The Pornfilmfestival Berlin (PFFB) returns for its 19th edition on October 22-27, 2024. Moviemento cinema and Babylon Kreuzberg will once again be the two venues.
With 35 feature-length films, as well as 21 short film programs, the Pornfilmfestival Berlin 2024 celebrates its 19th edition! Founded in 2006 as an independent, non-commercial and non-publicly-funded film festival, the PFFB annually presents films around the topics of sexuality, politics, feminism, gender diversity, post-porn and body politics.
Festival fans can look forward to a hard but exciting choice right at the start this year: for the first time, the program will open with three feature films: Her Body - A True Porn Story (2023) by Natálie Císařovská, Queen of the Deuce (2022) by Valerie Kontakos, and 2551.02 - The Orgy of the Damned (2023) by Norbert Pfaffenbichler.
Her Body - A True Porn Story tells the story of the diver Andrea Absolonová, who passed away in 2004. After suffering a spinal injury, she began working as a porn actress under the stage name Lea De Mae. This biographical drama is the debut film of Czech director Natálie Císařovská, featuring Natalia Germani, Denisa Baresová, Martin Finger, Zuzana Mauréry, and Cyril Dobrý. Valerie Kontakos delves a bit further back in history with Queen of the Deuce: From Greece before World War II to her meteoric rise through the porn scene at Times Square in the 1970s, the documentary explores the fascinating story of Chelly Wilson, a groundbreaking entrepreneur and unconventional matriarch who built an empire based on desire.
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In a completely different, fictional direction, Norbert Pfaffenbichler takes the story forward: 2551.02 - The Orgy of the Damned continues the tale of the man in the ape mask on his odyssey through the torture garden of perverse desires. The second part of a planned trilogy picks up where its predecessor, 2551.01, left audiences stunned. But don't worry: as with all good sequels, you don't need to have seen the first film to be captivated by the second. A treat for all fans of slapstick violence, twisted sex, and dark humor!
The closing film will be Another Body (2023) by Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn. This documentary follows American student Taylor as she seeks answers and justice after discovering that deep fake pornography featuring her image is circulating online. She dives into the underground world of deep fakes, uncovering a growing culture of men terrorizing women—including influencers, classmates, and friends. More than just a warning about the misuse of technology and the toxic online world, the film serves as a tool for Taylor to tell her story and reclaim her identity.
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In a completely different, fictional direction, Norbert Pfaffenbichler takes the story forward: 2551.02 - The Orgy of the Damned continues the tale of the man in the ape mask on his odyssey through the torture garden of perverse desires. The second part of a planned trilogy picks up where its predecessor, 2551.01, left audiences stunned. But don't worry: as with all good sequels, you don't need to have seen the first film to be captivated by the second. A treat for all fans of slapstick violence, twisted sex, and dark humor!
The closing film will be Another Body (2023) by Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn. This documentary follows American student Taylor as she seeks answers and justice after discovering that deep fake pornography featuring her image is circulating online. She dives into the underground world of deep fakes, uncovering a growing culture of men terrorizing women—including influencers, classmates, and friends. More than just a warning about the misuse of technology and the toxic online world, the film serves as a tool for Taylor to tell her story and reclaim her identity.
Thematic Highlights: Focus on Content Creators & New Short Film Programs
This year's program focuses on content creation and the people behind it. Self-made porn is currently the most popular genre in the erotic market, and the number of new creators - both performers and producers - is steadily growing. In response, three short film programs will feature self-produced porn, celebrating the art and diversity of independently created erotic filmmaking. Additionally, a panel discussion will be held, featuring several content creators who will provide insights into their work processes. Afterward, the audience will have the opportunity to meet the guests. More details about the panel and the guests will be announced soon.
The audience can also look forward to new formats within the short film series: Confessionals, Future Visions, Hetero (for the very first time!), Liberated Desires, Porn Starter Kit, and XXXX HardCore.
Well-known short film programs such as the Competition Porn Shorts, Gay Porn Shorts, Queer Porn Shorts, BDSM Porn Shorts and Fun Porn Shorts will also be shown in 2024. In addition, there will be shorts programs on Body Politics, Lesbian Drama, Fetish, Art & Experimental and more.
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Retrospective on San Francisco as the Center of Sexual Liberation
With San Francisco Sexual Babylon, this year's retrospective celebrates the San Francisco Bay Area as the epicenter of sexual liberation in the postwar period and as a mecca for sexually explicit expression in avant-garde films and performances. In sexual education and pornography, San Francisco has long been a place where new social and sexual possibilities were not only conceived but boldly explored. The Bay Area is also a unique place in the Western world where sexual radicalism could challenge gender separatism, as gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers often worked within the same ecosystem and influenced each other. Fixed identities receded in favor of polymorphous pleasure and libidinous solidarity. In six programs, comprising feature-length and short films, the history of sex in film and video from San Francisco will be revisited, and the ongoing vitality of independent lesbian/queer/trans porn production in the region will be honored. This tradition is based on the belief that porn can liberate, educate, and provide pleasure.
Guest-curated by Jon Davies (a curator and author from Montreal, Canada) and invited by Jürgen Brüning (producer and founder of the PFFB) for the Pornfilmfestival Berlin.
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3rd Networking Event AIO - Adult Industry Only
As part of the festival, AIO (Adult Industry Only) will take place for the third time on Oct. 22 & 23, 2024. The B2B networking event for the porn industry bridges the gap between the alternative and mainstream scene and covers topics around ethical industry standards, production and political goals. The event is sponsored by Clips4Sale.
Additional confirmed highlights from the 2024 supporting program
PFFB Party: Saturday, 26-10-2024 from 22:00 at Ritter Butzke (Ritterstr. 24-27)
PFFB Award Ceremony: Sunday, 27-10-2024 from 23:00 at Monarch (Skalitzer Str. 134).
The full program will be published online on October 1, 2024 along with the start of ticket pre-sales. For more information about this year's festival, feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (@pff_berlin, @pff_berlin2) and of course on our website: pornfilmfestivalberlin.de.
The Pornfilmfestival Berlin would like to thank its sponsors Ersties, Erotic.com, Dorcel, Lusteryand Clips4Sale for their support.
About the festival
The Pornfilmfestival Berlin is an independent, non-commercial, non-publicly funded film festival centered around the topics of sexuality, politics, feminism, gender diversity, post porn and body politics. Founded in 2006, the festival is the first of its kind in Germany.
The festival program includes an average of 25 to 30 feature-length films as well as around 100 short films, which engage with questions of sexual ethics, identities, body norms, conceptions of morality around the world and the artistic-alternative approach to the genre of pornography, in a wide variety of thematic program blocks. The average annual audience of 8000 visitors – slightly more than half of which are female – identify as a mix of hetero-, homo-, bi-, trans*, non-binary and queer and, with almost 50 percent of the visitors from all over the world, is incredibly international. Additionally, the film festival includes panel discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, performances, and presentations around the topic of sexuality today. The numerous festivals with a similar focus that have emerged in various cities and countries after the founding of PFF Berlin prove that a discourse on an empowering approach to sexuality and sex work is still relevant and that networking, not just for the community, is important.
The festival was founded by filmmaker and producer Jürgen Brüning. Today, it is organized on a voluntary basis in Berlin by a dedicated international team of six people, consisting of filmmakers, film theorists, film producers and journalists, and takes place in the last week of October in Germany’s oldest cinema, Moviemento, in Berlin-Kreuzberg as well as Babylon Kreuzberg.
More information: pornfilmfestivalberlin.de
The accreditation portal for press is open from 15.08.24 on the festival website.
For interview requests, selected viewing links and accreditation requests feel free to contact:
Kai Hermann
presse@pornfilmfestivalberlin.de / +49 152 534 509 55
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IMAGE CREDITS
Cover: Her Body - A True Porn Story by Natálie Císařovská (© Cineart TV)
fig. 1: Queen of the Deuce by Valerie Kontakos (© Exile Films & Storyline Entertainment Inc. & ERT S.A.)
fig. 2: 2551.02 - The Orgy of the Damned by Norbert Pfaffenbichler (© sixpackfilm)
fig. 3: Another Body by Sophie Compton und Reuben Hamlyn (© Another Body Ldt.)
fig. 4: Luminous Procuress by Steven Arnold (1971) (© All rights reserved)
