PORN FILM FESTIVAL VIENNA
Can good sex and pornography save the world?
Photo by Luis Harmer
-Interview with Jasmin Hagendorfer and Yavuz Kurtulmus (Founders of the PFFV) by Ale Zapata
We reached out our friends from the Porn Film Festival Vienna, together we planned an exhibition which had to be postponed due to the current restrictions but will take place in September.
The (in)escapable monotony of pornographic representations is a 4-week long exhibition project which includes a group show, discussions, artist talks and performances. The exhibition aims to open up a dialogue to question and reflect the contemporary connotation of various concepts such as sex, sexuality, porn and gender.
We asked Jasmin and Yavuz how are they dealing with these weird times.
A. Who is behind PFFV?
“In the beginning, 2017, four wildly enthusiastic people, who were part of different cultural fields, teamed up: Yavuz Kurtulmus, Jasmin Hagendorfer, Saif Rangwala and Gregor Schmidinger. This was the start of the Porn Film Festival Vienna and this led to much uproar, not only within the Viennese art and cultural sphere, but also the political landscape. In its first year, the festival stirred up an open debate about sexuality and pornography, topics that are still taboo in oh-so-liberal society. At the moment the core team consists only of Yavuz Kurtulmuz and Jasmin Hagendorfer, who are planning and organizing the festival.”
A. What are your goals and motivations?
“For us as organizers, it was important to challenge our audience with questions, like “What is porn?” and “What is shame?”. And to curate films, documentaries, workshops and lectures that deal with the very important subject of pornography. Our festival 2020 (October 1-4) is not only presenting films, but our program includes lectures, workshops and an art exhibition in our favorite Viennese gallery: Improper Walls. We see our festival as a chance to connect to other media and debate formats and find new discursive possibilities.
Diversity is the main focal point of the festival - independent of age, ethnic background, religion, body norms, sexuality and sexual identity. This includes feminist porn as well as queer matters and sharing views of sex-positivity, consent and body-positivity. Watching films together, discussing and reflecting them – that’s our main goal. It motivates us even further that we as individuals also profit from new knowledge and even for us, we can find a new, alternative way to deal with our own sexuality and our own bodies.”
A: How has the current situation affected/benefited you?
“Difficult question. We have certainly been badly affected, as we had to postpone our April date to a more safe date in October. That also means that we lost money as we had to adapt plans. The situation led to way more work, as you constantly have to improvise and change according to new rules of the government, communicate all of this within our team, but also to the guests of our festival. But as we are very positive thinking folks, we made use of the additional time to consolidate the festival program and we came up with new ideas and surprises. Furthermore we want to integrate the global situation, the pandemic, into the festival and open up a space for discussion about it.”
E: What can we expect for this upcoming edition of the PFFV?
“This year’s festival central question is: “What is sex?”, which sounds like an easy to answer question on first glimpse, but it shows that sex is one of the most intimate and at the same moment political topic of human existence. We are sexual, technological, narrative and political beings and everything we do is very much shaped by our sociopolitical context. We want to focus on two debates: sex work and biopolitics.
But there is another question that we want to ask: Can good sex and pornography save the world? We made an open call for short films on the topic of climate and earth crisis. That’s a super important political debate in our time, as we all leave ecological footprints. We want to connect it with sex and pornography. There is no planet B!”
A: How are you dealing with physical isolation?
“This changes on a daily basis. We are both dealing with different situations: Where we live, with whom we live etc., but of course there is a bundle of emotions in play: anger, loneliness, anxiety, horniness, stress, but there are also good days. A challenge for all of us and a good way is to talk to others, to share and not to be ashamed of our feelings.”
A: Do you have any recommendations of porn films to help us go through these times?
“YES - helluva lot! Some people deal with the situation by being extra horny, some people deal with it by discovering their own (or their partner’s) body, and some people feel very asexual. For the more horny ones, please visit ethical fair porn sites like: Arthouse Vienna, Erika Lust, Pink Label TV, Blue Artichoke, Noel Alejandro or Four Chambers. Or check out Twitter. You can also support sex-positive performers on Patreon. There is a lot to discover! Please observe that the pornography you consume is fair... fair to all in the game. And have fun!”
Photo by Luis Harmer