, My Father Is Coming (1991), despite hilarious bits, was rather uneven, and since then she has devoted her energies to documentaries exploring various aspects of gender identity. Treut will attend the screening.

Natalie Gravenor