A Conversation with Erika Lust about the Ever-Changing Porn Industry, Anonymous Confessions and Female Pleasure (NSFW)
All photos courtesy of Erika Lust
Erika Lust is a Swedish, Barcelona-based erotic film director, screenwriter and producer who has been a significant figure in promoting the feminist pornography movement. Lust, along with the Berlin Film Society hosted two screenings in Berlin last month, showing some of her recent work as well as giving audience members a chance to pick her brain. Clone-a-Willy took it a step further.
Read on below.
First, I want to say how excited I am to attend the events at Sisyphos. Have you hosted/been a part of events in Berlin in the past?
Me too! I love Berlin, the audiences there seem to understand me perfectly and I always have an amazing time! My work has always had a wonderful reception every time I have gone! Last February, I held an event there with Berlin Film Society and I really enjoyed the openness, the energy and the engagement from the audience. 500 people came down for 2 evenings of XConfessions screenings and Q&A at Babylon. The event was one of the highlights of my 2016. Due to demand, the first night sold out and they had to organize an encore screening another night. It was overwhelming! People is showing even more interest in this July's screenings in Berlin, so I am super excited since people will be able to watch my latest short films!
Many of the performers I work with often are based in Berlin too. There is an incredible indie scene there which is part of the emerging ethical adult cinema movement trying to change the industry from within. One of the guest directors for XConfessions Bruce LaBruce shot his short film 'Refugee's Welcome' there as did performer, director and producer Paulita Pappel who coordinated the filming and production of two of the confessions submitted to XConfessions: Female Ejaculation & Birthday Surprise.
It is a fascinating city where I'd love to shoot one day.
How do you define the "female gaze"?
The industry of pornography is dominated by a certain type of male gaze with the same view on sex: white middle aged chauvinist men obsessed with tits and ass, who are only able to release repetitive sex scenes because they have a very small sexual intelligence. The focus is on men's pleasure and women are being used to satisfy others, but not themselves.
The female gaze in adult film is about female pleasure and adjusting the perspective so that it isn't just solely focused on what a man would enjoy. If anything, the female gaze is an approach that determines what makes the final cut. When making something from the female gaze the question of what women want to see and what women find pleasurable is as important as what men find pleasurable. The female gaze could be described as the mindset of the producers, actors and other people involved in the making-of the film. I am a feminist woman so of course my female perspective and my feminist values as a person have always been injected into every part of my films. All pornography made with feminist values from the female gaze represents people as subjects, it promotes role equality. So when directing an oral sex scene, or any other scene for that matter, I approach the work with open mindedness and a focus on the performers. Male characters are human beings, not machines, and women have their own sexuality and desires and are not passive objects exclusively focused on pleasuring the men. Women have a voice in the story and they seek their own desire. There is a mutual exchange of pleasure and respect and consent is always paramount.
On what predecessors, art and film, do you draw from?
Oh there are too many! But if I had to pick a couple I would say firstly, John Cameron Mitchell. He is fun and fearless! He's one of the few who have dared to portray real sex with real actors in a film for commercial theaters. Shortbus portrays sex as a crucial communication tool between human beings, whether there is a conventional relationship behind it or not. The link the film establishes between sex and happiness is so enthusiastic that it might seem naive at a certain point, but every time I watch it I can't help but surrender to the celebration of sex, life and creativity within it.
Secondly, Transparent, by Jill Soloway is also hugely important to me. Although not a film, it still represents transgender issues very beautifully. The series tells the story of a father coming out as a trans woman to her family. But it's based entirely on the personal story of Soloway herself, which gives the every episode unfathomable depth and emotion. Soloway also made sure the entire production crew was trans-inclusive. This is especially in tune with my own philosophy – using an all-female crew to create female-centric erotica. People must have a voice to tell their own stories and the power to take part in a discourse that concerns them. TV Series today are increasingly playing a bigger role in representing the huge spectrum of varying sexualities and genders.
Finally, L'Amant directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. I have mentioned this spectacular coming-of-age film a lot in interviews because the first time I watched it, it was really a revelation. The protagonist becomes an adult through sex and an unconventional love story, and this is completely shown from her point of view (probably because it was an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras). This girl is intelligent and adventurous, and she is not ashamed of her blossoming sexuality. The way her first sexual experiences are depicted is very poetic, but at the same time raw and realistic. To me L'Amant proves that you can build amazing stories around sex with a lot of transcendence whilst keeping the hottest erotic scenes.
In your short film series with crowd-sourced stories, do you find any recurring narratives from different people?
XConfessions was a way to get my audience involved and change the experience of making and watching adult films. With XConfessions, I know the films are going to be innovative because it's not just my imagination I'm using and so no themes are really repeated ever. So they're fresh new films to change people's experience. However, there are recurring kinks and themes, like BDSM or threesome/group sex, but the beauty of Confessions is that there are so many confessions and so loads of fantasies to choose from. Also, even though there are recurring themes, each fantasy usually has its own twist that is unique to the author, so although there are a lot of BDSM confessions, the style and intensity and context are different.
How would you like to see the feminist pornography movement progress?
Thanks to the ethical and feminist adult cinema movement we are moving away from the conversation of whether porn is good or bad for society so we can now tackle the heftier discourse surrounding content and implications of what is shown on screen. As well as sex work conditions. For a long time, when people talked about porn it would only focus on whether or not it should exist. Nowadays there is real noise coming from the ethical and feminist porn movements and that's very exciting. We are creating a real alternative to mainstream porn and there is a demand for it. I want to see how it keeps growing.
How do you see yourself continue being a part of this movement?
As long as I keep being inspired and moving from strength to strength I see myself continuing to charge ahead and hopefully keep changing porn and the stigma around sexuality and sex.
There is a consensus in the anti-porn movement that no matter how erotic films are made, they are by nature exploitative and amoral. It's discouraging to hear this because many women in the adult cinema industry are empowered and elevated by what they do. They can express their sexuality and keep hold of it, especially women who work in ethical adult cinema. That is one of the ways how they choose to use their freedom. They encounter situations they don't like for sure, like in other industries, but there is this wrong idea that porn is *always* exploitative for women which isn't true. Hopefully with time and with steady progression from me and the rest of the contributors to the movement, we can move on from this topic of argument and focus on making good erotic films and improve working conditions and the production process.
What projects are you currently focusing on?
There's a lot happening at the Erika Lust offices at the moment. We will soon be launching XConfessions vol. 10 which I am super excited for!
I also just launched a new online cinema called EroticFilms.com. It is a new hub of ethical adult cinema where everyone can stream or rent my work. On this website, I curate films from the growing list of directors of the movement, who are trying to change the industry from within and create films that are artistic and realistic, that positively mirror female sexuality and that help changing gender perceptions. All films feature high cinematic production values and aim to create an alternative to mainstream porn for everyone that wants something different, something real and honest and they do it following an ethical production process which is key for me. Every other Wednesday I host the #eroticnights at Eroticfilms.com, where everyone is able to watch a film for free, which is a great opportunity to get to know what ethical indie adult cinema is.
More on Erika Lust:
