Men, Heroes and Gay Nazis
Directed by	Rosa von Praunheim
Screenplay by	Rosa von Praunheim
Produced by	Rosa von Praunheim
Starring	Rainer Fromm Winfried Bonengel Michael Kühnen Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller Jörg Fischer Ewald Althans Rüdiger Lautmann
Cinematography	Lorenz Haarmann
Edited by	Stefan Kobe
Release date	16 February 2005
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Men, Heroes and Gay Nazis (German: Männer, Helden, schwule Nazis) is a 2005 German documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film focuses on gay men who align themselves with hard-core right wing views, skinheads and Nazis.

Rosa von Praunheim stated of the subjects featured in the documentary, “Some may be shocked that I do not take a stand in my film and do not portray gay neo-Nazis as monsters, but as people living their lives in dramatic contradiction.”

Plot

During a gay march in Berlin, some of the men in the crowd are interviewed and ask their opinion about fellow gay men who have hard-core right wing views, are skinheads or neo-Nazis. All of those questioned express their disapproval. One of them comments that while he is attracted to the over-masculinity and black outfits of the neo-Nazis, he is revolt by their political views. Another person questioned expresses the absurdity of the situation: if the gay right-wing and neo-Nazis would have lived in the era they admire, they would have been exterminated.

Four gay men in present-day Germany who are, or have been, engaged in right-wing political parties are interviewed: Andre, a skinhead; Bela Ewald Althans, a former prominent neo-Nazis leader turned gay activist; Alexander Schlesinger, who is involved in right wing politics and Jörg Fischer, a right wing theorist whose weak constitution did not match the strong masculine stereotype he admires.

Andre is a skinhead who defines violence as to have the courage to defend himself and as part of the expression of the warrior within. He tells that some homosexuals enjoy role playing where one partner plays the “Nazi” and the other plays the “Jew” during a rape scenario. Andre associates with a group of other bald-headed right-wing men. To those who ask them, he tells them he is gay, and in the gay community he confesses that he is right wing. Most in both groups tolerate him, but, ultimately, Andre admits that being gay he is always a target under constant threat.

A group of gay men with a military fetish gather in Berlin on weekends to give free reign to their military fetish. Dress in military uniforms and spotting green berets, they enjoy military maneuvers combined with outdoor sex-games. To protected themselves and do not break the law, they are registered with the government and the authorities are aware of their activities.

Bela Ewald Althans, who now works in advertising, was in the early 1990s one of Germany most prominent neo-Nazi, a Adolf Hitler admirer and holocaust denier. In 1994, he was arrested and spent 21 months in jail for denying the holocaust in front of astonished tourist during a visit to Dachau concentration camp while he was filmed in Beruf Neonazi, a documentary about him. Althans is now involved in the gay community, but he does not regret his past. He tells that he did not become gay from one day to the other, but evolve in his feelings and attractions until he discovered his true self.