Mona Mur in Conversation

There was Marlene Dietrich, Hildegard Knef, and Nico, the ice-cold sphinx. And then there is Mona Mur, "Germany's Queen of Post-Punk." Her dazzling career has brought her together with the likes of En Esch (KMFDM), FM Einheit, Mark Chung and Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Nikko Weidemann (Babylon Berlin), Dieter Meier (Yello), and J.J. Burnel (The Stranglers), as well as film directors Monika Treut, Elfi Mikesch, and Fatih Akin, photographer Ilse Ruppert, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Her remarkable journey is now being captured in a documentary film by German TV Oscar winners Dietmar Post and Lucía Palacios, the filmmakers behind the acclaimed Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback, about the proto-punk band The Monks. The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. Tocotronic bassist Jan Müller recommends the film with these words: “‘Mona Mur in Conversation’ recently won the Audience Award at the Hamburg Unerhört! Music Film Festival. And that comes as no surprise, because the film exerts a fascinating pull on the viewer — especially when Mona Mur explains why things unfolded the way they did in her life and career.” Filmmaker Monika Treut adds: “The film is so captivating because it is multifaceted: it portrays Mona Mur as a fearless woman in a male-dominated music industry, takes viewers on a whirlwind journey through recent pop music history, and reveals the many facets of Mona Mur — showing how she continues to develop her own unique style, unapologetically and creatively.” Mur was also a driving force behind the successful return of Xmal Deutschland singer Anja Huwe to the music scene.