Erika Lust: the feminist director of porn films

Gynecological angles, objectified women and male fantasies in evidence. These are the rules that more traditional porn movies need to follow to continue attracting their main audience: men. Tired of this pattern, Swedish filmmaker Erika Lust is trying to change this scenario, starting with one of the main points: her films are aimed at women.

Erika’s first experience with porn was in her teens and it was like many other women’s: the excitement is there, but the annoyance and embarrassment are there too. “I felt betrayed. Women were being treated like objects and as if they didn’t have their own desires. To me that seemed unfair, does it really need to be that way?”, asks the Swede.

A few years later, Erika found a way to unite her feminist ideals with her interest in pornography. “It was when I was studying political science and gender in college and I read “Hard Core”, a book by Linda Williams, that opened my eyes to porn. I could see it as a discourse about sexuality that had a high influence on its viewers,” she recalls.

Erika began to worry about the influence of traditional porn on people’s relationships in real life, particularly how men treat women or what they expect from them in bed. “Like it or not, we must admit that pornography is part of our society. It works as sex education not only for adults, but also for young people who have never had sex”, warns Erika.

It was the push she needed to leave her home country and move to Barcelona, ​​Spain, with the mission of producing independent films breaking the stereotypes of genre preached by the traditional industry.

To test people’s reception, Erika made her first film, “The Good Girl”, available for free download on the internet. It spoofs that porn movie cliché in which a pizza delivery boy is a potential sexual partner. The protagonist of Erika’s film does indeed have sex with her delivery man, but all the time it is possible to see that she seeks to satisfy herself.

Result of the experience: 2 million views in the first few months! With success, Erika never stopped. Soon her films gained more elaborate scripts and even bigger productions. She has become one of the most talked about names in the industry, most notably for calling herself a feminist porn film director. In addition to the more realistic sex on screen, she has as a differential the photography of her films, creating photographically more beautiful images.

Scene from the short film “Queen of Panties”, by Erika Lust. Available on the XConfessions website

Despite directing her films towards a female audience, Erika says that half of the audience enrolled in the XConfessions – site where he makes short films available and sells his film collection – is made up of men. According to her, this shows how the systematic acting of traditional films can end anyone’s hard-on.

“My audience seeks to see men and women of all shapes and sizes, enjoying an equal relationship, enjoying their sexual freedom. They want to know exactly what women want, their true desires and fantasies”, says Erika. How is it possible to unravel all this? On Erika’s website, any subscriber can post their most intimate fetishes for the director to choose as a theme for the scripts.

With these stories, the fifth volume of the XConfessions film series has been completed and is scheduled for sale on DVD on the website in August. According to the director, the landscapes of northern Spain were explored during the European summer so that stunning sunset sex scenes were created.

Among the short films that make up the new work, Erika highlights her first film about BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadism and Masochism).

The Swedish director has already released a preview of the fifth volume of XConfessions, which starts to be sold on DVD in August!

Always emphasizing the importance of showing a healthy and pleasant relationship for everyone involved, Erika says: “A film about sex can be positive, happy and egalitarian! As well as fun to watch.”