Petra Joy

Petra Joy (born 1964) is a German feminist film director, film producer, TV producer, distributor, author, and photographer. She lives in Brighton, England. Along with Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Maria Beatty, and others, she is one of the pioneers in producing pornography for women.[1] Her genre is described as "art-core," meaning the focus is on sexuality from the female perspective, female pleasure, and creative, sensual play.[2] Common themes in her erotic films include safe sex, men seen as sexual objects, female fantasies, and male bisexuality.

Petra Joy
Born1964 (age 58–59)
Kempten, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, TV producer, distributor, author, and photographer.
Known forOne of the pioneers in producing pornography for women
Notable workThe Joy of Porn: My Life as Feminist Pornographer, Feeling it, not faking it!, Female Fantasies

Background

Joy holds a master's degree in Film History from the University of Cologne. In 1990, she wrote her thesis on the representation of female sexuality in Nazi films.[3] After graduation, she moved to England, where she worked for 10 years as a freelance producer and director for German television. Joy has directed and produced over 70 documentaries for international TV stations such as Channel 4, National Geographic, and WDR. Since 1990, the main focus of her work has been lifestyle and sexuality. A recurring topic was sexuality from a female perspective. Starting in 1992, she produced segments for “Liebe Sünde”, a programme about sex airing on the German satellite station Vox/Pro7.

In 2003, Joy launched Strawberry Seductress, an intimate and creative erotic photo service for women and couples and film production company.[4] In 2004, Joy filmed Sexual Sushi, her first alternative pornographic film for women. HarperCollins published her book How to Make Your Own Adult Video: The Couple’s Guide to Making Sensual Home Movies in 2006. She then shot Female Fantasies and Feeling it, not faking it!. In 2009, Joy established the Petra Joy Award, an international erotic film competition for first-time female directors. She runs “how to make your own creative porn” workshops and speaks on the subject of women and pornography across Europe. Joy curates and produces a feminist porn series called Her Porn and has shot a documentary called The Joy of Porn: My Life as a Feminist Pornographer.

Erotic Film Production

Joy started producing and directing erotic films in 2004 with the aim to show a more accurate reflection of female sexuality than mainstream porn filmmakers. She works exclusively with amateur performers, with the intention of capturing real chemistry, always shows safe sex, and has a policy never to show acts that can be perceived as being degrading to women. In contrast to mainstream porn that often focuses on shots of genitalia, Joy focused on the faces of the performers. Authentic sex scenes, men as sex objects, elaborate costumes, and taboo themes such as females penetrating males, and male bisexuality often feature in her films.

Of her first erotic film, Sexual Sushi, one reviewer wrote, “Petra has achieved her aim of creating an antidote to ‘porn junk food’”.[5]

She describes her inspiration as follows:

“... [C]ommercially successful porn does nothing for me: I want porn that stimulates the mind and feeds the soul. I want porn that is educational and inspirational. I want porn that is creative and kinky. And because I cannot find it anywhere, I make my own. I am a visual creature and enjoy expressing myself through photos and films that are very different from mainstream glamour photography and porn films.”[4]

In 2009, she curated and produced the first installment of the Her Porn series with the aim of showing a variety of female erotic visions. Her Porn 2 is to be released in April 2010. She also acts as a distributor for other female directors.

Her films have been shown at New York City’s Cinekink festival, the pornfilmfest Berlin, and at the British Film Institute.

The Petra Joy Award

The Petra Joy Awards were founded by Petra Joy in October 2009 to encourage first-time erotic female filmmakers and to help the genre of porn from a female perspective thrive. Sponsored by German personal lubricant manufacturer "pjur", the inaugural theme was “What is erotic to you?”.[6] Submissions came from Australia, America, the Netherlands, England, Spain and Austria. The winning films premiered at the Movimento cinema in Berlin during Berlin's pornfilmfest.[7] In addition to cash prizes, the winning films were included on the first volume of Joy's compilation of erotic female filmmakers Her Porn.

2009 Winners:[8]

  • First Prize - Louise Lush, “That’s What I Like”
  • Second Prize - Lola Clavo, “La Lucha”
  • Third Prize - Linsey Satterthwaite, “I Like It When”
  • Special Jury Award - Cora Emens, “Cora’s Memoirs—The Rose”

Professional honours and awards

Partial filmography

As director and producer
  • The Joy of Porn: My Life as Feminist Pornographer (Documentary, 2009)
  • Feeling it, not faking it! (Erotic Film, 2008)
  • Female Fantasies (Erotic Film, 2006)
  • Sexual Sushi (Erotic Film, 2004)

As curator and producer
  • Her Porn, Volume 1 (International Feminist Porn Compilation, 2010)
  • Her Porn, Volume 2 (International Feminist Porn Compilation, 2009)

As distributor
  • Dirty Diaries (Swedish Feminist Porn Compilation, 2009)
  • Free Love (Dir: Marianna Beck, USA, 2009)

References
  1. Taormino, Tristan (July 26, 2013). "Petra Joy on Art-Core Films and Sex From a Female Perspective". Podcast: Sex Out Loud with Tristan Taormino. Voice America Radio. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  2. Taormino, Tristan (July 26, 2013). "Petra Joy on Art-Core Films and Sex from a Female Perspective". Voice America. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  3. Rundschau, Frankfurter. "Interview mit Petra Joy im Wortlaut: "Sex und Porno sind politisch"". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  4. Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Archived May 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Joy, Petra (2009). "The Joy Awards 2009, Main page". Joyawards.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  7. Joy, Petra (2009). "The Joy Awards 2009, Awards Ceremony 2009". Joyawards.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  8. "AVN - Winners of Inaugural Petra Joy Awards Announced". Business.avn.com. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  9. Archived August 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival (2007)". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  11. "Winners of the 2007 FICEB Ninfa Awards" Archived 2016-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, h.b., October 10, 2007, xstarsnews.com. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  12. "UKAFTA". ukafta.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  13. "e-m-s mit 3 Halunken und 2012 Doku auf DVD". German-adult-news.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  14. "AVN - Exclusive: Complete 2008 eLINE Award Winners from Venus Berlin". Business.avn.com. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  15. Archived July 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. "PorYes-Award". Poryes.de. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
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