“Art had to compensate for Nature’s oversights.”

The German documentary, “I Am My Own Woman” from director Rosa von Praunheim explores the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Charlotte was born Lothar Berfelde in 1928, but he showed an interest in women’s clothing that eventually led to the adoption of a female name and identity. Beatings, WWII, the Stasi, and even skinheads–Charlotte survived it all–and eventually ran a museum devoted to the Grunderzeit period of 1880-1900.

Part interview and part reenactment, director von Praunheim uses several actors to portray Charlotte at various ages. In some scenes, the real Charlotte meets her fictional counterparts, and the situation becomes a teaching experience as Charlotte relates many of the atrocities she witnessed as she struggled to survive in WWII Germany. Recollections of The Euthanasia Programme mingle with Charlotte’s staunch refusal to participate in war. She admits in a shocked tone: “I would never put on a uniform or shoot at people.” In another scene, an outraged coworker tells Charlotte “last weekend you were seen at a party in women’s clothes.” The film also has its lighter moments–one of my favourite parts occurs when Charlotte crosses into West Germany using her male passport. The reenactment of the guard’s astonishment is both amusing and sympathetic.

Overall, however, while there’s no doubt that Charlotte led a fascinating life (and miraculously survived) to tell tales of violence and discrimination, the reenactments of her life are decidedly cheesy and this lessens the documentary’s power. This German language film with English subtitles is based on Charlotte von Mahlsdorf’s autobiography.