Erika Lust makes what she calls “feminist porn”: cinematically appealing films with a story that feel voyeuristically sexual, employing the “modern image of women” and desire. The Barcelona-based director’s work feels more like an actual movie than the quick cut, close up fuck scenes we are used to viewing on most mainstream sites. She indulges in the viewer’s needs (a year ago she started a series of films called XConfessions, in which scripts are built off fantasies mailed in by her audience) and strives for narrative.
“The sex is real, you can see the pleasure, the sweat, the touching and hear the sounds,”
Lust tells me. “Viewers can see themselves in my films. They feel like they could live out that scenario. Mainstream porn on the other hand is usually only made for men, with little consideration to creativity or imagination. Everything is repetitive with the same films being churned out over and over again with fake female pleasure and all goal being that of the male´s money shot.”
From April 15-17, Erika Lust will attend Toronto’s 10th Annual Feminist Porn Awards, a celebration of people making strides in alternative forms of pornography that don’t boil down to the male money shot. Lust has won many accolades in the past (even doing her own TedTalk about pornography and her story of entry into the business) and is well known as a pioneer in feminist porn. This year she will present her own Night of Indie Erotica as well as presenting exclusive director’s cuts of her XConfession series followed by a Q&A. When Lust began making films she was doing it because she loved it: work straight from the heart on a low budget, but she still managed to attract a lot of attention for her work.
“I like to have creative producers within my team, with the talent to make things look more expensive than they’ve actually been, with the ability to make the most of what they have. I say this because I think it’s not only money which makes real movies, but the attitude of those involved, as you also point out: care, love and above all imagination.”
One main thing that separates Lust’s work from the gaggle of the mainstream is her casting and filming approach: where as “normal” porn requires actors to contort themselves for the camera’s awkward angles, Lust asks her performers to have sex as they naturally would (she always pairs and groups actors with people they have expressed interest in working with) and she finds the right camera angle herself.
“I like to concentrate on the details, the hand grabs, kisses, sweat, facial expressions, body movements, not just the shot of genitals,” says Lust. “My imagination is also a lot more vivid and adventurous than real life (like all people), so through erotic filmmaking I have the privileged of reenacting this with the performers, stories and locals in my films.”
Lust prides herself on finding performers who are diverse in appearance. Although many mainstream sites cater to the needs of people who just want to watch the blonde, big-tit girl-next-door get fucked in the ass, Lust tries to hire a variety of actors ranging in body shape, adorned with tattoos, wickedly thick or thin, and uniquely beautiful. She chases the real people we can all identify with.
“The porn industry has set a standard for thin shaven girls and muscular men. This can make it really difficult to get hold of performers with a unique look,” she admits. “But as my business has grown we have managed to find more and more in the way of amateur performers and other independent filmmakers.”
Above everything, Lust truly enjoys her job, because it’s her passion. She chose to make pornography because she saw a need for change in an industry she was fascinated by and participated in. An industry that a lot of people still turn their nose up at, even though porn is consumed in inconceivable amounts today. Who doesn’t watch porn? Really, who?
“Mainstream porn has given porn a bad reputation as abusive, cheap and badly made,” Lust explains. “It can be hard for people to associate the word with something positive and inspiring, but there is a growing body of open-minded people who are supporting their independent pornographers and are after something more realistic, intelligent and creative.”
Moreover, Lust has hope. “I think it won’t be long before people start to change their minds.”
