Yony Leyser

Yony Leyser is a writer and director with a focus on subcultures and queer history. They are the director of three award-winning feature films Queercore: How To Punk A Revolution (2017), Desire Will Set You Free (2015), William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (2011), the docuseries Drag Me to the USA (2022), as well as two forthcoming films The Fourth Generation and Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers do Deutschland set to be released in 2023. They are also the author of Queercore: How To Punk A Revolution out on PM Press, as well as theater shows including W(A)RM HOLES at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre. Collectively Leyser’s critically acclaimed films have been screened in over 150 institutions and festivals around the world, including Slamdance, Seattle International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Rio International Film Festival, Viennale, Guadalajara International Film Festival, IDFA, Doc NYC, Outfest, Frameline and HotDocs. Born in Chicago in 1984, Yony Leyser is the descendant of a German-Iranian-Jewish family. They moved to Berlin in 2010. They hold a Masters Degree from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and a Bachelors from The New School University in New York. From a young age, Leyser made it their life mission to explore these themes and give a voice and platform to those marginalised by society.