Posted in: Film Promo, Movies | Tagged: altered innocence, Frank Ripploh, German Cinema, LGBTQ, Taxi zum Klo

Taxi zum Klo: Pioneering 80s LGBTQ+ Film Returns to Theatres

Taxi zum Klo, Frank Ripploh's landmark LGBTQ German film, has been restored and premieres at the Metrograph NYC on August 1st.

Published Sun, 10 Aug 2025 06:17:04 -0500

by Adi Tantimedh

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Article Summary

Taxi zum Klo returns for its 45th anniversary in a new restoration, premiering August 1st at Metrograph NYC
Frank Ripploh’s groundbreaking 1980 film broke taboos with its candid depiction of queer life in West Berlin
A cult classic, it faced censorship and controversy but influenced filmmakers like Van Sant and Bruce LaBruce
The restored film will also screen in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and more cities

The new restoration of Frank Ripploh's landmark queer debut feature Taxi zum Klo returns to theaters for its 45th anniversary next month from Altered Innocence. A success in West Germany upon its initial release, Taxi zum Klo premiered in the US at the New York Film Festival in 1981 and opened theatrically stateside that same year. Achieving cult status across every release, the transgressive semi-autobiographical feature was simultaneously a hit with audiences and a lightning rod for controversy and attempted censorship. Produced on a shoestring budget, Taxi zum Klo has cemented it's place in queer cannon and been hailed as an important influence on filmmakers like Gus Van Sant, John Cameron Mitchell, Ira Sachs—most notably in 2023's critically acclaimed Passages—and Bruce LaBruce, who has called it "one of the best gay movies ever made" and "an essential document of the sensibility of the newly liberated gay male of the '70s."

Ripploh, who occasionally worked under the name Peggy von Schnottgenberg, would direct two subsequent features—Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars and Taxi nach Kairo, a sequel to Taxi zum Klo—before passing in 2002. He was also known for his acting, including roles in Ulrike Ottinger's Madame X: An Absolute Ruler and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle.

A Landmark in LGBTQ Cinema Restored

A 1980 landmark of queer European cinema, the film—which is most often translated as "Taxi to the Toilet" —stars writer/director Frank Ripploh, who mined from his own life as a gay man in West Berlin at the dawn of the 1980s for his groundbreaking feature debut. Unapologetically explicit and deeply personal, it kicks off its theatrical re-release on August 1st in New York City at Metrograph (who are also presenting the series The Many Faces of Frank Ripploh) from Altered Innocence through their queer restoration sub-label, Anus Films.

Presenting an uncompromising portrait of queer life in pre-AIDS era Berlin, Taxi zum Klo shattered taboos upon its release for its raw and uncensored depiction of sexuality and, in turn, faced numerous censorship hurdles when opening, including a New York Times piece from 1991 about an attempt to ban a screening at a university in Iowa, "CAMPUS LIFE: Iowa; Despite Uproar, Homoerotic Film Has 2d Screening". Ripploh's film, which follows a dedicated school teacher accustomed to filling his leisure hours with anonymous sex, is infused with a distinctively wry humor and continues to resonate for its fearless exploration of identity, intimacy, and freedom.

Ripploh, who passed away in 2002, worked alongside major players of the New German Cinema like Monika Treut, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ulrike Ottinger, and prolific queer filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, who was his mentor. In 2025, there's no debate about its cult status in queer canon, and it's been cited as a favorite and influence on Gus Van Sant, Ira Sachs (most notably for Passages), and Bruce LaBruce, who called it "one of the best gay movies ever made."

Following the Metrograph run from August 1st to the 7th, Taxi zum Klo will play in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and St Louis, with more on the way.

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