After a fourteen-hour journey and a good night’s sleep, I was ready for the first event of the Feminist Porn Awards. While the ceremony was taking place on April, 4th, the Good For Her crew had organized a meet up and screening session the previous night. I found my way to the store, which was filled with colorful dildos and friendly staff. I went upstairs and I was able to meet la crème de la crème of feminist porn. There I was, a femporn newbie, talking to Tristan Taormino, Courtney Trouble, Zahra Stardust… while stuffing my face with white wine and cookies.
The staff finally managed to kick us out and we were all on our way to Public. Provocative. Porn at the Bloor Hot Docs cinema where, much to my astonishment, a crowd was queuing to get in and see a selection of the nominated films, including my first piece, Alice Inside. I was nervous and positively overwhelmed to see so many people gathered to watch porn!
We sat down on the first row. It’s already difficult to watch your film on the big screen, but it’s even more painful to watch it with your neck on a 90º angle. However, people clapped, people cheered. From fisting to tender kissing, we saw everything, and the sex-positive applause made me think that the trip was worth it. The Q&A was quick and we discussed the topics of authenticity and performance in porn at the after party, where we also talked about the difficulties of finding actors and gathering the budget for our productions.
I was not alone. Even the best in the field shared my hopes, dreams and problems.
The next night, I fought wind and cold and finally got to the Event Capitol, a beautiful venue uptown, in a fancy area of Toronto. I was greeted by a group of sexy volunteers, I was the first one there – damn me and my French punctuality! – and I swung by the gender-free restroom. I had gone for the pretty little black dress but once the coats, gloves, scarves and other winter torture instruments were off, the place was filled with pink, latex, flowers and lace. I swam in a sea of talent and kink until everybody found a seat and the spectacle began.
Our hosts were performance artists Lex Vaughn and Ryan G. Hinds, who gave us an amazing and hilarious performance of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, transformed into Extra… Extravaganza… They also warned us very seriously: “There will be LABIA, there will be COCK”. With big applause, the ceremony started. The winners got up on the stage one by one, we heard great speeches by Courtney Trouble, Carey Grey… Everything was on schedule thanks to The Whip, this femme who was in charge of using her majestic, scary whip on any winners who talked for too long and messed up the timing!
The night was also sprinkled with very hot dancers, a particularly athletic pole dance by Mahogany Storm and an inspiring burlesque dance by Good For Her’s Creative Director Lorraine Hewitt a.k.a. CoCo La Creme. There were also spotlight apartés with Heartthrob Of The Year Zahra Startdust, Wolf Hudson and Ovidie.
The overall atmosphere was truly inspiring. Think about it. I was standing right there next to Shine Louise Houston, Jiz Lee, Ms Naughty… Everybody supports each other because they understand what it’s like to make awesome, alternative porn. See you next year Toronto!
