On Thursday the 3rd of Novemver the The Steinach-Film screened in the Arc Cinema at the NSFA as part of the Sciene. Art. Film Series. A pannel discussion was hosted by Professor Birgit Lang and Professor Katie Sutton exploring the themes and the film's historical context.

The Steinach-Film is an innovative 1922 silent documentary about the discovery and significance of the sex hormones by endocrinologist Professor Eugen Steinach's team in 1910s Vienna. This German-Austrian co-production was also produced in an international version, and only a few copies exist around the world today, including the one to be screened from the NFSA collection. It begins by exploring themes of sexual difference in animals and humans, before delving into scientific experiments on laboratory rats undertaken by Steinach's team, seeking to "feminize" and "masculinize" animals via castration, testicle and ovary implantations, and hormone manipulation. The film then explores possible applications in humans, showing how scientists at the start of the twentieth century were starting to explore intersex, trans, and same-sex bodies and identities, as well as the potential for hormone research to "rejuvenate" the ageing and ill.

Birgit Lang is Professor of German Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of books including A History of the Case Study: Sexology, Psychoanalysis, Literature (Manchester UP).  

Katie Sutton is Associate Professor of German and Gender at the Australian National University; her most recent book is Sex between Body and Mind (Michigan UP).