Published in Paris in 1954, Story of O was an immediate bestseller and literary scandal: an elegantly written S&M fantasy that had all the hallmarks of being an autobiographical account by the pseudonymous Pauline Réage. In 1994 Dominique Aury, a mild-mannered, dowdy editor for France’s prestigious Gallimard press, revealed her authorship. Pola Rapaport explores Aury's inspiration, recreating the world of '50s literary Paris and setting it against dramatic sequences that bring the infamous book to life. The author as well as various French intellectuals expound on the thorny relationship between sexuality and power, submission and freedom, liberation and non-being.
Sex Positive explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Mr. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic demanding a solution to the problem before the outside world would take heed. Now destitute and alone, Mr. Berkowitz tells his story to a world who never wanted to listen.
Look around. Everything you see and touch can taste like vanilla.
Nick Broomfield and a documentary crew visit Pandora's Box, an up-scale house of bondage on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, where clients pay $175 an hour to be subservient to mistresses. Mistresses talk about their craft; a few clients, usually masked, are interviewed as well. Then, the camera watches sessions organized around fetishes: rubber, wrestling, corporal punishment, masochism, and infantilism. Mistress Raven, the owner of Pandora's Box, explains that pain need not be part of the subservient experience: it is, at its root, a transfer of power. After their session has ended, clients talk about how drained, relaxed, relieved, and at peace they are.
Analog video by Sylvère Lotringer. Extended conversation between two dominatrixes, a younger American woman and an older French woman (Catherine Robbe-Grillet, writer and wife of Alain Robbe-Grillet).
A cinematic exploration of the dominance and submission lifestyle as revealed in the best-selling book trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey. In this film, real women and men reveal their experiences, wants and desires as participants in the world of dominance and submission.
"TDS, derrière l'écran des travailleuses du sexe" is a deep dive into the lives of Betty, Anaïs, Noochka, Manon, and Barty. They have all ventured into the world of selling sexual content online. What pushes someone to take the step of signing up on these platforms? What are their motivations? What are the consequences on their personal lives? Why do some choose to stick with it for years, while others decide to stop for good?
Fifty Shades Uncovered is a brand new feature documentary filmed in London and New York which explores the twilight zone of submissive romance and the power of the Fifty Shades of Grey film and books. Featuring the latest interviews from authors, stars and fans, take an in-depth look into why this trilogy has become such a runaway success, whether classified as erotic fiction, adult romance or mommy porn, it lifts the lid on a cultural and sexual phenomenon that won’t be restrained as it reaches world domination!
The documentary depicts three women enjoying a weekend roleplaying as schoolgirls and participating in BDSM activities under the auspices of the cult Aristasia.
Documentary directed by W.K. Border, that which dives into the aspects of contemporary Gothic subculture, vampirism, and BDSM culture. Filmed in 1997 in California.
A short film that follows key figures of the London kink scene on an exploration into BDSM and the notorious fetish event Klub Verboten. The film touches upon themes of psychology, trauma, LGBTQ+ rights and black representation.
Mia recounts her most intimate confessions, uncensored, in her first approach to a totally new world of domination and submission.
The film accompanies the West Berlin dominatrix “Lady de Winter” through her everyday life. Her work is partly documented with the help of hidden cameras.
A documentary that follows three women who perform via webcam to paying customers.
A portrait of Rosa von Praunheim's neighbor, who worked for decades as a professional dominatrix in Berlin's Wilmersdorf district. While the real Lady MacLaine reflects authentically and wittily on her life and work, her life is retold in dramatized scenes.
The story of Robert Flanagan, a man who was born with cystic fibrosis and told he wouldn't live past 20, who through a unique odyssey of masochism, art and love found a way to live decades past his expiration date.
Graphic Sexual Horror takes a peek behind the terrifying facade behind the most notorious of bondage websites, exploring the dark mind of its artistic creator and asking hard questions about personal responsibility. Interviews reveal deep fascinations with bondage and sadomasochism that run parallel, and in fact become irreversibly entwined with the lure of money.
An hour-long workout with a BDSM theme on a NYC rooftop, taught by a variety of instructors.
Two gay leather beauty pageants form the core of this German documentary. The events, the International Mr. Leather Pageant and the Mr. Drummer Pageant held in San Francisco and Chicago respectively, are filled with scads of strangely dressed leather aficionados. These leather men are seen sauntering down streets, and hotel corridors; some of them are interviewed. Also interviewed are former Mr. Leathers who discuss the inherent responsibilities of their titles and the groupies they attract.
They met onstage at the Mr Leather Russia contest. One of them won the title, the other won the titleholder. 'A tale of two Doms', gay fetish and BDSM activists who tried to make a difference. But soon their world came crashing down.