Frank Ripploh

Ripploh stayed in the public eye for a time via small but noticeable roles in several German films of the period such as "Kamikaze '89" (1982) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's last film, "Querelle" (1982). It was not until 1987, however, that Ripploh wrote, directed and starred in a second feature, "Taxi Nach Kairo/Taxi to Cairo," a sequel to his fondly remembered debut. With the growth of lesbian and gay film festivals conflicting with an increased cultural conservatism late in the 80s, Ripploh's second feature did not quite hit its mark appeasing either quarter. Its farcical situations involving Frank's mother, a heterosexual marriage of convenience and the character's still lively sexual pursuits had their modest pleasures, but the film was not especially successful and Ripploh's autobiographical forays into independent gay cinema petered out.