Porndemic
★ 7 · 2009 · Documentary
A critical investigation into the business of internet pornography.
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Raiders of the first porn
2019 · ★ 4.5
A backtracking investigation, going back to the origins of cinema in order to understand its dirty twin brother. When did the first film camera ever land in the hands of an apprentice filmmaker with a daring idea in mind ? And why did he decide to bring his new tool inside the intimacy of the bedroom, instead of shooting trains or factory outlets ? Was this pioneer aware of the upheaval such images would provoke in Western culture until now and the advent of VR porn ?
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Walter: The secret life of a victorian pornographer
2000
The story of the sexual memoirs of a Victorian gentleman who revealed himself as Walter. He documented his liaisons in a frank series of journals which ran to eleven volumes and 1.5 million words, titled 'My Secret Life'. Within the journals he documented details of his liaisons, the names of the women, their social standing, and their conversation. For a century, this material was considered obscene, its publication illegal. Today, however, it's seen as a unique insight into Victorian social and sexual mores, providing valuable information on class, gender, marriage, fidelity and morality. This film looks at the dark life of 'Walter', and examines the way his journals have shaped contemporary understanding of Victorian society. The film also examines the mystery that has surrounded this story - who exactly was 'Walter'? The film asks whether he could have been Henry Ashbee, a wealthy London gentleman who was obsessed with sex and attained a pornographic library of over 15,000 volumes.
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2022
A series of testimonies about formative encounters with sex and pornography.
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Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story
2014 · ★ 5.8
Back Issues is the definitive documentary of porn magazine Hustler, from its nightclub inception as it adapts to pornography in the 21st century. Director Michael Lee Nirenberg's father was was one of the original art directors in the 1970s and 80s. Back Issues is a complete look at the personalities and features that made this the most offensive magazine of all time. The story is told by its publisher as well as the editors, cartoonists, models, attorneys, art directors and cultural figures for the first time ever.
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Vibrations
2025 · ★ 10
In an intimate and provocative journey, Vibrations is a documentary-essay that explores the filmmaker’s complex relationship with explicit imagery and his own sexuality. Born into a Catholic family and struggling to put his homosexuality into words, the director finds in pornography a space for self-exploration and acceptance. The film dives into the nuances of alternative pornography, challenging stigmas and revealing how desire, identity, and the politics of the body intertwine both on screen and in life. A work that pulses between the personal and the universal, Vibrations challenges perceptions and invites a rediscovery of pleasure and freedom through the image.
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I'm a Porn Star
2013 · ★ 5.9
I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.
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I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole
2013 · ★ 3.4
I Always Said Yes is a portrait of pioneering filmmaker Wakefield Poole, whose careers as dancer, choreographer, and director spanned the golden years of Broadway, television, porno chic, and gay liberation.
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Somebody's Daughter
2008
Because of the internet's accessibility, anonymity, and affordability, pornography addictions have risen to epidemic levels, destroying intimacy, marriages and families, while distorting our definition of sex and sexuality.
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Masters of the Pillow
2003 · ★ 9
Traces the making of UC-Davis professor Darrell Hamamoto's first-ever Asian American porn movie ("Skin on Skin") from planning to production. Hou interviews filmmakers Justin Lin ("Better Luck Tomorrow") and Eric Byler ("Charlotte Sometimes"), professor Elaine Kim and playwright David Henry Hwang to get at whether Asian America truly needs its own "porno practices" as a way of decolonizing the community's collective sexual imaginations and confronting how sexuality and masculinity are treated in the Asian American community.
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Thinking XXX
2004 · ★ 5.5
For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult movies, each pair of photographs in the same pose, clothed and nude. This film records the photo shoots and includes interviews with the performers and commentary from eight writers (and John Waters). The actors and writers discuss economics, nudity and exhibitionism, careers, and private lives.
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Letter Beyond the Walls
2019 · ★ 8.1
Letter Beyond the Walls reconstructs the trajectory of HIV and AIDS with a focus on Brazil, through interviews with doctors, activists, patients and other actors, in addition to extensive archival material. From the initial panic to awareness campaigns, passing through the stigma imposed on people living with HIV, the documentary shows how society faced this epidemic in its deadliest phase over more than two decades. With this historical approach as its base, the film looks at the way HIV is viewed in today's society, revealing a picture of persistent misinformation and prejudice, which especially affects Brazil’s most historically vulnerable populations.
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9to5: Days in Porn
2008 · ★ 5.8
9to5 - Days in Porn focuses on the people behind a controversial and multi-billion dollar industry "The Adult Entertainment industry". It depicts their stories, each one different, unadorned and authentic, without glorification or prejudice. It delivers deep insight into their personal lives - from glamorous to grotesque - strange, fascinating, offensive, absurd and sometimes funny moments all at once.
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