Ms Naughty Porn for Women Blog

Good For Her have announced the official list of nominees for the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards. I’m pleased to say that For The Girls has been nominated for Best Website.

Here’s some info from their press release:

But wait, what is feminism doing getting into bed with porn? At Good For Her, we are feminists and we sell and rent porn. In 2006 we decided that it’s not enough to criticize adult films for not adequately representing women’s – and in many cases, men’s – sexuality. So we decided to do something about it. As porn star and performance artist Annie Sprinkle famously said, “The answer to bad porn isn’t no porn…it’s to try and make better porn!” Good For Her couldn’t agree more. We believe the world is inundated with cheesy, cliche, degrading, and patronizing porn. But we also believe that erotic fantasy is powerful, and that women and marginalized communities deserve to put their dreams and desires on film, too. As feminists and sex-positive people, we want to showcase and honour those who are creating erotic media with a feminist sensibility.

The nominees on this year’s list continue to strive to provide erotic entertainment that is smart, sexy, and continues to appreciate women as viewers. In addition to featuring 51 nominations in total – the highest number of nominated films and websites ever – this year’s nominee list also includes movies from more countries than previous years, and includes filmmakers from: Great Britain, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and of course, the porn epicenter of the world, The United States. Canada is also represented among the nominee list with erotic website, GoodDykePorn.com, and “Kiwi-Canuck” Astrid Glitter.

The Nominees for the 2010 Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards are (in alphabetical order – film title first)

48) 101 Positions for Lovers – Jamye Waxman – Sensual Couples
49) A Man With a Maid: Tales of Victorian Lust – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
50) Art of Female Self-Pleasure – Jaiya – New World Sex Education
51) Be My Boy Toy – Anna Span – Easy on the Eye Productions
52) Behind the Red Door – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
53) Bordello – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
54) Buck Angel’s Ultimate Fucking Club – Buck Angel – Buck Angel Entertainment
55) Cocksucker – Julie Simone – Julie Simone Productions
56) Couch Surfers 2: Trans Men in Action – Brazen Garage Squad –Trannywood Pictures
57) Crash Pad Series 4: Ropeburn – Shine Louise Houston – Blowfish Video
58) Crash Pad Series 5: The Revolving Door – Shine Louise Houston – Blowfish Video
59) Dangerous Curves – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
60) Des Jours Plus Belles Que La Nuit – Jennifer Lyon Bell + Murielle Scherre – Blue Artichoke Films
61) Dirty Diaries: 12 Shorts of Feminist Porn – Mia Engberg (producer) — Njuta Films
62) Fluid: Men Redefining Sexuality – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
63) Fluid: Women Redefining Sexuality – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
64) Glamazons – Carlos Batts – HeartCore Films
65) Handcuffs – Erika Lust – Lust Films
66) Honey Bunny – Vena Virago – Vivid Alt
67) John — Astrid Glitter– Glitter Films
68) Lesbian Adventures: Victorian Love Letters – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
69) Lesbian Hitchhikers – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
70) Maneater: The Prelude – Damali Dares – Desire Street Productions
71) My Daughter’s Boyfriend – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
72) Penny Flame’s Expert Guide to Rough Sex – Tristan Taormino & Penny Flame – Vivid Ed/Smart Ass Video
73) Perversions of Lesbian Lust Vol. 2 – Madison Young – Madison Young Productions
74) Queer Manor – Madison Young – Reel Queer Productions
75) River Rock Women’s Prison – Kathryn Annelle – Triangle Films
76) Rock Hard: For Music and Cock Lovers Everywhere – Jelena Lakic – Easy on the Eye
77) Roulette: Berlin – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
78) Sensual Massage for Pregnancy – Jaiya – New World Sex Education
79) Seven Minutes in Heaven: Coming Out – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
80) Seven Minutes in Heaven: Tender Hearted – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
81) Speakeasy – Courtney Trouble – Reel Queer Productions
82) Stories of Sexes – Ovidie & Jack Tyler – French Lover TV
83) Sylvia – Madison Young – Madison Young Productions
84) The Band – Anna Brownfield – Hungry Films
85) The Deviant – Nica Noelle – Sweet Sinner Video
86) Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Anal Sex for Men – Tristan Taormino – Vivid Ed/Smart Ass Video
87) Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Threesomes – Tristan Taormino – Vivid Ed/ Smart Ass Video
88) Tristan Taormino’s Rough Sex – Tristan Taormino – Vivid / Smart Ass Video
89) Women Love Porn – Anna Span (producer) – Easy on the Eye Productions
90) Women Love Porn: Apocalypse Angels – Katie Coxxx – Easy on the Eye
91) XXX Vignettes – Astrid Glitter – Glitter Films

Website Nominations:

www.RubysDiary.com
www.JuicyPinkBox.com
www.ShotWithDesire.com
www.NoFauxxx.com
www.GoodDykePorn
www.ForTheGirls.com
www.OnMyPeriod.com

Congratulations to all the nominees. There’s a lot of great films in there and also some new ones I haven’t heard of; I’ll have to look into where I can get them for review.

I’m not certain but I’m hoping to be able to attend this year’s awards. It will be a bit last-minute if I go but I’m sure it will be worth it.

Here’s the main Feminist Porn Awards 2010 page.

I think Ewan McGregor is gorgeous and he has long been a favourite actor of mine due to his eagerness to get his gear off in films. I think he should win an award for “Most Full Frontal Male Nude Scenes”.

Now he’s told Out magazine that he doesn’t mind kissing guys on set because it “gets his blood up.”

Talking about kissing Jonathan Rhys Meyers in ‘Velvet Goldmine’, Ewan told Out magazine: “I remember when I kissed Johnny. It was just a rush at the end of the day. It was just an electrical moment, because you look around and some of the British electrician guys – who are all mainly closeted homosexuals, I think – were sitting around going ‘F**k, no.’

But I like kissing boys on screen. As a straight guy, it’s quite an interesting proposition. Anything on a film set that takes you by surprise like that, that gets your blood up, is good.

“I’m always interested in playing different people, in different situations. It doesn’t matter to me whether someone is in love with a man or a woman. I find the idea of love and romance interesting. I’m a sucker for it. I like playing someone who’s falling in love because I like the sensation of it.”

If we get Ewan nude in some kind of gay romance film I think it will make millions. Just so long as the other guy isn’t Charlie from Long Way Round.

Previous post: Ewan McGregor: Our Nude Hero

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.

So, while I’m waiting for the Classification Board to officially say that they don’t think female ejaculation is urine, I thought I’d compile a quick list of other things that have been banned by our great and heroic censors in the last decade.

* In 2009 Jennifer Lyon Bell’s gorgeous erotic film Matinee was due to screen at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. The ACB refused the festival permission to screen the film due to explicit sexual content. At around the same time, the ACB gave Lars Von Trier’s sexually violent film Antichrist an R rating. It features footage of a woman cutting off her own clitoris.

* In 2009 the game Aliens vs Predator was classified RC (banned) but the decision was reversed on appeal and the game given an M15+ rating. There is currently no rating available for adult games in Australia.

* In October 2009 Even More Intimate Moments, a DVD from adult site Abby Winters, was classified RC following the raid on the site’s offices in June. Police seized over 30 DVDs and submitted them for classification. All but that one were rated X. No reason has been given for the RC rating of this particular film.

* In 2008 police raided the gallery showing an exhibition of photographer Bill Henson’s photographs, alleging that the photos were child porn. Controversy ensued, charges were suggested but in the end the photos were rated G by the Board.

* In 2007 the OFLC (now ACB) refused to grant a festival exemption to Tony Comstock’s erotic documentary Ashley and Kisha: The Right Fit because his past three films had been classifed X. The film was thus banned from screening at MUFF even as an equally explicit film called Destricted played the same night at a festival across town. Another six films were also banned from the festival.

* In 2007 The Peaceful Pill Handbook, a euthanasia guide by Dr Philip Nitschke, was rated RC. The website was included on the ACMA’s leaked blacklist and will presumably be blocked by the proposed internet filter.

* In 2006 the Queerdoc festival was due to screen Tony Comstock’s erotic documentary Damon and Hunter: Doing It Together however the OFLC refused to grant the film a festival exemption, effectively banning it.

* In 2005 the uncut version of 70s epic Caligula was re-classifed as RC. The same year saw 9 Songs rating changed to X18+ in South Australia, heavily restricting its availability.

* In 2005 an Australian film made by teenagers called Welcome to Greensborough was rated RC because it contained explicit sex scenes performed by the filmmakers themselves. They subsequently reshot with adult performers. Another Australian film called 70K was banned because it depicted the activities of a graffiti crew..

* In 2003 Ken Park was classified RC. Margaret Pomeranz led a protest against the banning, risking arrest, but nothing changed.

* Pasolini’s 1975 film Salo was briefly available from 1993 to 1998 but has since been re-classified RC numerous times at the request of politicians such as Liberal MP Trish Draper.

* In 2002 Baise-Moi was originally rated R18+ but the rating was changed to RC on appeal by the Attorney General Daryl Williams. Cinemas kept showing the film after the ban date, saying they would only stop when police intervened. Christian politician Fred Nile then mounted a campaign to ensure DVDs of the film could not be imported into Australia.

* In 2001 an article about genital cosmetic surgery in Australian Women’s Forum was forced to black out the “before and after” photos illustrating the story due to a ruling form the OFLC that the magazine was “including too much genital detail”. Ironically, the story was about how young women were becoming paranoid about their genitals and turning to surgery because the censored images in porn were giving them a false idea about how labia should look.

* In 2000 the adult film Dreamquest was rated RC due to a non-sexual act of violence (the protagonist hits a guard on the head) which was a necessary part of the plot.

For more info on films and books that have been banned, visit the Refused Classification site and Libertus’ excellent Banned and Challenged Information list. You should also read this excellent article by Helen Vnuk about the insanity of Australia’s censorship laws.

I’ve received a circular from the Eros Association, the advocacy group for the Australian adult industry. Thanks to shit stirring by a fundamentalist Christian group, the rules have been tightened as to what adult films can be imported into Australia.

The Classification Board has explicitly stated that films featuring female ejaculation will now be seized and considered RC – refused classification. Effectively banned. This also means that female ejaculation sites will be considered RC (prohibited) for the purposes of the internet filter planned to be introduced here this year.

Eros says:

The Classification Board have determined that female ejaculation is not a real event and therefore all issue from a women’s vagina is piss and therefore covered under the parameters in the Guidelines for ‘golden showers’. This means that if the shower happens to land on the body or in the mouth it is determined to be an offensive fetish and goes RC. The Classification Board’s finding that female ejaculation does not exist is something we will contest with them as there is a body of scientific (and personal) evidence that says otherwise. Even last month on the ABC Science Show with Dr Norman Swan, they spent an hour with scientists discussing this phenomenon and how it was not urine.

I’m glad Eros is going to fight this. It gets me hopping mad that a government can perpetuate this nonsense and are so eager to do the will of prudes and ignorant religious nutters who wish to meddle in the sex lives of others.

The sooner our outdated classification (censorship) system is abolished, the better. They should not have the right to ban films based on subjective, religious, unscientific, biased and sexist opinion as to what is and isn’t “obscene.”

* Please read my follow up post The Strange Politics of “Obscene” Bodily Fluids.

* Update 27th Jan: Please read my new post: Now Australia is banning small boobs

I’ve just received a PR email from British adult film director Anna Span. She’s won an important legal victory over the British Board of Film Classification (UK censors) over whether female ejaculation exists.

Her film Women Love Porn, which contains shorts from five separate female directors, has been held up for several years thanks to the original ruling of the BBFC with regards to the ejaculation scene. The censors maintained that female ejaculation is not possible and that the scene actually contained urination. They demanded that cuts be made to the film in order to pass.

Anna Span decided to fight the ruling. She presented the BBFC with substantial scientific evidence that female ejaculation is a natural and normal phenomenon, helped by expert Deborah Sundahl.

Anna says; “I am really proud to have changed this outdated ruling and to have made a difference to women who experience this in their own lives throughout the UK. It was never fair that the BBFC dismissed their amazing orgasms as urinary incontinence”

The BBFC is still being a stick in the mud, saying that their “position remains fundamentally unchanged for future releases” but it’s fairly certain that any future bans will be contested based on this precedent.

Interestingly, the BBFC is currently hamstrung thanks to the fact that Britain joined the European Union but they carry on regardless.

I’ll say it again: I’m OK with labelling videos (classifying – on a voluntary basis) so that adults can make informed choices but banning films is just draconian and stupid and it should never happen in a civilised society to values freedom of speech.

Check out Anna Span’s videos at Porn Movies For Women

Update 9th October
This story has now had some decent coverage in the media and large blogs.
Kristina Lloyd from Erotica Cover Watch has this opinion piece in the Guardian.
That article prompted this post at Jezebel.
Violet Blue’s latest column at SFGate is about the issue and she also wrote a blog post about it here.
Eye for Film featured this article on the issue.

I’ve long been a fan of the films of Petra Joy. Now she’s launched The Joy Award, a short film competition that aims to encourage new female filmmakers to create erotic movies.

This award is for first time female film-makers who would like to create erotic films that dare to question porn clichés and show sex in innovative and creative ways…

The theme of the short film competition is: “What is erotic to you?”. The maximum duration of the films is five minutes. The genre is open – from animation to documentary or erotic vignettes – we welcome all films that show sex and eroticism in an innovative, creative and artistic way.

The winners receive cash prizes, a screening at the Berlin Porn Film Festival and a chance to be on her next DVD.

Petra has written about the award on her website.

From years of battling the odds, I understand how hard it is to raise finance for a film and get your first work published and distributed, especially if your film questions clichés and breaks the mould, so I really hope that through my mentoring and the sponsorship from pjur we will discover some new female talent and make more female fantasies seen and heard.

It’s great to see Petra encouraging new talent like this and I’m now considering whether I should enter. I must admit, I’ve been reconsidering my movie making career following the arrest of the owner of Abby Winters last month so I’m not sure where to go with my filmmaking (except, perhaps, overseas). Still, I’ve already got a couple of ideas about what I’d like to do.

The deadline is 15th September so I (and you) need to get cracking!

Just a quickie post which I’ll expand on Monday when I have time:

Good For Her has released the list of nominees for the Feminist Porn Awards 2009. My little short, That’s What I Like, is listed.

This is fab, but I should reveal the facts behind it. I’ve actually withdrawn the film from competition because For The Girls decided to sponsor the awards after I’d posted off the movie. Given the conflict of interest, the film can’t really be in the running. Never mind, though, I’m planning to submit it to a bunch of other adult film festivals.

Oh, and For The Girls is very excited to be a sponsor. This is a great event that needs to be supported!

Update 30th March – Here’s the full list:

The Nominees for the 2009 Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards are (in alphabetical order – director first name)

1. Girls Lusting Girls – Abby Winters – Abbywinters.com
2. Voluptuous Biker Babes – Carlos Batts – Adam and Eve Pictures
3. Padded Cell – Cant Dog Productions
4. Roulette – Courtney Trouble – No Fauxxx
5. Intense Desires – Eli Cross – Lennox Films
6. One Night Stand: Emilie Jouvet – Hyst Productions
7. Barcelona Sex Project – Erika Lust – Lust Films
8. Exploring the O – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
9. Monogamy without Monotony – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
10. Toying with Pleasure – Jamye Waxman – Adam and Eve Pictures
11. Matinee – Jennifer Lyon Bell – Blue Artichoke Films
12. Head Shot – Jennifer Lyon Bell – Blue Artichoke Films
13. MySexTherapist.com 2 : Advanced Therapy – Kelly Holland – Chick Media
14. That’s What I Like – Louise Lush – Indigo Lush Media
15. Lesbian Life; Layover – Madison Young – Lesbian Life Productions
16. Lesbian Life: Real Sex San Francisco – Madison Young – Lesbian Life Productions
17. Madison Young’s Bride of Sin – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
18. Madison Young’s Tail of a Bondage Model – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
19. Perversions of Lesbian Lust – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
20. Undone – Madison Young – Madison Bound Productions
21. Strap-On Motel – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
22. Skateboard Kink Freak – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
23. Sex Mannequin – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
24. Post Apocalyptic Cowgirls – Maria Beatty – Bleu Productions
25. New Romantix – Max Royale – Babeland Premieres
26. Man Of My Dreams – Mimi Balfour – Cleopatra Films
27. Red Hot Touch: Genital Massage for Men – New World Sex Education
28. Red Hot Touch: Erogenous Zones and Orgasmic Massage – New World Sex Education
29. Red Hot Touch: Erotic Touch For Sexual Positions – New World Sex Education
30. Red Hot Touch: Exquisite Anal Massage – New World Sex Education
31. Red Hot Touch: Genital Massage For Women – New World Sex Education
32. Girls Kissing Girls – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
33. Lesbian Noir: The Pool Girl – Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
34. My Little Minx: A (sort of) Silent Lesbian Farce Nica Noelle – Sweetheart Video
35. Feeling It! Not Faking It – Petra Joy – Strawberry Seductress Films
36. Pixie Licks – Pixie and Andy Ide – Sweetmeat Productions
37. Bag Ladies – Stelllaaa Kowolsky and BJay Pink – Jumbo Grab Productions
38. Champion – Shine Louise Houston – Pink and White Productions
39. Crash Pad Series 3 – Shine Louise Houston – Pink and White Productions
40. Doing It Ourselves: The Trans Women Porn Project – Tobi Hill-Meyer
41. Bill and Desiree: Love is Timeless – Tony Comstock – Comstock Films
42. Couch Surfers: Trans Men in Action – Trannywood Pictures – Brazen Garage Squad Productions
43. Tristan Taormino’s Guide to the G-Spot – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions & Vivid Ed
44. Penny Flame’s Guide to Handjobs for Men and Women – Tristan Taormino + Penny Flame – Smart Ass Productions & Vivid Ed
45. Chemistry 3 – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions and Vivid Entertainment
46. Chemistry 4 – Tristan Taormino – Smart Ass Productions and Vivid Entertainment

Amazing that there are so many amazing films to choose from this year! So many different viewpoints and ideas on display. It’s gonna be a great FPA this year!

Good news for female porn fans in the US – Petra Joy has revealed on her blog that Feeling It is going to be distributed in America through Candida Royalle’s Femme line of films, and Adam and Eve. I know Petra’s had a hell of a time trying to get her films out to the public, with numerous potential distributors either going broke or else trying to impose inappropriate ideas and marketing onto her movies. It’s great to see Candida continue her legacy of offering top quality erotic films to women.

Petra has two short films showing at the Cinekink festival in New York this weekend, excerpts from Feeling It. She’s also working on a documentary about women who make porn. I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Find out more about Petra’s films and where to get them here.

My poor blog has been neglected for a week now, but I like to think I’ve got a good excuse.

I’m currently editing the footage from my first ever video shoot which occurred over the weekend. It involved a heap of planning beforehand and a very busy couple of days in the city. It was my first time directing and working behind the camera. I’m pleased to say that whole thing went really well and it was a huge learning experience. There’s plenty of stuff I’d do differently but the only way to find that out is to have hands-on practical experience. The resulting footage looks amazing and now it just takes a lot of patience to choose the best shots and angles. We used two separate cameras, although I wish I’d had a third one. The stills above give a small idea of what it looks like.

The full video will appear on For The Girls in the future. I’m also going to edit up a shorter version for submission to festivals. Yes, delusions of grandeur already.

Tomorrow marks the start of another wonderful erotic film festival, this time in the Netherlands. The Rated-X Alternative Erotica Film Festival features a fascinating variety of unusual, artistic and very sexy films offering a very different view of sexuality and porn. It’s almost the exact opposite of what was recently on show at the AVN awards.

At the Berlin Porn Film Festival I was very lucky to meet one of the festival’s organisers, Jennifer Lyon Bell and I’ve been meaning to post something more substantial about her work. She runs Blue Artichoke Films and her movie Matinee is being screened at the festival. Jen creates intelligent, female-friendly erotic films and she’s also a lot of fun.

There’s also a number of familiar names being screened at the festival: Tony Comstock and Maria Beatty each have a major showcase of their films. Shine Louise Houston, Audacia Ray, Emile Jouvet and Erika Lust also have films at the festival.

Among the panel discussions is one called “Positive pornofication: Women strike back” – a look at whether positive depictions of sex in porn can change the way we approach sexuality in general. Panelists include Anna Span, Sue du Plessis from Mail and Female and the lovely Wendy Delorme, who I saw perform in Berlin (and developed quite a big girly crush on).

There’s also a bunch of thumping afterparties which I’m sure will be fantastic and I know those fun Dutch friends I met in Berlin will be there with bells on.

So I wish I was there, dammit. Once again, living in Australia leaves me out of the loop a bit. Maybe next year. And if you’re from the UK or Europe you might want to consider heading to Amsterdam for a few days this weekend and checking out the real deal when it comes to the future of porn and erotica.

(Youtube video no longer works and has been removed from this post).

Tony and Peggy have finally released their sixth wonderful real sex film, Bill and Desiree: Love Is Timeless. Judging from this preview, it looks just as interesting and visually sumptuous as their previous efforts.

Right now they’re offering a discount for early orders.

Click here to find out more.

Edit 4th December
Youtube have removed the Comstock preview video for violating its terms of service. The little clip, which featured a short shot of Bill and Desiree making love (but did not feature any graphic nudity or sex), is apparently too pornographic for such a family enterprise as Youtube. Naturally Tony has a lot to say on this topic.

I’ve only just finished deleting a piece of comment spam directing me to a bit of porn advertising on Youtube. It didn’t feature any nudity but it was spam nonetheless. The clip remains live. There are some astonishing examples of selective censorship on display here.

The 54 page list of AVN Awards Nominations has been released and yes, I wasted too much of my precious time scrolling through it this afternoon.

There isn’t much to report really; AVN has once again nominated the standard selection of big-name porn movies and the same old stars as part of the industry’s yearly orgy of self-congratulation. Innovation or new ideas don’t really get much of a look in and there are very few female-friendly titles listed.

This year’s big move is the decision to include web sites and web-based companies in their award system… something that actually has me feeling kind of tetchy. The web is OUR turf, AVN. Keep your silicon boobs off it! Of course, the nominations for “Website of the Year” are all for big-name sites offering the same old stuff, although Abby Winters did get a look in.

Still, there are a few good news stories. Congratulations are in order to Tristan Taormino whose Expert Guide films have accumulated a total of 6 nominations. Jamye Waxman’s Personal Touch series is also up for a gong in the Best Educational Release field.

The Danish porn for women film All About Anna, released by Wicked in January, has been nominated for Best Foreign Feature, Best Packaging and Best Music Soundtrack.

Eon McKai’s Vivid Alt films have also got numerous nominations.

This year they seem to have added a “Clever Title of the Year” section. Nominations include: Charlie Wilson’s Whore, Strollin’ in the Colon, Hairy Movie and the rather-less witty Get That Black Pussy, You Big Dick White Bastard Mutha Fucka. Unfortunately the genuinely amusing title Night of the Giving Head wasn’t included in this section.

The awards are announced in early January 2009.

It’s taken far too long but I’ve finally posted my video and report of my adventures at the Berlin Porn Film Festival. I was held up waiting for permission and excerpts from some of the films and unfortunately most of those I contacted didn’t reply. It’s a shame because I saw so much talent on display at the festival and I was eager to give those people a bit of publicity.

In any case I hope you like the vid. It’s only very amateur and the sound quality is crap but we made do with what was available. I’ll be editing together a much longer version and also writing a more in-depth article to feature at For The Girls.

Maybe I’m just more aware of porn festivals since I went to Berlin, but it seems they’re popping up everywhere.

This weekend sees the second Pornotopia Feminist Porn Film Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Petra’s Feeling It and Erika’s Five Hot Stories For Her are featured, as is Audacia’s funny new short Dacia’s Love Machine.

The weekend we got to Paris saw the first ever Paris Porn Film Festival… which I unfortunately missed. The Guardian wrote a somewhat cynical article about the festival and the growth of feminism and female influence in porn.

There are similar porn festivals planned for other cities in Europe throughout next year.

In January 2009 my new friend Jennifer Lyon Bell is presenting the Rated X Film Festival in Amsterdam, dedicated to alternative, artistic and radical erotica. The call for submissions is still open; I wonder if I can slap something together in time?

Meanwhile, the Sexy International Film Festival is touring around the world after a successful showing in Melbourne. They marketed themselves as being “not porn” but it’s still a step forward for Australia to have something like this.

I want to go to these things! And I want to make movies for them too. Just gotta get a bit more organised…

Meanwhile, my video mini-doco of the Berlin festival has been delayed while I wait for permission to use a couple of clips. Be patient, I’ll have it up on the blog next week, with a full version available at FTG.