Sexy International Paris Film Festival 2010: First Impressions

After wandering through the town hall and finally finding the sexy international Paris Film festival, I am given my press pass in a small yet hospitable room. As I look around I see about 15 people, a long table with some cheap snacks and punch. There are directors, actors, producers and journalists. Much smaller than film festivals I'm used to, the SIPFF is as intimate as its central theme. It's humble size allows for much more mingling, journalist can approach directors and producers, photographers can capture a lot more.

The festival itself was ambiguous: what exactly is it about? Admittedly, I did very little research plus there wasn't a lot of information on the site so I had to just go and find out. After reading all their pamphlets and press kits, I began to understand that they wanted to tackle a bit of everything, there is a section on porn, there is eroticism in cinema, romance in society and so on.


Can you take your mum to the Sexy International Paris Film Festival?

Approaching the SIPFF, it's uncertain just how far they go regarding eroticism and sexuality. So it is reasonable to think that it could be interesting to go with a parent, I mean you're both adults why not? The first day of screenings starts off with several eclectic short films, that deal with desire, loneliness and separation. The ensemble, is quite soft. There are a few sex scenes but they are tastefully cinematic. There was a short break before the second screening which concerned a series of porn films made by women for women. Now this is were the festival goes up a gear as far as intimacy goes. The first film presented an exchange of roles. A couple gets bored of normal sex, so the women decides to dress like a man and vice versa and then they have sex with the roles reversed. All four films were very interesting because they displayed a female perspective, they didn't seem pornographic in the traditional sense, they seemed to convey pure desire. So the first day of screenings proved very interesting and informed me about just how explicit the content would be. Now, onto day two.