Pornography in Helsinki: WONDERLUST Festival of Diverse, Conscious Sex

I’m off for Finland tomorrow to appear as a special guest June 13-14 at WONDERLUST, a new “diverse and conscious sex” festival in Helsinki, Finland.

While there, I’ll present an evening of short films I’ve curated (Spectacular Porn) and my workshop (Fucking for REEL). I’ve presented versions of the workshop at Harvard and at Princeton, and am excited to bring it to Finland’s new festival.

“We grew up thinking that the sexual revolution is a historical event, yet now recognize that it is an ongoing process instead.” – Wonderlust

When we watch sexual media, we can learn much about other people’s sexuality, and ourselves. In “Watch & Learn”, we’ll observe diverse sexual scenarios that span age, ability, gender, sexuality, and film genre — from documentary to sex guide, mainstream gonzo, queer indie porn, and music video. As a film genre, pornography can take us into fantasy realms exploring sexuality in deep ways. How does a film portray a relationship? Can a script create characters to safely break cultural taboo? What is the connection between sex and violence, and, how can porn heal traumatic experiences? This screening will contrast portrayals of real couples with those in fictitious relationships. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Marjo Pipinen.

I love the inquisitive, open-minded nature of WonderLust. Here’s a quote from their FAQ about what “Conscious Sex” means to them.

What is conscious sexuality? 

With this term we want to suggest intelligent and reflective approach to sexuality. We want to encourage discussion and experimentation on what sex could be for each individual and inspire more ‘do it yourself ’ mentality. We wish to emphasise, that anyone is free to explore their own sexuality and desires, without necessarily following any pre-determined norms.

Curating films is HARD. There’s too much porn, too little time! Papers could be written about why I chose what I did and not other films alone. At the end of the day, while not everything could be included, I decided to choose films that were easy for me to contact and obtain permissions, spanning indie shorts and Feminist Porn Award-winning titles from PinkLabel.tv’s curated selection of films, including Shine Louise Houston (BED PARTY, CrashPad’s Guide to Fisting), N Maxwell Lander (Emile, 98bit), Tobi Hill-Meyer (Doing it Again), Sadie Lune (Baby, You’re Frozen), and which I’ve come across at festivals or online such as Bruce LaBruce’s Offing Jack, Clark Matthew’s KRUTCH, Marc Silver’s Ageless Sex, Danny Wylde’s This is Love. Then there’s a few I’m in as a performer. For this screening, I’ve selected behind the scenes footage from CrashPadSeries.com, as well as Courtney Trouble’s Going Here, Dana Vespoli’s Girl/Boy. Christian Slaughter’s BIODILDO, Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Pegging, and Cheryl Dunye (Mommy is Coming).

Find more information and tickets online at wonderlust.fi. The venue is wheelchair accessible; please contact wonderlusthelsinki@gmail.com or phone 0449715285 for assistance. Here’s the some press around the festival, so far on Nyt and Sylvi, and more to come!