Full Synopsis

With his trademark Dutchboy haircut, Tom of Finland physique, and oh-so-tight trousers, Peter Berlin was the poster boy for the hedonistic and sexually-liberated 1970s. Jim Tushinski’s fascinating, sexy, and ultimately touching portrait, That Man: Peter Berlin, traces Berlin's story over the past 40 years, from his birth in wartime Germany to his current life in San Francisco, and shows the human being behind the icon.

Photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol, drawn by Tom of Finland, and lusted after by countless fans, Berlin was more than just a piece of eye candy. A talented artist, photographer, and filmmaker, he starred in two underground gay erotic classics from the early 1970s, Nights in Black Leather and That Boy, which he also directed. But he was his own biggest creation, a carefully constructed, unattainable icon awash in eroticism.

His many fans and friends, such as director John Waters, author Armistead Maupin, adult film legend Jack Wrangler, filmmaker Wakefield Poole, photographers Rick Castro and Dan Nicoletta, and artist Robert W. Richards, offer their reflections on Berlin and the time period.

Most illuminating and exciting, of course, is the extensive commentary by Berlin himself, still looking remarkably boyish in his early 60s. Tushinski's interviews are complemented perfectly with an astonishing archive of photos and film clips that reveal the full scope of Berlin’s impressive body of work.

That Man: Peter Berlin is directed and produced by Jim Tushinski ("Jan-Michael Vincent is My Muse") and co-produced by Lawrence Helman (Sex Is...).

Short Synopsis

With his trademark Dutchboy haircut, Tom of Finland physique, and oh-so-tight trousers, Peter Berlin was the poster boy for the hedonistic and sexually liberated 1970s. Director Jim Tushinski's fascinating, sexy, and ultimately touching portrait, That Man: Peter Berlin, traces Berlin's story over the past 40 years, from his birth in wartime Germany to his current life in San Francisco, turning the elusive sex icon into a human being.