Erika Lust
Born
Erika Hallqvist

1977 (age 46–47)
Stockholm, Sweden
EducationBA in Political Sciences, Lund University, 1999[1]
Occupations
  • Writer
  • director
  • producer
Years active2004–present
Websiteerikalust.com

Erika Lust (born 1977) is a Swedish erotic film director, screenwriter and producer. Since the debut of her first indie erotic film The Good Girl in 2004, Lust has been cited as one of the current leading participants in the feminist pornography movement,[2][3] asserting that an ethical production process sets her company apart from mainstream pornography sites. Lust has stated that she finds no issue in calling her films porn, since she expects viewers to be sexually aroused, unlike other directors of erotic films who make a distinction between their work and porn even when both types contain sexually explicit scenes.[4] In addition to directing and producing a number of award-winning films, she has written several books.[5]

Background

Lust was born Erika Hallqvist in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1977.[6] She harboured a passion for film and theatre.[7]

She went to Lund University, where she studied Political Sciences.[8][9] While there, she came across Linda Williams' 1989 book Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the "Frenzy of the Visible", which would influence her filmmaking later.[9] She graduated with a BA in 1999, with a specialization in human rights and feminism.[10] After graduation she moved to Barcelona in 2000 and started studying filmmaking.[8][9]

Career

Lust shot her first film, the explicit short The Good Girl in 2004, which became an instant hit.[11] Released online for free under a Creative Commons license, it was downloaded millions of times in several days[12] and two million times in two months.[13] The film was shown at the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival the next year and won a Ninfa Award.[14]

In 2005, after this initial success, she founded her video production company Lust Films.[8] The company has produced erotic short films and compilations steadily from then on. Five Hot Stories For Her, an anthology of five vignettes including The Good Girl, won the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival's 2007 Best Spanish Screenplay award,[15] the Venus Berlin Fair's 2007 Eroticline Award for Best Adult Film for Women,[16] and the 2008 Feminist Porn Award for Movie of the Year.[17] Since then she has been a regular on the adult cinema festival circuit, and in 2020 one of her films came to the cinema in the regular process for the first time.[18]

Development

Lust's films are characterized by carefully cast actors and high standards of production in adult film. Lust believes explicit film can be an educational tool besides being pleasurable and can help us better understand our sexuality, to live more freely and naturally. She hopes to influence viewers' conceptions of gender roles in sexuality.[19] She considers pornography to be the "most important discourse on gender and sexuality".[8]

In 2010, Lust opened an online erotic cinema called Lust Cinema, exhibiting her own films and those of other authors of the new wave of explicit films.[8] She started the first crowdsourced project in the history of adult cinema in 2013, calling it XConfessions.[8] It has become her main source of work in the years thereafter.[20]

In 2017 Glamour Magazine listed Lust Cinema as one of the 15 Feminist Porn Sites That You’ll Really, Really Enjoy.[21] In 2019 Erika was named as one of the BBC's 100 Most Influential Women of the Year.[22]

Other projects

Lust has written several books on eroticism and sexuality;[23] her first book Good Porn was published in 2009 by Seal Press.[24] In it, she lists such common myths associated with ‘phony, predictable porn for men’, including: #2. Men can always get it up; #6. When a man is choking a woman with his dick, she always smiles and enjoys it; #7. Beautiful young women just love to have sex with fat, ugly, middle-aged men; #13. Every lesbian is tall, thin and pretty and has long hair and nails.[25]

Lust runs an online store offering her books and films, as well as sex toys and other erotic wares.[26] In February 2016, her company had about 15 employees.[20]

In 2017, in consultation with sex educators Lust created a porn-education website for parents, "The Porn Conversation". The site provides links to research and tips for talking to kids about the unrealistic nature of mainstream porn.[27]

Films

Her film Cabaret Desire (2011) won her the Feminist Porn Award for Movie of the Year in 2012 and the CineKink Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature. It was cited as an example of the diversity of porn at the 2013 Berlin Porn Film Festival providing a space for rethinking sex, sexuality, and pornography.[28]

In 2020, her film The Intern received three film nominations for the XBIZ Europa Awards including Feature Movie of the Year, Best Acting (won) and Best Sex Scene in a Feature Movie. Her film Super Femmes was also nominated for Best Lesbian Sex Scene (won) and was the first time in the history of XBIZ Europa Awards where a Big Beautiful Woman (BBW) or trans performer were nominated in a non-genre specific category. Erika Lust Films was also nominated for Global Studio Brand of the Year, and her online streaming platform XConfessions was nominated for Erotic Site of the Year.[29]

XConfessions

In 2014 Lust and other directors began producing short pornographic films based on crowd-sourced stories.[30] Viewers can leave anonymous confessions on the project's website. Each month, Lust handpicks two stories and turn them into cinematic short films.[31] XConfessions has been presented at the Berlin Porn Festival 2014.[32][33] The first two compilations of her XConfessions series have won her the Feminist Porn Awards for Hottest Straight Vignette in 2014 and 2015 respectively.[20]

In 2015, a theatrical cut of XConfessions was screened at Chicago International Film Festival[4] and at Raindance Film Festival in London.[34]

Lust held two sold-out screenings of the XConfessions Theatrical Cut at Kino Babylon in Berlin in February 2016,[35][20] and went on to win the Best Narrative Short CineKink Award for short film An Appointment with My Master.[36]

Criticism

Erika Lust was one of the female filmmakers featured in "Women on Top", the first episode of the Netflix documentary series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On, focusing on the filming of "Hysterical Piano Concert" (XConfessions 2016). Gail Dines writes that rather than being a film of empowerment in which a female pianist fulfills a fantasy, the woman with no prior film experience is subjected to stereotypical porn sex that leaves her traumatized and in pain, but is persuaded by Lust to continue.[37] Kat Banyard states that "feminist porn" as promoted by Lust is another brand that does not challenge the mainstream, but serves as another entry point for potential customers.[38] While not in favor of any type of censorship, which she views as having greater effect on the powerless, philosopher Amia Srinivasan says that sex on film impedes the development of sexual imagination, which has a greater impact on the young.[39]

In a study of feminist pornography, Carmen Pena Ardid, Professor of Literature and Film at the University of Zaragoza, cites Lust as opening a way for women as inventors of fantasies and producers of pornographic sexual representations, but her work does not resolve the models of femininity imposed by fashion, advertising or the cosmetics industry, and the constrained social situations within which fantasies are lived.[40] Álvaro Martín Sanz, professor of film studies at the University of Valladolid, while recognizing Lust as pioneering the rejection of the heteronormativity present in traditional pornographic cinema, also finds limitations in the pursuit of beauty and the focus on fantasies rather than more realistic portrayals.[41]

Erika Lust argues that no sexual acts, including temporary and consensual self-objectification, BDSM, risk-aware violence, or extreme fantasy, should be labeled "non-feminist".[42] Richard Kimberly Heck, Philosophy Professor at Brown University, defends Lust from criticisms by Hans Maes. Maes finds The Good Girl little different than mainstream porn due to the generally passive behavior of the female character Alex, and the performance of a "facial" in the final scene. Heck finds the behavior of Alex more realistic than the stereotypical nymphomaniac of porn movies, and notes that Lust's view is that any sexual activity, including those assumed to be degrading, may by enjoyed by some, and are feminist if done by consent.[43]

Books

  • 2009: X: a Woman's Guide to Good Porn (alternate title: Good Porn: A Woman's Guide)
    • First published 2008 in Spanish as Porno para mujeres (Porn for Women)[44]
  • 2010: Erotic Bible to Europe
  • 2010: Love Me Like You Hate Me with Venus O'Hara
  • 2011: Shooting Sex: How to Make an Outstanding Sex Movie with Your Partner (ebook also available in Polish)[45]
  • 2011: Six Female Voices with Antia Pagant
  • 2013: La Canción de Nora (Nora's Song)
  • 2013: Let's Make a Porno

Honours and awards

YearSponsoring OrganisationAwardCategoryEntryResult
2005Barcelona Intl Erotic Film FestivalNinfa AwardFirst Prize for Short X-FilmsThe Good GirlWon[46]
2007Barcelona Intl Erotic Film FestivalNinfa AwardBest Spanish ScreenplayFive Hot Stories for HerWon[47]
Venus Fair BerlinEroticline AwardBest Adult Film for WomenWon
2008Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardMovie of the YearWon[48]
Cinekink New YorkCinekink AwardBest ShortSomething about NadiaHonorable Mention[49]
Venus Fair BerlinEroticline AwardBest Erotic DocumentaryBarcelona Sex ProjectWon[50]
2009Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardMovie of the YearHonorable Mention
2010Cinekink New YorkCinekink AwardBest Experimental Short FilmHandcuffsWon[49]
Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardSexiest Short FilmWon[51]
2011Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardMovie of the YearLife Love LustWon[52]
Cinekink New YorkCinekink AwardBest ShortRoom 33Honorable Mention
Orgazmik ZürichOrgazmik AwardBest Film (Couples)Cabaret DesireWon[53]
2012Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardMovie of the YearWon[54]
Cinekink New YorkCinekink Audience Choice AwardBest Narrative FeatureWon[49]
Cupido NorwayCupido FilmprisHandcuffsWon[55]
2014Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardHottest Straight Vignette SeriesXConfessions vol. 1Won[56]
Fetisch Film Festival GermanyFetisch AwardBest Feature-LengthWon[57]
2015Good for Her TorontoFeminist Porn AwardThe Art of SpankingNominated[58]
Hottest Straight VignetteXConfessions vol. 2Won[59]
Websitexconfessions.comHonorable Mention[60]
2016 Cinekink New York Cinekink Award Best Narrative Short An Appointment with my Master Won[49]
2017 Fish&Chips Film Festival, Turin Best Short Movie XXX Pouring Pleasure Won
2018 Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara, Mexico Maguey Over the Rainbow Award Maguey award Erika Lust Won
Festival Internacional de Cine de Puerto Vallarta Erika Lust Won[61]
Toronto International Porn Festival Feminist Porn Award Most Tantalizing Trans Short We Are The Fucking Worldaccess Won[62]
Toronto International Porn Festival Sexiest Sci-Fi Touch Crimes Won[62]
Toronto International Porn Festival Dazzling: Docu-Porn Tie Me Up! A Shibari Documentary Won[62]
Toronto International Porn Festival Moist Won
Toronto International Porn Festival Best Kink Short Dirty Feet Won[62]
2019 Peephole Film Festival, Mexico Best Erotic Short Film Don't Call Me a Dick (XConfessions) Won[63]
2020 Cinekink New York Audience Choice Award Best Narrative Feature Volunteers Wanted Won
Cinekink New York Best Dramatic Short The MILF Next Door Won
La Fête du Slip - Lausanne, Switzerland Slip d'Or Short Film Switch (XConfessions) Won[64]
XBiz Awards (Europe) Best Acting Lena Anderson, "The Intern" (Lust Cinema) Won[29]
XBiz Awards (Europe) Best Sex Scene-Lesbian Estella Bathory, Luna Corazon & Natassia Dreams, "Super Femmes" (XConfessions) Won[29]

References

  1. ↑ "It's time for porn to change l Erika Lust l TEDxVienna". Youtube. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Alilunas, Peter (10 April 2014). "The necessary future of adult media industries". Creative Industries Journal. 7 (1): 62–66. doi:10.1080/17510694.2014.892287. S2CID 153769124.
  3. ↑ Taormino, Tristan; Shimizu, Celine Parreñas; Penley, Constance; Miller-Young, Mireille (2013). The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. New York: Feminist Press at The City University of New York. ISBN 978-1-55861-819-0.
  4. 1 2 Lust, Erika (2015). "xConfessions - A Conversation With Erika Lust" (Interview). Interviewed by Maria Finitzo. 51st Chicago International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ↑ ""Porno muss nicht ausbeuterisch sein" – Erika Lust über faire Produktionsbedingungen". Arte Tracks (in German). Arte. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  6. ↑ bobe.barsi (18 May 2012). "Porn director Erika Lust: 'I Felt Uncomfortable Like All Women When They're Watching Porn'". Café Babel. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  7. ↑ McClure, Kelly (24 April 2012). "Erika Lust Is Occupying Feminist Porn". Vice. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About". Erika Lust. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 Emmanuelle, Camille (28 December 2014). "Erika Lust, la reine du porno indépendant". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  10. ↑ ""Erika Lust: European Entrepreneur, Pornographer,and Feminist" by Richard Moreland 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Feminist Porn Director Erika Lust". Marie Claire. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  12. ↑ G, Lynsey (15 May 2018). "Meet Erika Lust, the Swedish Pornographer Making Consent Sexy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Watercutter, Angela. "Erika Lust: The Porn Director on a Mission to Get More Women Behind the Camera". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "Därför blev svenska feministen Erika Lust porrfilmsregissör". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 16 December 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Ganadores FICEB 2007". ficeb.com (in Spanish). Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival. 2007. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Erika Lust: la pornografia è donna Oggi "Hard Time" al Videodrome". Alto Adige (in Italian). 8 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "2008 Feminist Porn Awards Winners". FeministPornAwards.com. 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  18. ↑ SZ-Kritikern (23 September 2020). "Die Starts der Woche". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  19. ↑ Angela Lieben (23 January 2015). "Erika Lust: Changing the Porn We Watch". Liberator Unzipped. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Virginie Sélavy (6 February 2016). "XConfessions: interview with Erika Lust". Electric Sheep Magazine. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "15 Feminist Porn Sites That You'll Really, Really Enjoy". Glamour. Condé Nast. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  22. ↑ "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  23. ↑ "Books by Erika Lust". GoodReads. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  24. ↑ Lust, Erika (25 May 2010). Groundbreaking Books. By Women. For Women. Seal Press. ISBN 9781580053068. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  25. ↑ Liberman, Rachael (3 July 2015). "'It's a really great tool': feminist pornography and the promotion of sexual subjectivity". Porn Studies. 2 (2–3): 174–191. doi:10.1080/23268743.2015.1051913. ISSN 2326-8743. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  26. ↑ Erika Lust (18 May 2020). "Erika Lust on her favourite sex toys and how to use them". Dazed. Dazed Media. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  27. ↑ Jones, Maggie (7 February 2018). "What Teenagers Are Learning From Online Porn". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ Meier, Anika (3 July 2015). "'Pornography into Bright Daylight': a review of the Berlin Porn Film Festival, 23–27 October 2013". Porn Studies. 2 (2–3): 290–292. doi:10.1080/23268743.2015.1056458. ISSN 2326-8743. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  29. 1 2 3 "2020 XBIZ Europa Awards Winners Announced". XBIZ. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  30. ↑ Erdmann, Nicola (17 December 2014). "Ich will eine andere Art Erwachsenenfilm machen, Die Welt, Nicola Erdmann". Die Welt.
  31. ↑ Maxime Smit (7 August 2016). "Porno voor vrouwen: geloofwaardig en expliciet, maar geen knuffelseks". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  32. ↑ ""XCONFESSIONS von: Erika Lust" Screening". pornfilmfestivalberlin.de.
  33. ↑ "Pourquoi je continue à regarder du porno". Libération. 15 December 2014.
  34. ↑ "Erika Lust:XConfessions". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  35. ↑ Nadja Sayej (8 March 2016). "A Woman's Fight to Prove Porn Can Be Feminist". Newsweek. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  36. ↑ "awards". CineKink.com. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  37. ↑ "'The Handmaid's Tale' offers a terrifying warning, but the hijacking of feminism is just as dangerous". Feminist Current. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  38. ↑ Vicky Allan (23 September 2017). "The Female Gaze: How directors like Sky Deep and Erika Lust are bringing a feminist revolution to porn". The Herald.
  39. ↑ Tramontana, Mary Katharine (14 January 2022). "'There's Not Just One Type of Porn': Erika Lust's Alternative Vision". The News York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  40. ↑ Ardid, Carmen Pena (22 June 2015). "Significantes Ambiguos De La Libertad. La Reflexion Sobre El Sexo, El Destape Y La Pornografia En Vindicacion Feminista (1976-1979)". Letras Femeninas. 41 (1): 102–125. ISSN 0277-4356. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  41. ↑ Sanz, Álvaro Martín (20 July 2018). "Belleza e irrealidad en la nueva pornografía feminista: la imagen pornográfica de Erika Lust". Fotocinema. Revista Científica de Cine y Fotografía. 17 (17): 343–365. doi:10.24310/Fotocinema.2018.v0i17.5117. ISSN 2172-0150. S2CID 240382508. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  42. ↑ Mondin, Alessandra (2 January 2014). "Fair-trade porn + niche markets + feminist audience". Porn Studies. 1 (1–2): 189–192. doi:10.1080/23268743.2014.888251. ISSN 2326-8743. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  43. ↑ Heck, Richard Kimberly (1 March 2021). "How Not to Watch Feminist Pornography". Feminist Philosophy Quarterly. 7 (1). doi:10.5206/fpq/2021.1.10609. ISSN 2371-2570. S2CID 233801831. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  44. ↑ "Porno para mujeres: Una guía femenina para entender y aprender a disfrutar del cine X". GoodReads. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  45. ↑ "Jak nakręcić porno. Praktyczny poradnik filmowania seksu". Kinky Winky. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  46. ↑ "FICEB 2005 Awards". Archived from the original on 3 October 2009.
  47. ↑ "The FICEB Ninfa, Tacón de Aguja and HeatGay Awards". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007.
  48. ↑ "FPA 2008". Good For Her. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  49. 1 2 3 4 "Awards". Cinekink. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  50. ↑ "Die Gewinner des eLine Award 2008". German-adult-news.com. 17 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  51. ↑ "FPA 2010". Good For Her. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  52. ↑ "2011 Good For Her Feminist Porn Award Winners". Good For Her. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  53. ↑ "Orgazmik Award 11". Orgazmik. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  54. ↑ "Cabaret Desire". Feminist Porn Awards. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  55. ↑ "Erika Lusts "Handcuffs" vant Cupido Filmpris 2012". Cupido. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  56. ↑ "XConfessions". Feminist Porn Awards. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  57. ↑ "7. Fetisch Film Festival in Kiel". TraumGmbH. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  58. ↑ "The Art of Spanking". Feminist Porn Awards. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  59. ↑ "XConfessions vol. 2". Feminist Porn Awards. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  60. ↑ "xconfessions.com". Feminist Porn Awards. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  61. ↑ Lorena Sonrisas (6 March 2018). "Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival, March 12–23". BanderasNews.com. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  62. 1 2 3 4 "Winner 2018 Archives". Toronto International Porn Festival. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  63. ↑ "WINNERS VOLUME 1". Peephole Film Fest. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  64. ↑ "Slip d'Or". Retrieved 1 December 2021.
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