Erika Lust
Filmmaker | Erika Lust Films
Barcelona, SPAIN
Erika Lust is a filmmaker, mother, writer, blogger, owner and founder of Erika Lust Films
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Biography
Erika Lust is an acclaimed adult filmmaker creating sex-positive, indie adult cinema with sexually intelligent narratives, relatable characters and realistic hot sex. Her crowd-sourced project XConfessions turns the public’s anonymous fantasies into explicit and artistic short films, and her US-based studio LustCinema produces original series and feature length films for lovers of cinema and sex.
In 2004 Erika made her first film The Good Girl, an alternative take on the "pizza delivery guy" cliché. Within two weeks it had received over two million downloads. It was then that she realised that there were other people looking for something different from their pornography too.
Over the past fifteen years, the Erika Lust brand has gone from strength to strength. Erika has directed six adult feature films, over 150 short films, produced around 50 more, and has travelled the world spreading the Lust message. She has also written five books including Let’s Make A Porno and her acclaimed erotic novel La Canción de Nora (“Nora’s Song”).
Erika’s philosophy for a new adult cinema is based on four main ideas: women’s pleasure matters; adult cinema can have cinematic values; we need more inclusivity of diverse body types, ages and ethnicities; and the production process must be ethical. She defends the importance of the female gaze and capturing this by having women behind the camera in all key positions.
In 2015, Erika gave her essential TEDx talk It’s Time for Porn to Change. Her story was also featured in the first episode of the Netflix documentary series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On (“Women on Top”), directed by Rashida Jones. In 2019 Erika was named as one of the BBC 100 Women’s most influential women of the year and in the last year she has been featured in several major documentary series in the UK and Germany, with more expected to air in 2020.
Industry Expertise (2)
Audio Visual
Entertainment
Areas of Expertise (8)
Film & Video Directing
Feminism
Cinema
Errotic Filmmaking
Movie Producing
Filmmaking
Film & Television Producer
sex education
Accomplishments (9)
BBC 100 Women of 2019
2019 Selected by BBC as part of their 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2019
Most Dizzling Docu-Porn - Tie Me Up! A Shibari Documentary
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
Best Kinky Short - Dirty Feet
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
Sexiest Sci-Fi - Touch Crimes
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
Most Tantalizing Trans Short - We Are The Fucking World
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
Premio Maguey - Premio Maguey Director
2018 Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara Film Festival, Mexico
Best Narrative Short Films – An Appointment with my Master - XConfessions Vol. 5
2016 Cinekink, New York (The Kinky Film Festival)
Best Website & Best Short Film Series - XConfessions
2015 Feminist Porn Awards Toronto
Good For Her – Hottest Straight Vignette – XConfessions vol. 2
2014 Feminist Porn Awards, Toronto
Education (1)
Lund University: B.A., Political Science 1999
Links (2)
Media Appearances (12)
Porn Producer Erika Lust To Release A New Film Made Entirely In Lockdown
Forbes online
2020-04-14
Independent adult filmmaker Erika Lust has produced a lockdown porn film shot entirely by performers in their own homes. "Sex and Love in the Time of Quarantine" is a coronavirus-themed sex documentary in which adult stars invite viewers into their homes to talk about their lives under lockdown and social distancing.
Interview: Erika Lust Tells Us How to Make the Perfect Adult Film
Popdust online
2020-04-10
The experience left Lust deeply perturbed. "I knew that female sexuality was way more than that," she said. The young Political Science major soon became fascinated with pornography and immersed herself in the erotic work of John Cameron Mitchell and Jill Soloway, who she cites as her biggest inspirations.
Masturbation Is the Only Winner of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Cosmopolitan online
2020-04-01
“It’s harder to get inspired when you’re stuck at home—that’s why watching some lusty movies can be useful to get into the mood,” says Erika Lust, the Barcelona-based ethical porn director of XConfessions and LustFilms. And if you want to work it truly solo, sans virtual community or kinky website, just set up your favorite comfy zone—Manta suggests a bath—and get down to business with a waterproof vibe.
Erika Lust’s xConfessions brings your porn fantasies to life
Daily Dot
2020-03-29
Unlike Swedish director Erika Lust’s other feminist porn sites, xConfessions is about user curation. xConfessions uses an open-dialogue concept (comments, likes, and confessions) to create original porn films you’ll actually want to pay attention to—because they’re your fantasies.
Why porn is a terrible form of sex education
Ask Men
2020-01-08
If you ask someone in the porn business - an actor, a writer, director, a distributor - whether porn counts as a form of sex education, they'll tell you, in no uncertain terms, that it doesn't.
How To Have Kinky Sex During Pregnancy, According To An Expert
Romper
2019-07-23
When we talk about sexuality during pregnancy — when we talk about it — we do so in a very particular way. Unlike morning sickness or weird cravings, it hasn't been incorporated into the general discussion of having a baby, so it's always a kind of sidebar. It's also almost always general, heteronormative, and quite vanilla. But what about kink during pregnancy?
How to talk to kids and teens about porn
Mashable
2019-07-18
If kids are on the internet, the likelihood that they've seen porn is high. A nationally representative study in 2007 found that 42 percent of kids aged 10 to 17 who used the internet had been exposed to online porn in the past year, with 66 percent of that group reporting unintentional exposure to it.
The Problem With 'Porn for Women'
Vice
2019-06-28
Sites like Bellesa, ForHerTube and categories like Pornhub's 'popular with women' feature a soft porn experience, but generalizing too much about what women want puts their sexuality in a box.
Woman-made porn: Why I'm making films that reflect real life sex
The Telegraph
2019-03-27
Porn is traditionally made by men, for men. It tends to focus on male sexuality, with female characters as tools for the pleasure of men. It always rubbed me up the wrong way, so, in 2004, I made my first erotic film.
What Sex Is Really Like After 70, According to XConfessions' New Documentary
Allure
2019-03-14
Older people are asking to see representations of older people having sex, and Erika Lust wants to give it to them.
Why paying for porn makes you a better feminist
Cosmopolitan
2019-03-08
For all our so-called faults, millennials are undoubtedly the most socially conscious generation. We’re moving away from fast fashion and backing sustainable brands that don’t destroy the planet. We boycott the work of sexual abusers, and more of us are going vegan than ever before. But, when it comes to pornography, we don't seem to hold quite the same ethical standards.
Erika Lust: The feminist adult film maker changing the face of porn
Independent online
2016-06-15
Erika Lust doesn’t just direct adult films for women, although they do make up a big part of her audience. In her own words, she directs porn for people “who don't think that sex always has to be presented as cheap, tasteless and vulgar”.
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