Sexy October! – Two festivals in Berlin with an erotic subject in the same street and on the same dates:

The 4th Porn Film Festival Berlin & 1st erotic literature festival: erophil

Groundbreaking, sexy, feminist and 100% Berlin:
The 4th Porn Film Festival,
22nd to 25th of October 2009

In its fourth year this unique festival once again promises a series of groundbreaking, never before shown films that deal with the subject of sex, erotica and gender images. More than 100 features, shorts and documentaries from all over the world will be presented in four days on Moviemento Cinema’s three screens in Kreuzberg, Berlin. There will be a wide range of films available to satisfy the spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual to transsexual desire. On offer is explicit sex, at times conventional and at other times experimental; reflections on the porno industry; and just plain funny looks at the subject of sexual intercourse.

Focus Women
Where other festivals are weak, the Porn Film Festival shows its biggest strength: films by women. Half of this year’s program consists of work by women. The feminine vision of sexuality and lust, especially in relation to the current debate on role models and gender images, is more fascinating than ever. Some of the women filmmakers who will be attending this year’s festival as guests are: Anna Brownfield (Melbourne), Shine Louise Houston (San Francisco), Maria Beatty (Paris), Petra Joy (Brighton), Anna Peak (Berlin). Emilie Jouvet (Paris), Julie Simone (Los Angeles), Candida Royalle (New York) and many more.

Awards
British filmmaker Petra Joy will present the “Joy Award” at this year’s festival. It is the first inter-national award for the new generation of erotic women directors who courageously question prevalent porno clichés and who depict sex in a new and creative manner.
In the tradition of previous years, an international jury will present an award for the festival’s Best Pornographic Short Film.

Special PornUtopia
The Splatter Porn Special at the Porn Film Festival 2008 was a huge success. This year it will be followed by “PornUtopia,“ a series of films that looks at the correlation and overlap of pornography and genre films. A retrospective of pornography in science fiction over the course of several decades is also included for presentation and discussion.

Fun with fetishes
Whether latex, leather, S&M or masks; the trend to show fetishized facets of sexuality is more intense than ever. Therefore, the 4th Porn Film Festival has increased its offer of films in which people’s love of bondage, role playing, or certain material is documented and celebrated. These films range from a pony sex documentary to intimate gas mask play.

More than film
Just like every year, the festival will be presenting lectures, discussions and workshops on subjects such as Filmmaking for Women or Bondage. Moreover, many of the filmmakers whose films will be shown will be present in Berlin and available to discuss their work with audiences.
Considering that this year’s focus is on the feminine vision of pornography, an expanded panel discussion with visiting women filmmakers has been organized on the subject.

Passion for sensuous reading:
The 1st erophil,
23rd to 25th of October 2009

Erotic literature in Germany is unfortunately still relegated to a shadowy existence in dark corners. The very first international festival of erotic literature in Berlin, erophil, aims to get the genre out of this unloved place and to acquaint a diverse audience with the artistic range of classical and modern erotic literature. The event, which will last for three days, consists of a trade and public fair as well as a specialist conference and an extensive cultural programme featuring lectures, films and perfor-mances. In addition, erophil wishes to overcome the boundaries, which are set so often between homo- and heterosexual literature.

„erophil is meant to be an international forum for publishers, authors and literary societies to present themselves to the interested public and colleagues. We also wish to give the opportunity for the exchange of specialist expertise“, project manager Maurice Schuhmann says.

Erotic experts
Erophil intends to combine erotica and science from the beginning with its kick-off: a screening of „Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom“ on Friday, the 23rd of October. The film will be moderated by the film expert Marcus Stiglegger, Ph.D.
On Saturday, the 24th of October, a specialist conference on the topic „Erotic Literature – Quo Vadis?“ will take place. There will be a discussion with publishers (e.g. Claudia Gehrke, Konkursbuch Verlag), authors and literary scholars including Volker Woltersdorff, Ph.D. (FU Berlin) and Stefan Zweifel, Ph.D., who won this year’s „Berliner Literaturkritik“ award. Theo Doll will lecture on erotic literature and censorship using the „Story of O“ as an example. Representatives of the Prix Sade, a French literature award, will share with us how they support censored literature.

Erotic readings
Readings by several erotic literature authors are intended to bring the subject matter in a sophisticated and intellectually stimulating literary approach closer to the audiences. The following authors will read: Phoebe Müller („Die Beute“, Konkursbuch Verlag); slam poet Céline Robinet; author Ingeborg Middendorf, from her new novel „Der Mann, der nicht küsste“ (Storia Verlag); Wendy Delorme from „Insurrections“; Jên Bartels from „Wie man(n) ver-führt wird“ (Delicious Works); Krischan Schöninger and others.

Focus France
French erotic literature is erophil’s focus this year. In contrast to Germany, people in France are proud of their erotic literature and of their authors’ successes and literary oeuvres.
Academie Française representatives are allowed to admit their affinity for erotic literature without having to fear a loss of image. Only books labeled „a classic of world literature“, such as the works of Marquis de Sade or Jean Genet, are considered socially acceptable in Germany. All others are available only when specifically requested in coded language.

This press release on french.