We know what it was like to be a thirteen year old girl waiting for our breasts to emerge and desperately hoping to receive an invite for a much anticipated slumber party. We can recall bullying in the locker room and feeling deflated because no guy wanted to dance with us, but what is it like to be a boy in grade eight? Do they face the same peer pressure, alienation and fear of growing up as we did? When We Were Boys takes us inside the elite Toronto boy school, Royal St. Georges College, and makes us feel the anxiety, excitement and awkwardness of maturing into a young man. Watching two classmates, Noah and Colin, go through the tender years from grade eight to ten, we are not only brought back in time to our own coming of age but realize that although they are just messing around playing video games, on the inside they are quietly determining who they are and what kind of men they want to become.

These young teenage years are often overlooked under the umbrella of ‘puberty’ but this documentary shows us how poignant this period of self-discovery is. As they await facial hair, order in Swiss Chalet and pop pimples, is something prolific happening in their minds?

We met with Director Sarah Goodman in the Gladstone Café to find out why these seemingly ordinary Toronto adolescents were the chosen ones for a full length documentary film.

Our initial curiousity was why boys and why private school?

“There is more out there about girls, more in documentary, drama and literature. Maybe because they are different to me but I have a tenderness towards boys, they are trying to figure it all out but have less words to use and through socialization tend not to be able to express as much. I wanted to capture the moment that they are trying to figure out who they are – which is an inarticulate time that generally goes unnoticed.” 

As for the private school choice, Goodman honestly admits “it is a fascination of a world that I don’t come from, I’m fascinated with the pageantry of it.” Also she wondered whether “upper class society may even be more solitary…creating more isolation”.

So did this world of BMWs and trust funds prove to be what she expected?

“I was struck that they had a more liberal tendency…which is why they (Royal St. Georges College) were interested. They obviously have an interest in the arts and exploring the world of boys. I was also struck with how comfortable the boys were around their teachers. The level of teaching was quite high but it was not as fancy as I expected it to be.”

Although the film follows a clique of boys the story really hones in on a friendship between Noah and Colin; who remind us of a young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, in comradery and looks. The film starts with choir practice, where Noah sings a soprano solo as the rest of the class shuffles in their shiny shoes, tossing their messy locks, looking awkwardly uncoordinated as youth do. As the boys graduate from grade eight to nine, the duo subtly sever and Colin outcasts Noah from the lunch table; which we all know is the WORST alienating experience for a high school student. The film flashes from hallway hooliganism to intense assemblies where the boys have it drilled home by the headmaster that they are “the most privileged, in not just Toronto but the world”, and that this privilege comes with high expectations. Watching their blank faces we wonder if anything resonates. However a later scene proves that the message hits home in some form - while getting a hair cut at a posh downtown salon Noah confides in the barber that he has big plans of being a model citizen. It is entirely endearing to watch this intimate confession.

It is a delicate story and although the boys are fed with a silver spoon, their experiences of peer pressure, anxiety and awkwardness are akin to all.

The last documentary that Goodman showcased at Hot Docs, Army of One, was of a very different nature; young American soldiers expressing their emotional response to 9/11 and justifying their decisions to go to war. We wondered whether the well schooled boys of St. Georges would ever consider this path, or is this kind of prestige reserved for those less fortunate, to which a university education is out of grasp? Goodman hadn’t really considered this but is fascinated with the moments in time that affect these life decisions.

We were surprised that a teacher in the film persuaded the boys to take a road less traveled, describing a medicine degree at McGill or commerce at Queens as the easy route. To which a youngster piped up, “What do you want us to do?”  Certainly a huge proportion of the parents sending their boys to St. Georges would consider admission into Queens Commerce as a successful result, but we applaud the school for shedding light that a degree does not equate to being a great man. Intimate coaching, mixed with teachings on manners, one on one guidance from the school counselor and hard hitting lectures on social and intellectual responsibility – does all this mean that the boys of St. Georges will be better men? Goodman is cautious with her response: “It’s a complicated answer – on the one hand they are getting the tools and attention that many boys don’t get. I never had an experience to sit in a room with a social worker and talk problems through. Emotionally – that’s got be really helpful.”

We doubt Goodman would have been granted access to Upper Canada College or St. Andrews, but through soft and up close cinematography audiences will really feel as though they are walking the halls of St. Georges.

Her objective of capturing the “feeling of what it’s like when you are a boy….emotionally and intellectually”, is certainly achieved in a respectful and truthful manner.

 

When you think of cat ladies, what comes to mind? Knitted sweaters, knotted hair, teacups, crumbs, babbling nonsense and a hundred cats? Probably.

We met up with Director Christie Callan-Jones on the Drake patio to discuss her doc Cat Ladies, *meow*, and she explained that the initial idea for the film occurred when Producer Suzanne Mullett, being single, over thirty, and living with cats, found the term encroaching and wanted to explore what it meant. The team set out to “break down the stereotype of the ‘crazy cat lady’ and see what lies beneath it.” Cat Ladies takes you into the lives of four Ontario women whose house of cats range from three to a hundred plus. It is easy to label a woman with a hundred and twenty five cats as totally bonkers, but Cat Ladies takes you deeper into their lives and through the filmmaking process Callan-Jones discovers that these ladies are “strong, independent, in a way, they are sort of rebels”.

From the get go this documentary is both endearing and shocking. Watching one of the subjects stir soup for her cats while they frolic on the counter, fridge and table we can’t help but question whether Cat Ladies breaks down the stereotypes or builds them up? “Tricky question…” Callan Jones retorts, “Stereotypes exist for a reason, and a lot of the ladies we interviewed called themselves “Cat Ladies”. There are elements of truth (to the stereotype) but we move beyond that.”

“There are cat ladies everywhere”, remarks Callan-Jones, but it was “an exhaustive grassroots search” to find subjects that truly created “a mosaic of the cat lady”. She gives credit to the amazing researcher who relentlessly posted signs in vets offices, pet stores, and online. That said, it didn’t take long for Callan-Jones to realize that cat ladies “are much more pervasive than we think.”

Where are the dudes with cats? Are there cat men?

”There are cat men, people don’t know that. If you are a guy with cats, you are eccentric. If you are a woman, ‘uh oh,’ you are on your way to becoming a news headline: “woman found dead, face half eaten, surrounded by cats”, she explains while we quietly barf in our mouth.

There are shots in the film with dozens of cats peering out a window together, or all lounging on a bed nestled around their owner. How crazy was it to film this doc?

“Filming in a house with over a hundred cats is very challenging. Cats were everywhere – it was an intense environment. On my shoulders, my legs – l love cats but that was a lot.” Knowing how much the litter stinks on organic day from a neighbour down the street who houses a half-dozen cats, we don’t even want to know how putrid the smell was shooting these scenes.

There are certainly parallel comparisons to be made, in terms of the emotional pain the women have gone through and similarly finding comfort, a sense of purpose and emotional strength through their cats. But Callan-Jones was surprised at “…how feisty they were. The women weren’t shy, they were outspoken…strong. Much more to them then just ladies who love their cats.” That said, she agrees that there is “a trigger that precipitates this intense relationship with cats.”

Legally, you are allowed no more than six cats per household but the feral cat situation is totally out of hand, with Toronto alone being home to approximately 10, 000 strays. The Humane Society is not in a position to rescue feral cats, they are at their limit. Although many could argue that two of Callan-Jones subjects are living in an unsafe environment that is not necessarily beneficial to the cats “they are taking care of cats that no one else will. They sacrifice everything, their finances, their health – what they do for these cats is way beyond the call of duty.” Are the cats better off in the wild? Well, this is up for debate. Callan-Jones describes the cats as “happy…well fed and very friendly.” Our opinion? If you want to devote your life to saving cats even if it’s detrimental to your own health – so be it. We just hope to hell we aren’t your neighbours.

Hot Docs Shines Spotlight on 70 Years of The National Film Board of Canada

In modern times, we take it for granted that the Canadian lesbian community is so thriving and accessible. Although ‘coming out’ still has its challenges, for the most part it is a hell of a lot easier then in decades past. Although there have always been ‘girl bars’ they were difficult to find in post-war society, and were for the most part shunned and outlawed. In the early nineties, Lynne Fernie and Aeryln Weissman set out to give a voice to these Canadian women. Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is exactly that; a diverse group of women coming forward to talk about their experience in finding each other and living out their sexuality in an unforgiving conservative culture. It was a hunt mapped through the help of pulp fiction, and a quest equally charged with lust and curiousity as with fear and guilt.

We sat down with filmmaker Lynne Fernie and, being a trailblazer for feminist issues and a hard lived lezzy herself – we wanted to learn about her before digging back to a generation earlier – the subjects of her doc – so we started with the most important question: Where did you drink when you were young?

“I can't remember a thing!” Sounds like a good time but then she continues, “No that’s not true…. I was tossed out of a bar for moving my drink, at the Spadina bar, anyways I just couldn't believe it. I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. It was a weird city. I think they'd just started allowing people to go to the movies on Sunday, and you couldn't have a drink on Sunday unless you ate dinner."

So you were kicked out of the bar for moving a drink?

“Cause I moved my drink from one table to the other. It was actually one of the early, early Carol Pope gigs at a bar on Spadina across from Grossmans…the underground was really underground. I didn't really know the gay scene. I'd known a few gay people here, but I wasn't really part of it 'til '76. I came into it through a feminist group, a women writing collective.”

If the women our mothers’ age couldn’t drink on Sunday without proving they had scarfed down roast beef, what was it like for the lesbians in the fifties? As Forbidden Love shows and Fernie echoes, “there've always been venues…even in the '50's and '60's, where women would go.”  From there, their experiences would trickle through a broken telephone. The film takes us from the girl next door – in a small rural town, a downtown city or northern reserve – and shows how through a combination of pulp and underground venues, she found and connected with a community.

Naturally, another sidebar discussion embarks on how the feminism and lesbian movement are linked. The lesbians and women of yesteryear were proud to be called feminists – why are we, the young women of today, often dismissive of the term? “I mean, you can have a movement without a name I guess, but I just think that the mainstream press did such a wonderful job of turning everybody into man-hating feminists and I think women are still afraid of the term. That's why I meet women who are post-feminist when they never were feminist in the first place, but they sort of claim post-feminism so it's kind of strange.” It is strange, why should we feel embarrassed to say that we are pro equal rights? Think about it.

A good film evokes an amplitude of discourse,  which is why it was difficult to stay on point with Lynne. But down to brass tacks, why did she make the film? Through her own involvement in the feminist and lesbian movement Lynne, and Co-director Aeryln Wissman, realized after yakking and yakking that they “..didn't even know what the women did or how they found each other or anything” and quickly concluded that they had been living an “a-historical life.”  When the NFB approached them to do a film on Canadian women and Canadian lesbians, they accepted without hesitation and embarked to find and understand this unspoken history : “We didn't know how women met each other, how they recognized each other…cause it was so dangerous. Where they went? What they did?” It took a year and a half to track down their subjects before filming.

Many of the women they contacted were nervous about the representation so Fernie credits those who agreed to participate as being  “very brave”.

In 1993, when Forbidden Love opened at TIFF it did so for a sold out theatre and received a standing ovation. For the women involved it was a true celebration, a weight off their shoulders, and the unveiling of an anxiety-wrought double life.

So next time you are hanging at Straight, the Gladstone or Hen House just consider what life would have been like fifty years ago with police cars parked outside taking pictures to use as possible extortion or means of threat.

Being a lesbian in Toronto now is hardly a taboo, in fact, it is practically a cool credential. But Lynne lets us know that “it was pretty cool then too, not overground cool, but underground cool.”

 We forget how other women have paved the way, relatively recently, to make our lives easier. Forbidden Love is a documentary that forces us to remember that there was a movement and a fight. It is an important history lesson which Canadian women – lesbian or not – should understand.

Go see Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives and follow it up with an intellectual debate over brunch. Compare the hot doc to our column Radcliffe U Hall; trials and tribulations of the modern day lesbian – you’ll have some food for thought alright; forbidden but not forgotten.

 

Rocky Balboa will always be the eye of the tiger to North American audiences who know him as a cinematic underdog hero but in Zitiste, Serbia he plays a much bigger role. Determined to change the fate and image of their small town wrought with natural disaster and conflict, the citizens of Zitiste erected an enormous statue of Rocky Balboa to sit in the town square and remind them that the human spirit can conquer all! A symbol of hope, strength and collective unity – once seeing this documentary you will never look at sweaty, buff young Rocky in the same way.

How did you come across this story and what drove you to make a film about it?

After having knee surgery I couldn't walk my dog, because I couldn't walk at all, so I put newspaper down and he peed- right on the Rocky blurb in The National Post, which sort of highlighted it. Although damp, I could make out the text and immediately thought it would make a funny story. Initially I considered writing it as a theatrical script but then decided I'd rather make a documentary about it and allow the townspeople to tell their story. I pitched the idea to Barry Avrich (Director, Executive Producer). He loved the idea and said "let's go for it!" We started the next day.

What were the first steps you took to pursue the documentary?

I looked the village up on Wikipedia, where I was able to get the phone number for the Mayor's office and called right away. There was an obvious language barrier- I phoned twice and said "Hello, do you speak English?". The woman on the other end rambled in Serbian and then promptly hung up. By some stroke of luck, a friend's brother had started a company in Belgrade and put me in touch with one of his guys who was able to translate on my behalf.

What was your initial reaction upon hearing that the town was erecting a statue of Rocky and how did your response change following your visit to Serbia?

I laughed. I thought it was ridiculous. When I arrived at the village and met the people, I saw how much hope they had and how hard they were working to turn their luck around. It was extremely touching. 

What did the people of Zitiste teach you and what did you come away learning that you never expected?

I learned that Serbians cook some of the best food I've ever tasted in my life. I witnessed intense poverty and learned about tremendous hope. The people of Zitiste have had a very tough life- yet they are the kindest and most hospitable people in the world. 

What were the greatest challenges of making this film?

The editing process. Half way through day two in Serbia, I turned to Barry and said "do you realize we are going to have to get all of this footage translated AND transcribed before we can even begin editing?" We literally had NO idea what we had shot because we didn't understand a word of what was being said. We had a translator with us but it was all happening so fast that we really didn't have a clue what we got on camera and then we had the daunting task of finding a talented editor who could both speak and read Serbian.

How easy was it to get Sylvester Stallone to interview?

This should've been my answer to question #5: getting Stallone. I can't recall the last time I've ever fought so hard for anything in my life. After some serious negotiating with his publicist, she  agreed to take the story to him and he immediately agreed to the interview. After the interview, and hearing about the unveiling of the statue and the tribute Zitiste paid to him, he was a little upset that nobody on his staff had brought him the information. He said he may never have known about it if we hadn't made the movie.

If we were to erect a statue of a famous idol in Toronto, who would you suggest to be in the running?

Gerard Depardieu... just kidding, I don't know- maybe Michael Jackson or Andre the Giant. Somebody with absolutely nothing to do with Toronto at all.

What do you want audiences to take away from this film?

 I hope people enjoy watching it and that they learn a little something about another culture- that they get to see a part of the world they never would otherwise.

What did you enjoy most about making Amerika Idol?

Honestly, probably going to Serbia and eating like a queen! I was invited to the Hunter's Association for the most incredible meal I've ever had. It's very rare for a woman to be invited to eat with the Hunters so it was a bit of an honour (and I should mention that they had hunted for the meat to feed us and were curing it for three weeks prior to our arrival, pretty amazing!) Also working with my dear friend and Director Barry Avrich. We've worked on many projects over the years but this was our first film together and it is such a joy working with him. I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time we were in Serbia.

Did making this film change your outlook on life?

It made me thankful for the life I've been so lucky to have in Canada. For the freedom we have here. And for the smoking by-laws!!

You think you and your partner have it rough because he flirts with the wait staff at Fionn McCool’s? When he continuously leaves laundry on the floor do you think ‘what an asshole!?' Well, this film will shed some perspective and force you to ask questions about what love and family are all about; you will re-assess your petty problems.

Chris and Rachel were two young people dating when Rachel had a sudden stroke that left her paralyzed. She can’t walk, she can’t talk and the only way she can communicate is by rolling her eyes or laughing/crying. Rachel was pregnant at the time of her stroke – and being a good man, Chris proposed, asking for her hand in marriage, despite her condition. They had the baby and made a quaint and loving life for themselves in the Australian outback, but certainly not an easy one.

Several years later, their first child is a young teen and they have since given birth to another baby boy. (Chris lets us know that they have an enjoyable sex life) Desperate for money, Chris extends his skills from Sheep Shearing to building and running a brothel; raising many eyebrows in the community. This film is a poignant and touching story of one family but asks big questions about courage, life, morality and duty, it will surely have a profound affect on audiences everywhere.

How were you initially introduced to Chris and his family story?

My brother Prem knew Chris in University. Chris had left the family farm to study Law while Rachel, his girlfriend, was studying nursing back in the country. My brother was friends with Chris and heard about Rachel’s tragic stroke. When Chris decided to leave university to look after Rachel, my brother was hugely struck by his sacrifice. When I started making films, my brother told me about Chris and Rachel’s remarkable story. I am ashamed to say I paid no attention- firstly because I never listen to my brother, and secondly because I thought it would make a sad and depressing film. Then one day, my brother turned up on my doorstep and insisted on taking me to see Chris and Rachel. When I met them I was so struck by their courage and the sheer joy with which they lived life. I knew  instantly that I just had to make a film about them.

What prompted you to make a documentary about Chris, Rachel and their situation?

Chris and Rachel’s story was amazing because Chris had made this extraordinary decision to look after Rachel despite her massive disability. Being with them I was also overwhelmed by Rachel’s enormous courage in living life as fully as possible, despite the terrible thing that had happened to her. In a sense both Chris’s act of love, and Rachel’s act of will, were encapsulated in the fact of her pregnancy: Chris loved his wife and had a physical relationship which had produced a child. Rachel was determined to have the baby despite the high risk associated with pregnancy for anyone in her condition.

But on top of having a baby, or rather, in contrast to this, Chris had also decided to open a brothel. This man whom one had to admire as a husband and father also wanted to be a pimp! There was something in those polar opposites- baby and brothel- which allowed one to explore ideas about love, family and morality. It was a challenge I could not resist!

What was your initial objective in making this film? Did this alter during the creative process?

I didn’t know Chris and Rachel when we started filming. I had no time for research and reflection: There was a baby being born and a brothel being built.  So I didn’t really have time to develop an objective. What I did have were questions: What sort of man decides to honor his promise to his fiancée and marry her even when she is so severely physically damaged? What kind of man can look after his quadriplegic wife for 14 years and still claim to love her? Does he love her? What gives her the will to live? Does she participate in this marriage or is it all on Chris’s terms? Is their child the product of a genuine sexual exchange? And then, of course, as the brothel unfolded, I wondered- Can a good father and a loving husband also be successful pimp?

All of us in the crew were constantly thinking about these things. We would film all day and retreat to discuss what we had seen, and what we had shot, late into the night. The cinematographer Himman Dhamija and I have worked together for 15 years. He has been my eyes for every film I have made. It was his camera which found the moments between characters which provided answers to our questions. Himman filmed the little gestures between Chris and Rachel- the way Chris held Rachel in his arms as they took a dip in a pool or the way Chris would make a joke to distract Rachel from some sadness. It was these tiny moments which allowed us to explore the nature of their relationship- including the times when stress made Chris treat Rachel roughly.

Why do you think this is an important film for audiences to see?

I feel truly blessed to have been part of the making of this film. I think all of us who worked on it feel the same- the cinematographer Himman, the sound recordists Mark Cornish and Tony Robson, the editor Nick Beauman. Each crew member talked about how incredible Chris and Rachel were, and what a privilege it was to tell their story. Because ultimately this is a story about love. About sacrifice. About family. About what makes us human. I think the greatness of documentary filmmaking is to bring us these big themes through the stories of real people. What could be more inspiring?

Do you think watching this story unfold makes couples or married couples reassess their struggles? Perhaps – put them in perspective?

Making this film made all of us think about our relationships- about marriage, about our parents, about children. I don’t think anyone can see what Chris has done for Rachel, and witness their love, without being profoundly moved. And it certainly makes one think that we make an awful lot of fuss and fight and bicker about what is so terribly trivial. When you look at what Chris and Rachel have lived through together, you cant help but look at your own life in a different way.  

What conclusions did you draw about human nature during the process of making this film?

I realized that life is an act of God, but love is an act of humanity. What happened to Rachel was like flood or lightning- an inexplicable act of cruelty by the Allmighty. But the decisions Chris and the family made were human and humane. It is sad and beautiful that the very happening which was so tragic for Rachel and Chris, was also the one which was so transformative in a positive way. As Chris’s mother says in the film, “We have become better people because of what happened.” And maybe in that, God has offered some redemption after all!

Do you think someone is not a “Good Man” or “Good Woman” if in a similar situation they decided to not marry their significant other or perhaps marry but lead a separate life with another lover?

I don’t think I am in a position to judge anyone in such a circumstance. I don’t know what I would do, so who am I to say? All I know is that what Chris has done is extraordinary and inspirational. The film does question Chris’s goodness at times- it questions why he chose to open a brothel, it questions his attitude to the sex workers, it questions his fidelity to Rachel. But it makes no judgment. Instead each audience member is invited to question their own prejudice as much as query Chris’s actions. This is not a film which provides answers. It invites you into the intimate world of the characters on screen, but the real journey is into your own heart.

What did the building of the brothel reveal about their relationship?

The brothel is the prism through which we see Chris and Rachel’s story. Quite early on, Chris ran out of money, and since banks do not finance brothels, he decided to build it himself! The story of the brothel forms the narrative arc of the film- from physically building it to operating it as a running business. The exploration of Chris and Rachel's relationship weaves through this. We always thought that the brothel would place stress on Chris and Rachel’s marriage but we had no idea how, and how much, their life would be affected. It was both fascinating and frightening to watch how Chris, who is such a creature of light, blundered into a world of darkness.

Not that the sex industry is necessarily bad- I personally am in favor of consensual sex between adults and have no issues with this involving a financial transaction. We also got to know and really like many of the women who worked in the sex industry. But still the stories of what these women had been through, and the whole world of the sex industry did have a dark edge. And I think this affected Chris and Rachel in ways they did not anticipate at all.

What was the most challenging part of making A Good Man?

It is always challenging to look into oneself. That was what was hardest about this film- I found myself looking into my heart and realizing that I had prejudices I was not even aware of- I was afraid of talking to Rachel because I didn’t know how to communicate with someone so physically handicapped. I was confronted by the sex workers because I didn’t understand their world. I had ideas about men and marriage that Chris completely overturned. Getting over all that was hard, but it was also the best part of making the film!

What did you enjoy the most about making this film? How has this film changed your outlook on life? Or has it?

Making this film challenged me deeply. I always put film making first and people (including myself) second. But in this film we just couldn’t do that. We were people first and film makers second. If something needed to be done in the house, we all agreed to put down the camera and do it. As a crew we made a decision that Chris and Rachel’s needs were more important than the film. The strange thing is, the film is better as a result of this. I don’t know why- but is was a great lesson.

Of course Chris and Rachel’s lives offer other much deeper lessons about  love and family and the whole business of being human. I hope I have the courage to learn from what I witnessed.

INSEX is one of the most hardcore S&M sites on the web, with over 30,000 international subscribers. This doc takes you behind the scenes where founder, PD, cuffs the girls, spanks them, makes them bleed, simulates drowning them, twists their tits until they turn blue, buggers them with sticks, mummifies them with PVC and hangs them from the ceiling, pulls their nostrils back and pours hot sauce on their vaginas. Sounds fun, eh? The film documents interviews from a variety of the girls who work for PD and discuss their experiences, from being empowering to feeling like rape. Throughout the story, the FBI investigates PD and compares his work to that of serial rapists and murderers. At times Graphic Sexual Horror is visually beautiful and at other times it will make you feel like vomiting; certainly a film that evokes discussion surrounding sexual mores and the role of women in this particular genre of the sex industry. You will also question whether PD is just a kinky guy or a complete threat to society.

How were you first introduced to Insex and what was your initial reaction?

I started working for PD as a photographer, and was very shocked photoshopping images on my first day. But after the first shoot, I realized that it was just that, a shoot, not non-consensual torture.

What prompted you to make a documentary about Insex?

Barb and I wanted to do a project together and as she had been at the Insex studio several times she saw the potential. After completing the film I realized that I needed to process my experiences of working there.

Do you think what PD is doing is dangerous?

Except for the tank, the sets were tested and everything rehearsed. The physical danger was very much minimized. The psychological danger is about setting your own limits, something we should trust adults to do. Even if they are women.

What common thread did you discover with the women who actively participate in the S&M tapings?

Whether they were doing it for money or the experience, the vast majority were exhibitionists.

Do you find PD’s work to be beautiful or scary?

At the best it was beautiful, like a dance between him and the model.

What did you enjoy most about making this documentary?

How the story, and our perception of the story changed and deepened while editing. We had envisioned something completely different, a light hearted piece showing that these were just regular people in a not so regular work environment, with a lot of bizarre and comical things happening in the midst of the horrific-looking shoots. But the interviews we got were so great, people had processed their experience and matured from it in a way we were not expecting.

What was the most challenging aspect of making this documentary?

Focusing. We could have made a series of 10 episodes, had so much material, so many different aspects we could include.

In the process of Directing Graphic Sexual Horror, did you find yourself more open to sexual experimentation?

No. Actually the opposite.

Do you consider the women involved to be exploited?

Not in any other way then people without money or power are routinely exploited in capitalist societies.

What discourse do you hope Graphic Sexual Horror will provoke amongst audiences?

That everybody who has to work for money is always making a choice: What am I willing to do for this amount of money? Whether the industry is bondage porn or corporate fashion, (as an audience member at Slamdance remarked on the similarities.) And that the answer to why something is shocking or revolting lies within yourself.