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Archive for the ‘Filmmaking’ Category

The deadline for the Female Gaze Erotic Film Competition is the 16th August – next week. Alas, I haven’t received a single entry.

I’m a bit sad about this. I had hoped to encourage alternative visions of erotica with this competition but perhaps now was the wrong time. Perhaps I didn’t promote it enough (although it didn’t help that the major filmmaking sites wouldn’t list it due to their “no porn” policies). And perhaps asking people to create visual erotica is a bit of a stretch – although it didn’t have to be explicit or particularly big-budget.

So I’m considering extending the deadline, although this may depend on whether it will be cutting things too fine for a screening at Cinekink. Alternately, I might just throw up my hands and give the prizemoney to Cinekink as a sponsorship.

If you are waiting until the absolute last minute to enter, drop me a line to let me know you intend to enter (femalegaze AT forthegirls dot com)

I should also say: Please don’t scramble to film and send off any old crap in the hope of winning. We aren’t obliged to award the prize if the entries aren’t up to a certain standard.

I will update this post if the deadline is extended.

UPDATE
I’ve extended the deadline to September 6th. Winners announced on September 20th.

Now get busy, folks!

Our latest update at For The Girls features an exclusive interview with Spanish erotic filmmaker Erika Lust. I reviewed her film Life Love Lust last week and absolutely adored it. Its three stories are engaging, well executed and very sexy.

One of the more impressive things about this movie is the stunning cinematography. Erika says she shot it in high definition on a Canon 7D. This is the camera that has indie filmmakers raving because it can create such glorious film-like results for very little money. Having seen this film, I now want one.

You can watch Life Love Lust at Hotmovies or via Erika’s own site.

Here are a few pics from the film:

Today we’re launching the official For The Girls 7th birthday contest – The Female Gaze Erotic Film Competition.

The idea is to encourage representation of female perspectives in erotic film. We’re looking for short film submissions, under 10 minutes, that are erotic and embody the female gaze – a woman’s perspective of sex and sexuality. It doesn’t have to be explicit, although that’s always nice. It does have to include the number 7 within some part of the film.

The winner gets US$400 and a screening at Cinekink Film Festival in New York – thanks to the lovely Lisa for teaming up with For The Girls in this. The winner and runner up will feature in the member’s area at For The Girls. We’ll also consider licensing any other worthy films in our shortlist and the top 6 will get automatic consideration at Cinekink.

It’s not officially part of the comp but if I can swing it I’ll look into making the shortlisted films into a DVD. I can’t say that’s definite yet because I don’t know what sort of movies we’ll be getting or whether I can secure any kind of distribution. But it’s a possibility further down the track.

So if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, now might be the time to pick up the camcorder. It doesn’t have to be a hardcore epic or an Oscar-winning masterpiece. In essence, this competition is about encouraging creativity and erotic exploration, about taking a woman’s experience of sex and finding a way to visually depict it in your own way.

This competition follows on from Petra Joy’s awards held in Berlin last year – which I won. Having participated in that and having seen the gorgeous other films that were finalists, I want to see more and I want to encourage more filmmakers like me. Everyone has their own ideas about what is sexy and erotic. Here’s a chance to put it out into the world.

You’ll find all the info and legal details about the competition here. The deadline for entries is mid August so you don’t have long. Get out there and get filming!

Want to talk about porn or your kinky lifestyles? An Australian documentary is looking into unusual sexual relationships. Here’s the info:

TV production looking for women to talk about their experience with Porn.

A Sydney-based television company is producing a documentary about different types of relationships and sexual practices. We’ll be profiling a diverse range of sexual choices, including celibacy, swinging, porn, polyamory and hopefully many more. Largely interview-based, the series will be an intimate and respectful look at what goes on behind the closed doors of the average Australian home.

We’re looking for people who want to share their stories with us. In some cases we may consider an anonymous interview. People don’t need to be Sydney-based to participate.

If you are interested in being involved or want to find out more please contact Jamie at jfoxx AT sstar.com.au

The time is short – if you want to be involved, talk to them very soon!

This, my friends, is the full cover of Petra Joy’s new DVD Her Porn 2 which has been unleashed onto the world.

Aside from the general fabulousness of this movie, which includes short films from famous directors such as Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Shine Louise Houston and Maria Beatty, it also includes my film That’s What I Like!

Yes folks, it’s finally on DVD, along with the other finalists from the Petra Joy Awards. So this must mean I’m a REAL pornographer now. 10 years online and a hugely successful paysite doesn’t count. I’m now on a hard copy digital format so I must be real.

Here’s the official blurb:

This compilation celebrates the best porn made by women for women: from sensational porn classics by pioneering directors to the latest erotic flicks by new female directors from around the world.

HER PORN seduces with nearly three hours of sensual viewing pleasure.

What do women want in sex and porn? HER PORN has the answer. We hope you will enjoy the many different flavours of female-made porn – from vanilla to kinky, straight to queer and soft to hard.

The film is in the process of being distributed and I can’t really name any online places to buy it beyond the European store Openerotik.com. And of course, you can order through Petra’s site.

I’ll do another post soon with the trailer for the film, plus a bit more information. But for now, just enjoy the cover. Yes. That’s Mia and Andy right underneath the big red letters. Ooh, I feel all funny.


LIFE LOVE LUST


This is the trailer for Erika Lust’s new film Life Love Lust. As you can see it looks amazing – really high production values and interesting imagery galore. I think Erika’s films are the real future of porn: good quality, interesting stories, hot sex. And I also applaud Erika’s unapologetic determination to cater to straight women.

The official blurb is:

LIFE: After finishing the day in the restaurant they both work in, a chef and a waitress have an incredible encounter to celebrate his birthday. LOVE: A fourty-something executive seduces a young man she sporadically meets in a city hotel. LUST: Lola uses all her sensual body to give an intense skin on skin massage to a shy and lonely woman, driving her to the most pure extasis. LIFE LOVE LUST are three erotic audiovisual jewels by the acclaimed director Erika Lust. This DVD also features two awarded short movies about fetishism: LOVE ME LIKE YOU HATE ME and HANDCUFFS.

The movie is officially released on May 1 but you can pre-order it from the official site here and score extra goodies. You can also watch another trailer and view pics from the movie. Erika’s blog also makes for great reading.

I’m a very grumpy blogger this week, as you’ll know if you’ve been reading my Twitter stream. I had every intention of flying to Canada to finally attend the Feminist Porn Awards this year. I’ve supported the awards since the very beginning and wanted to be there, especially as For The Girls is nominated for best website.

Alas, our best website is what has kept me here. I’m now into the 5th month of a long running battle with a design company to re-do the FTG member’s area. I won’t go into details; suffice to say it’s a cluster fuck. Trying to get it finished has kept me here. And my goodness, it’s made me very unhappy.

Still, I thought I’d best do a blog post and add a few links to some of the pre-show press given to the awards this year.

The best in feminist porn is an overview from Xtra which is Canada’s gay and lesbian news.
Tristan Taormino: A pioneer in porn is an interview and feature of the direct by the same site.
The Feminist Touch – an overview in Varsity.ca
Feminist porn awards selects New Zealand films – a report on NZ director Astrid Glitter’s 2 nominations. Astrid is attending the awards.
Porn reporter Gram Ponante has a sly interview with Alison Lee here.

So best of luck to all the nominees. Wish I could be there. Dammit.

Since returning from the Berlin Porn Film Festival last October I’ve been working on a new site called Sexy Short Films. I’ve only updated it in dribs and drabs because finding, researching and posting the videos takes up a lot of time but I think it’s been worth the effort.

I’ve been holding off on launching it because I wanted to have a decent selection of films to start. There’s now 37 in the database. Not huge but a decent enough beginning.

The idea behind Sexy Short Films is to offer a form of online erotic film festival; an internet version of the fun I had in Berlin, essentially. These movies explore eroticism, sexuality and relationships in diverse ways. There’s a lot of humour but I’ve also included some darker and experimental pieces that can be a little unsettling. There’s not a lot of explicit sex to be had – almost all the short films on offer were available on Youtube or other free video sites so they tend to abide by the rather tame guidelines. Still, there’s plenty of sensuality to be had and more importantly, numerous arousing scenarios that stimulate the mind.

I’ve done my best to credit the creators and provide a link to their official sites. Also added Paypal donation buttons when the directors had them. I want to encourage directors who are daring to make smart films about sex.

I’ve also done my best to list all of the erotic film festivals that currently exist around the world. Hopefully I’ll be able to add more to the list.

The video above is called “Vibra Call”. It’s from Brazil and was directed by Esmir Filho. It’s a cute short film that features one female orgasm and no dialogue. Good times.

I’m a few days late with this but really want to blog about it. Sam Benjamin, ex porn director and author of Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer, has written an article for AlterNet entitled Why I Had To Stop Making Hardcore Porn. In it he describes how he spent 5 years making heterosexual gonzo porn for a living and how, eventually, he decided to stop because he found the whole experience too cruel.

I came to learn that within the context of the heterosexual L.A. industry, while my overt task at hand was to make sure that the girls got naked, my true responsibility as director was to make sure the girls got punished. Scenes that stuck out, and hence made more money, were those in which the female “targets” were verbally degraded and sometimes physically humiliated.

None of it was written in my contract, of course; it was more of a contextual thing. Like: Everyone’s doing it . . . thus, so shall we. My various superiors across the years saw the issue from a businessman’s perspective, reminding me quite openly of the need to keep up with our competition…

What surprised me most though, was the fact that I found within myself a happy willingness to be violent, a willingness to degrade. Though my bosses may have ordered me to organize and record the scenes of degradation, I followed their orders, and not without pleasure. Something cowardly within me, an internal space, suffused with a weak kind of anger, felt satisfied when I saw a woman “take her punishment.” I clung to the sense of temporary empowerment I found through the bullying. Lust-colored aggression and the satisfaction of making “good money” guided me through scene after scene.

Sam is talking about exactly the kind of porn I find offensive and have spoken out against regularly on this blog. I too have seen the slow creep towards “harder” porn online, “harder” meaning crueler and more degrading. I’ve long deplored the various “reality” sites that showed women laughed at and abused for having sex, sites that show women being slapped, made to vomit and cry during blowjobs, called whores and bitches and sluts… To me this type of porn has always been more about hate and revenge rather than actual sex and I despise it.

Sam then goes on to say that, after a break, he took up directing gay porn and found the attitude behind it to be far different:

Gay porn, in fact, was so goddamn simple that it approached a type of Zen beauty. I mean, this was guys taking on guys, in every shape and form imaginable, for the most part in good humor and absent-minded lust. They may have stuck to roles of “tops” and “bottoms,” but in the dressing room, we all seemed equals, on the same team.

Thankfully he uses the experience of gay porn to point out that not all pornography need be exploitative or cruel. He also mentions female-directed and alt porn as examples or more positive erotica. He then goes on to say:

At its worst, though, porn can represent with shocking clarity the inability of a modern society to empathize. We are living in an increasingly individualistic, over-privatized, fragmented society, and it’s not going to get any better any time soon. Perhaps the character of our generation will be judged in how we react to the images that run before us on our screens: do we wish for the objects of our desire to be punished, humiliated? Or treated with respect? The answer is in our collective consciousness. It is up to us.

While I think Sam’s juxtaposition of “us and them” is a bit too simplistic (exploitation happens in gay porn too), I’m glad he wrote the article. This is a conversation we really need to be having and questions need to be asked:

* Why have some genres of porn become so horrible?
* Who is driving it? The consumers or the producers?
* What is the motivation behind wanting to see/create this type of porn?
* What effect does it have on young men who may see porn as a type of sex education?
* How can we change things so that degrading gonzo porn is no longer so dominant?
* How do we make porn better?

In the fight against censorship I find myself standing up for all porn, even though I dislike so much of it. Unfortunately freedom of speech means I have to defend their position in order to maintain mine – even though what I do is so vastly different, ethically and philosophically. And yet defending freedom of speech doesn’t mean I can’t speak out and say there’s a problem here. Because there is and I’m glad someone like Sam Benjamin has acknowledged it. The trick now is to keep discussing this without the inevitable calls for it to be banned.

Once again, Annie Sprinkle’s quote applies: The solution to bad porn isn’t no porn, it’s better porn.

And that’s what I’ve been doing for ten years now. Carving out my own little dirty corner of the internet and creating a space for women that’s positive, respectful, intelligent and fun, one that embraces sexuality as an act of love and pleasure, not hatred. I want to make a difference to porn, to provide something that’s good and well made and beautiful. To depict sex as something worthy of honour and respect.

At this stage I’ll direct you to an excellent piece written by Charlie Glickman from Good Releasing called The Ethics Of Making Sex Positive Porn. It’s his response to Sam’s article and details his ideas about improving the porn landscape. It becomes a plug for Good Releasing but that’s OK because they’re a distribution and production company that IS trying to make a difference.

This is a short film shown before Yves Saint Laurent’s 2009 fall fashion show for men.

It consists of only a full-frame shot of Michael Pitt’s face as he listens to an unseen woman talk to him erotically about clothes. “I lift up the T-shirt that peeks out from the sleeves and see underneath, you’re stark naked,” she rasps in French. “You dream of me rubbing your feet… I raise the veil from your leather belt and discover where your firm, flat stomach begins. Trousers which, though baggy, fall perfectly straight.”

Is it sexy? Well he’s certainly good looking and it feels like Jennifer Lyon Bell’s film Headshot or a Beautiful Agony video. The French voiceover sounds great although it may be seen as pretentious. I’m not sure I can read that much eroticism into clothing, I must admit, but if you like fashion, it may be a winner.

Erotic film festival Cinekink New York is now into its seventh year and I’m very pleased to say that I have two films screening at the festival. That’s What I Like is showing at 11pm on Friday Feb 19th and my comedy short Paddling The Pink Canoe screens 1pm Saturday February 20th. It will be the US premiere of both films. TWIL will be screening with the premiere of Jennifer Lyon Bell’s new film Des Jours Plus Belles Que la Nuit.

The program includes a number of films I’d love to see just based on their titles. Whorrey Potter and the Sorcerer’s Balls, Great Humpkin, Flaming of the Shrew…

The other news is that For The Girls is a bronze sponsor of this year’s event. I’m pleased to get behind it and help get artistic and erotic films out to the public. Cinekink also did a cool thing by asking for sponsorship after the lineup of films had been announced. It meant that there was no conflict of interest involved which is why we’re not able to sponsor the Feminist Porn Awards this year.

Unfortunately I can’t make it to New York to be at the festival. I met festival co-ordinator Lisa Vandever in Berlin last year and she’s just fabulous. The cost of airfares combined with prior engagements mean I’m going to miss the fun. It’s really frustrating because I know it will be great.

So I can only suggest that my New York readers consider checking out the Cinekink site and going along to catch some great erotic movies.

Alison and the good people at Good For Her have sent out a press release concerning next year’s Feminist Porn Awards. They’re planning to create a jury of members of the public to help judge the films, which is an excellent initiative. You can find out how to become a jury member here.

They’ve also initiated a scholarship for new and upcoming feminist porn filmmakers (hmm… sounds familiar), the Emerging Filmmaker Award (EFA).

The EFA will honor emerging talent in the field of feminist porn production by offering monetary scholarship to an individual who is breaking boundaries, creating sexy feminist porn and who is committed to the representation of women and alternative sexualities in erotic media. Each year, Good For Her will strive to select new, up and coming talent with the hopes of creating more accessible opportunities for those whom are traditionally challeng ed by the process of securing finances for their creative projects.

The EFA is intended for the completion of a film project to be released for film screening and/or DVD distribution in 2010-2011. The EFA is intended for individuals working on their first erotic film project(s) only.

Full terms and conditions are on their site.

Despite all my best laid plans early in the year, I have nothing to submit for nomination. I could, however enter the EFA as I have plenty of exciting ideas in the pipeline.

It took five weeks but here, finally, is my little doco about the 2009 Berlin Porn Film Festival. It’s a little over 4 minutes and you’ll hear some great comments about feminist porn by some of the fab female directors I met including Shine Louise Houston, Anna Brownfield, Candida Royalle, Anna Span, Petra Joy, Jennifer Lyon Bell and Renee Pornero. Plus a quick cameo from Joe Gallant and footage from the Petra Joy Awards presentation.

A much longer version went live at For The Girls yesterday and I’ll also be uploading more footage there soon. Candida Royalle’s lecture about her films is particularly interesting – that’s waiting for a future update. I also wrote an expansive article about my experiences in Berlin for FTG.

The short blog version is that I had a ball, won an award, met lots of wonderful people and wished it could have gone for another 3 days. I didn’t get to enjoy nearly enough films because I was so busy with the Petra Joy Award but the ones I did see were amazing.

It was the people I met that really made it worthwhile. I interviewed Shine Louise Houston from the Crash Pad Series and was so impressed with her drive and knowledge. She’s a woman with a plan and she’s going to become even more of a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Well-known director Joe Gallant could well be the nicest man in the world. We talked the future of porn and hopefully we can work together at sometime next year. He said he thought I’d like Bong Water Butt Babes but I wasn’t so sure. He made me aware of how disconnected I am from the mainstream porn industry… something for which I’m kind of grateful.

Anna Brownfield is a card. We were so pleased to meet each other and had the comraderie of two Aussies lost in Europe, trying not to slip into slang when giving interviews. Her film The Band was such a standout and it shows you can easily marry explicit sex, comedy and great storytelling.

I also got to meet Lisa Vandever from Cinekink who is so much fun and easy to talk to, as is Vena Virago, a wild, pink haired artist who just happens to make porn for Vivid Alt. And I found myself getting stupidly protective towards the gorgeous Julie Simone, who is very quiet and shy, despite being a fearsome BDSM Mistress who can rock a rubber dress.

And then there’s Jennifer Lyon Bell of Blue Artichoke Films who I met last year. Jen is kind of like the social glue of the event, introducing people and arranging dinners and you couldn’t encounter a warmer, more positive person.

I even got to say hello to Candida Royalle, albeit briefly. Indeed, I cringe a little when I think about it. I was feeling a little starstruck and eagerly handed her my card which read Louise Lush. “That’s my new pretendy name,” I said.

Pretendy name??? Sheesh! I like to flatter myself that I have a decent vocabulary but do you think I could remember the word pseudonym for love or money at that moment? My husband has been teasing me about my pretendy name ever since.

OK, enough name dropping. Suffice to say I made lots of contacts and, as you see in the film, we all feel like we’ve found a family in Berlin.

I’ve since discovered quite a few of the short films on Youtube or other free sites around the web. I’m hoping to feature these on the blog in the future.

And as expensive as it is to travel all that way I think I’ll have to go back in 2010. The festival is too much fun and far too useful to miss out on.

Petra has uploaded these videos shot on the 24th October at the Joy Awards.

And here’s snippets from the winning films including mine:

Part of me is mortified at how I look on that video. There’s a reason I’ve been anonymous all these years and it’s not just privacy or safety. I’m also kicking myself because I had a fabulous necklace and earrings ready to wear on the night and forgot to put them on. I was so distracted by trying to strap on my mile-high lesbian wedding heels (and then I spent half the night trying not to fall off them). So I look kind of bare. At least the professional makeup job looked nice.

Anyway, I’m out of the porn closet now for better or worse.

I should say that the other winners I met on the night – Lindsay, Cora and Lola – were all lovely and very talented. We had a great time drinking champagne in the limo – even if we did get stuck in traffic and had to do a 16 point turn to make it back to the cinema in time.

I will say thank you again to Petra for organising the whole thing and also thank you to Pjur for putting up the prizemoney. It helped to pay for my trip to Berlin and accommodation which was great.

Well folks, this is my last proper blog post for about four weeks. I’m off on my big trip to the Berlin Porn Film Festival where my short film That’s What I Like is having its premiere on Sunday the 25th Oct at 8pm.

I’m very excited about attending the festival and meeting so many wonderful female porn directors. Candida Royalle, Petra Joy, Shine Louise Houston, Jennifer Lyon Bell, Maria Beatty, Anna Span, Emile Jouvet and many others will be attending. I’m taking my camera and hope to interview them all plus capture some of the fun and craziness that is part of the festival. I’ll post a short video when I get back but I’ll also be adding a longer, more comprehensive version to For The Girls.

In the meantime That’s What I Like and Paddling The Pink Canoe will also be showing at the Sexy International Film Festival in Melbourne. I had a clash of dates and chose the ridiculously expensive overseas trip. Ah well. I wish I could be there. If you’re down south I do recommend you attend as the festival looks fab.

For more on my films visit Indigo Lush.

So I probably won’t get a chance to get properly online and post anything until I come back. I’ve scheduled some simple dirty picture posts to appear in the meantime so the place doesn’t look too sad. I’m hoping to Twitter a bit so check the sidebar for any updates.