Pornography: female directors
Abstract
Explicit adult films of the 1980s–1990s showed two distinct patterns for female directors: (1) Women directors using the formulaic approach of male directors of the same era; (2) Films directed and produced by, for and from a woman's perspective. As the pioneering female director of adult erotica, Candida Royalle criticized her predecessors of capturing a gymnastic portrayal of sexuality without any concerns about feelings, life issues, or female or feminist views . Much of the new female directed porn today is highly creative, artistic, unique, edgy or soft, or from lesbian or gender fluid perspectives. Today's women porn directors have reclaimed porn as their term for liberating themselves for their own erotic needs and desires. Directors are discussed from the 1980's to the present, including major stars turned directors, innovators of new genres, and groundbreaking feminist filmmakers with titles of their work.
Contemporary historical context
The “Golden Age of Porn,” from the 1960s to mid-1980s, heralded the arrival of several female film directors of pornography. Many such directors hailed from the adult entertainment industry as performers, a trend that continues today. Although the term pornography was originally associated with the writings and portrayals of prostitutes, the explicit adult films of the 1980s–1990s showed two distinct patterns: (1) women directors using the formulaic approach of male directors of the same era (Britton 1993); and (2) films directed and produced by, for and from a woman's perspective (Britton 1993). As the pioneering female director of adult erotica, Candida Royalle of Femme Productions criticized her predecessors of capturing a gymnastic portrayal of sexuality without any concerns about feelings, life issues, or female or feminist views (Britton 2012). Contemporary women porn directors have reclaimed porn as their term for liberating themselves for their own erotic needs and desires. Indeed, female-directed porn has shifted its aim from heterosexual audiences to meeting the diverse desires of women who may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, pan-sexual, gender fluid, or trans.
Forerunners of true female porn
Royalle emerged from acting in adult films to directing them, with a strong feminist attitude. Anne Perry, director of Ball Game (1980), although derived from the standard porn of the 1970s, allowed Royalle the actor to bring something of herself to the scene, with sensuality, tenderness, self-empowerment, and a feminist portrayal of the sexual act.
Other female directors from 1980 to 1990 included (Britton 1993) Claire Dia (Scruples, 1980), Carol Connors (Desire for Men, 1981), Svetlana (Bad Girls, 1981, and Miami Spice II, 1987), Roberta Findlay—whose background was horror genre began to move into the pro-feminist attitudes–(The Playgirl, 1982), Joanna Williams (Little Girls Blue II, 1983), Veronica Rocket (Smoker, 1983), Juliet Anderson (Educating Nina, 1984), Suze Randall (Stud Hunters, 1984), Kristin Leavenworth (Adventures of Rick Quick, Private Dick, 1985), Marga Allbach (How Do You Like It?, 1985), Sharon McKnight (Behind The Green Door II, 1986), Patti Rhodes (Hotel California, 1987, and Rainwoman, 1989), Sharon Mitchell (Retail Slut, 1989), Britt Morgan (Queen of Hearts, 1989), and Tina Marie (Mistaken Identity, 1990).
Royalle's filmography
- Femme (1985). Vignettes depicting a variety of women's fantasies.
- Urban Heat (1985). What people do during a city heat wave.
- Christine's Secret (1986). One women pines for her secret lover.
- Three Daughters (1987). The sexual blossoming of three daughters seen as “positive sexual role modeling.”
- Taste of Ambrosia (1988). Co-directed by Veronica Hart and Candida Royalle: (a) a woman's unique solution to her boyfriend's jealousy of her cats; (b) one couple's sexy way of keeping their marriage spicy.
- Rites of Passion (1989). Co-directed by Annie Sprinkle and Veronica Vera: (a) a woman finds ultimate fulfillment through a tantric master; (b) a television evangelical minister in a lusty three-way.
- Sensual Escape (1990). Co-directed by Gloria Leonard and Candida Royalle: (a) about a woman's sexual inhibitions; (b) a couple's sexual debut.
- Revelations (1992). A futuristic society where passion and creativity are forbidden, with sex for procreation only.
- My Surrender (1996). A female filmmaker tapes the private fantasies of couples while facing her own intimacy issues.
- The Gift (1997). A woman finds the “magic” in her relationship through the spirit of an ancestor.
- Bridal Shower (1998). Women talk about how they got their men to sexually pleasure them satisfactorily.
- One Size Fits All (1999). A dress unexpectedly plays a role in the lives of five girlfriends.
- Eyes of Desire, Part 1 (2000). A woman discovers the titillating joys of voyeurism.
- Eyes of Desire, Part 2 (2001). A powerful erotic relationship.
- Stud Hunters (2003). A story that spoofs everyone in the adult industry, including Candida herself
- Caribbean Heat (2004). Sensual, erotic scenes in the lush surroundings of the Caribbean, featuring local talent.
- Afrodite Superstar (2007) (Femme Chocolat). Directed by Angela Phong, an upper-middle-class young black woman finds her own identity.
- Under the Covers (2007). A sex comedy about a television journalist and a “modern day Aphrodite.”
- Feeling It!…Not Faking It! (2010). By First European Porn Award-winning director, Petra Joy: an eclectic collection of sensually shot vignettes featuring authentic amateur performers.
Other relevant contributions
Deborah Shames, an early female porn director who followed Royalle's directorial debut, brought to her films beautiful visuals, complex relationships, stories and dialogue, talented actors, and high production values; unlike Royalle, her work averted explicit sexual acts. “(She's) …an award-winning director of a unique combination of erotic fantasy and clever storytelling that illustrates the passionate desire of romance” (Sinclair Institute 2011). Owing to the NC-17 ratings, Shames stopped production after her first three films, Cabin Fever, The Voyeur, and The Hottest Bid.
Veronica Hart directed many films after collaborating with Femme Productions, including Taken made for VCA Pix, a satire on HBO's The Sopranos including a crime boss, a sex therapist spoof, and a marriage run amok. Her directorial work shows strong female characters, while her sexual portrayals tend to be hard and racy, tense, catering to women who like sexually hungry women in charge and more aggressive sexual styles than the signature work of Royalle.
In 1993, Feminists for Free Expression (FFE), founded by Marcia Pally and a small group of First Amendment speech advocates (including Royalle and Britton), initiated a broad focus on a pro-porn agenda. As pro-porn feminists working against the backlash of anti-porn (and anti-sex) feminists led by Katherine McKinnon and Andrea Dworkin, the women of FFE fought hard to preserve the freedom of expression for adult entertainment (FFE 2012).
The former publishers of Libido Magazine turned their attention to Libida Films. Owners Marianna Beck and Jack Haffercamp produced a series of female-friendly, explicit films on erotic themes, such as one of the first mainstream erotic movies on BDSM, using well-established names in the industry in acting roles.
New female porn directors: Unique styles
Petra Joy's other work artfully depicts sexual expression, forming a new genre regarded as “art porn”: fantasy based from woman's perspective, with little fellatio or “cum shots,” it shows women's power for self-determination of their eroticism. Titles include The Female Voyeur—causing controversy for its male–male sex scenes—and a series of compilation DVDs.
The roster of female porn directors includes several Feminist Porn Award winners and innovators, such as: Anna Span of the United Kingdom on female fantasies for male–female couples; Tristan Taormino, U.S. feminist porn creator of edgy female fantasies and her “Chemistry series”; Erika Lust, Spanish director of Five Hot Stories for Her and documentary The Barcelona Sex Project; Maria Beatty, French filmmaker on hard-core BDSM lesbian themes; Shine Louise Houston's “Crash Pad Series” of lesbian porn films; Jennifer Lyon Bell, American residing in Amsterdam, making Hollywood feature-style films with sexual themes, such as The Matinee or Skin.Like.Sun or Silver Shoes. Dana Dane's U.S.-based “Eroktavision” uses a rock video feel for her lesbian porn films.
Other female directors of porn from diverse backgrounds include Tina Tyler, Nica Noelle, Courtney Trouble, Kelly Holland (Toni English), Anna Brownfield, Madison Young, Ms Naughty (Louise Lush), Ovidie, Emilie Jouvet, Estelle Joseph, Anita Rinaldi, Ona Zee, Jill Kelly, Kat Slater, Shay Sights and Renee LaRue, Devinn Lane, and Belladonna, who makes kinky female-centered porn for Evil Angel (Porn Movies For Women 2012).
New trends and directions for female porn
Much of the new female-directed porn today is highly creative, artistic, unique, edgy or soft, or from Lesbian or gender-fluid perspectives.
The new look from female directors from “Porn Valley” (Chatsworth, California) tends to be overly slick, plastic, and mechanical with their sexual depictions, using high-definition imagery that tends to remain very male-friendly, with production values that appear stark and exacting. Women want to see the whole picture, to understand the story and context. Europeans care about beautiful imagery more than the technical feel of a production. They are more fantasy-laden, with more emphasis on female–female expression and gender variance. There is always a fear in the porn industry of appearing to be regarded as fringe.
A common trend is for adult actors to convert to directors while maintaining their starring roles. One contemporary example is Jessica Drake of Wicked Pictures, who now directs and stars in her own commercial porn. Her series is based on the male perspective, yet with a high-tech, creative flair in story and character development. This is not a new trend, but one that will survive the push to creating entirely new genres of porn for a female audience.
The diversity and variety of styles, approaches, and themes from the new wave of female porn directors is forging a significant contribution to adult erotic entertainment and healthy sexual outlets for viewers worldwide. This is a trend that will inevitably continue to generate art, entertainment, and profits as porn for women remains a growing market.
SEE ALSO: Erotica, female‐friendly; Pornography, feminist awards; Royalle Candida (1950–); Sprinkle, Annie M. (1954–)
