Written by Yohana Desta for Mashable. Originally published March 3rd, 2015.
The idea of a “porn film festival” conjures up seedy folks gathering together to collectively jerk it and pray no one’s looking; this film festival was not like that at all. At its heart, it was an experimental film festival, complete with intelligent lectures from historians, artists and former TED Talk lecturers. The audience was full of young, attentive art fanatics who were sincere in their quests to support this most audacious of fests.
While not every film actually contained porn, there were some films that were über-graphic, my-mother-would-kill-me-for-watching-this P O R N. I have seen more vaginas and penises than is humanly necessary. I’ve seen things I didn’t know existed. After three days of watching hours on hours of porn, I am somehow more depraved and enlightened than I’ve ever been.
There were some awesome films at this festival. Some were meant to be funny; others were meant to shock. Each film started with a disclaimer encouraging people to giggle, gasp and scream if they felt the need. I did all of the above.
Here’s what Yohana had to say about Cindy, Sarah, and Ariel’s presentation
4. “I’m the only TED speaker to have uttered the words ‘Cum on my face!’” Cindy Gallop, the co-founder and CEO of website Make Love Not Porn gave a galvanizing lecture about how to make money in the porn industry. Think of her site as a YouTube of porn — people film themselves having sex and submit it to the site, hoping to get lots of views and make money. The concept is to get people watching real sex.
To read Yoshana’s thoughts about other presentations at NYC PFF, check out the rest of her piece here. To follow through with Cindy’s call for submissions, check out what we’re looking for here!
