Can you tell us a little about your background and how you ended up involved in filmmaking?
I actually wanted to be an actor and spent a lot of my youth doing musicals, but my ever practical mother said that only 5% of actors ever make a full time living so maybe I needed to have a back up plan!
When I finished high school, I did a year of photography but then soon realized that my ideas worked better in motion so went off and studied Media Arts at RMIT in Melbourne.
You run Poison Apple Productions, your own filmmaking company. How would you describe your films for this brand?When I finished high school, I did a year of photography but then soon realized that my ideas worked better in motion so went off and studied Media Arts at RMIT in Melbourne.
Poison Apple Productions’ main focus is to create erotic, sensual films for a demographic of females and couples, films with a truly Australian flavour that can also translate to the global market. However, I also make highly arresting documentaries and fictional films.
Working on principles of low budget filmmaking that produces high quality niche products, that can be accessed and enjoyed by all.
Our films explore and push the boundaries, making our products stand out in the market place.
The Band - the movie that you directed and wrote in 2009- won the award for Hottest Feature Film at the Feminist Porn Awards in 2010 and was screened at Cannes Film Market. Can you give us an overview of the movie?
The Band is an explicit film set in the Melbourne rock scene. The script came out of stories I collected while working in a rock bar in Melbourne.
Most of the films I made prior to The Band, have been about sex, sexuality and the female gaze, but the main reason I wanted to make an explicit film was more reactionary to the mainstream porn/erotic films that were available. Firstly, the film needed to explore female fantasies and sexual responses and provide a sex positive environment where sex and sexuality in all its shapes and forms was celebrated and embraced, rather than this monoculture that is often served up to us in mainstream pornography.
I also wanted The Band to have a storyline and to break the formulaic visual language that is used to depict explicit sex on screen. So that sex was natural and flowed and was not dictated by particular camera angles or positions. This was also coupled with the humour making sex fun and funny. While promoting safe sex and a diversity of body types.
You also directed your first documentary Making it Handmade! What is the idea behind it?
Making it Handmade looks at 4 Melbourne women who are using traditional crafting techniques but subverting them and the rise of indie craft.
Our films explore and push the boundaries, making our products stand out in the market place.
The Band - the movie that you directed and wrote in 2009- won the award for Hottest Feature Film at the Feminist Porn Awards in 2010 and was screened at Cannes Film Market. Can you give us an overview of the movie?
The Band is an explicit film set in the Melbourne rock scene. The script came out of stories I collected while working in a rock bar in Melbourne.
Most of the films I made prior to The Band, have been about sex, sexuality and the female gaze, but the main reason I wanted to make an explicit film was more reactionary to the mainstream porn/erotic films that were available. Firstly, the film needed to explore female fantasies and sexual responses and provide a sex positive environment where sex and sexuality in all its shapes and forms was celebrated and embraced, rather than this monoculture that is often served up to us in mainstream pornography.
I also wanted The Band to have a storyline and to break the formulaic visual language that is used to depict explicit sex on screen. So that sex was natural and flowed and was not dictated by particular camera angles or positions. This was also coupled with the humour making sex fun and funny. While promoting safe sex and a diversity of body types.
You also directed your first documentary Making it Handmade! What is the idea behind it?
Making it Handmade looks at 4 Melbourne women who are using traditional crafting techniques but subverting them and the rise of indie craft.
I’ve always been into craft and throughout my life I have either sewed unique creations for myself or knitted up a storm. In my twenties, my passion for knitting waned, but I picked it up again in my thirties, inspired by the “stitch n bitch’ movement, that was modernising knitting (and also to try and stop smoking by doing something else with my hands when I went out drinking!)
However, I remained oblivious to the growing online indie craft movement, until one day, trying to fill in time I typed “knitting patterns” into Google and came upon a selection of knitted burlesque outfits by a woman from Kansas, whose designs would excite any wool fetishist! Links and links later, I found an amazing group of women in the US who were making the kind of craft I only dreamed about, edgy, modern, sexy and cool.
I obsessively started to read blogs and got swept up in this exciting craft revival. In particular I was drawn to the work of people who were using traditional craft techniques but subverted them in some way. The more I researched, the more I realised this new movement wasn’t just restricted to the US but was proliferating across the world! I started to come across some amazing women who were making things right here in my own hometown, Melbourne.
Discovering the Kaotic Kraft Kuties through an online social networking page I boldly turned up to one of their gatherings knowing no one and became a part of this culture! Scary but liberating, I was hooked! So began my search to find other women who were pushing the boundaries of craft.
Ever the filmmaker, I felt driven to begin documenting what was happening. All of the subjects I met online and often hadn’t met them before I came to interview them. I wanted to highlight how this movement, creates communities both online and in the flesh. I wanted to show that craft was no longer daggy but had moved into a new era and was being reclaimed by women who had been brought up as feminists!
Feminism as a concept can be wrongly stereotyped. Do you think there is a set of rules about how feminist eroticism or porn should be made? I mean, is there any line that if you cross it, it stops being labeled as “feminist” and becomes just plain porn?
This is an issue of great debate at the moment as the genre or sub genre of feminist porn grows. I think one of the things that is amazing and inspiring about this subgenre is the diversity within it. There is no one idea of how sex and sexuality should be represented. One of the main things that keeps coming up is the ethical treatment of performers, the focus on women’s fantasies be they bi, lesbian, straight or a fluid mix. Also it is about promoting sex and especially sex for women as being a positive experience and not something to be ashamed of.
Discovering the Kaotic Kraft Kuties through an online social networking page I boldly turned up to one of their gatherings knowing no one and became a part of this culture! Scary but liberating, I was hooked! So began my search to find other women who were pushing the boundaries of craft.
Ever the filmmaker, I felt driven to begin documenting what was happening. All of the subjects I met online and often hadn’t met them before I came to interview them. I wanted to highlight how this movement, creates communities both online and in the flesh. I wanted to show that craft was no longer daggy but had moved into a new era and was being reclaimed by women who had been brought up as feminists!
Feminism as a concept can be wrongly stereotyped. Do you think there is a set of rules about how feminist eroticism or porn should be made? I mean, is there any line that if you cross it, it stops being labeled as “feminist” and becomes just plain porn?
This is an issue of great debate at the moment as the genre or sub genre of feminist porn grows. I think one of the things that is amazing and inspiring about this subgenre is the diversity within it. There is no one idea of how sex and sexuality should be represented. One of the main things that keeps coming up is the ethical treatment of performers, the focus on women’s fantasies be they bi, lesbian, straight or a fluid mix. Also it is about promoting sex and especially sex for women as being a positive experience and not something to be ashamed of.
However, there is a lot of product out there promoting itself as “female friendly “ but it's just a marketing tool and isn’t any different to mainstream heteronormative porn.
What’s the most innovative or groundbreaking feminist act or artistic expression (art, book, movie) that you have ever come across? Something that has really inspired you.
Wow this is such a big question! There are so many things that inspire me! I guess one of the films that really inspired me was “Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” by Pedro Almodovar. I watched it for the first time when I was in living in Chile as an exchange student. My Spanish was very limited so I had to watch it several times to understand it all but I loved it! Even though Almodovar is a man I think he makes films with such strong female characters. Also his use of bright colors has been a huge influence on me.
What’s the most innovative or groundbreaking feminist act or artistic expression (art, book, movie) that you have ever come across? Something that has really inspired you.
Wow this is such a big question! There are so many things that inspire me! I guess one of the films that really inspired me was “Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios” by Pedro Almodovar. I watched it for the first time when I was in living in Chile as an exchange student. My Spanish was very limited so I had to watch it several times to understand it all but I loved it! Even though Almodovar is a man I think he makes films with such strong female characters. Also his use of bright colors has been a huge influence on me.
French filmmaker Clarie Denis’s films have also inspired and influenced me, especially Beau Travail.
Another filmmaker who has inspired me is Candida Royalle. I came across Candida Royalle, who I think should be dubbed the Grandmother of Feminist Erotic, when I was a teenager and then contacted her when I wanted to make explicit films. She has been a great support and I was overjoyed to meet her in Berlin in 2009 and also interview her for my next documentary, “Doing it Her Way” which is about feminist pornographers.
You are also known for being an activist and a lecturer. Can you tell us a little about your experiences in those fields?
It's funny you call me an activist, as my politics is just part of who I am. Growing up my mum taught me about feminism and how women could do anything and my dad taught me about social justice and the importance of free education and health care for all.
However, politics has always influenced my work and crept into it. I also feel particularly as an erotic filmmaker that you should promote safe sex and a positive attitude towards sexuality, especially for women.
I’ve been lecturing now on and off for about eight years. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills and of course learning new things from my students too. Also it’s a job that gives me a great amount of flexibility so that I can also continue to make films.
Music is a key element in your films. Do you think there is a specific kind of genre or band that could be considered perfect for erotic films? A sort of “infallible arousal music”.
I don’t think I particularly look out to use music in my films that is particularly erotic. Instead, I look at what would work well with the stories and the characters. If the truth be known anything with a beat and a rhythm is great to have sex to, it just depends on what type of sex you want!!!
My next erotic film “Screwed in Suburbia” I’m hoping will feature a Metal soundtrack. So make up your own mind what the sex will be like!! Hee hee
Is there any book that you have read and thought: “I wish I could adapt it into a movie”?
There is a book I love called “Taming the Beast” by an Australian author Emily Macguire. I read it years ago and would love to make it into a movie. It’s very dark and explores the depths of destruction that love can take you to. As it deals with some very taboo subjects, I don’t think it could be an explicit film and I think would be very difficult to find someone willing to finance such a dark, edgy film! But I would still love to try!
You are also known for being an activist and a lecturer. Can you tell us a little about your experiences in those fields?
It's funny you call me an activist, as my politics is just part of who I am. Growing up my mum taught me about feminism and how women could do anything and my dad taught me about social justice and the importance of free education and health care for all.
However, politics has always influenced my work and crept into it. I also feel particularly as an erotic filmmaker that you should promote safe sex and a positive attitude towards sexuality, especially for women.
I’ve been lecturing now on and off for about eight years. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills and of course learning new things from my students too. Also it’s a job that gives me a great amount of flexibility so that I can also continue to make films.
Music is a key element in your films. Do you think there is a specific kind of genre or band that could be considered perfect for erotic films? A sort of “infallible arousal music”.
I don’t think I particularly look out to use music in my films that is particularly erotic. Instead, I look at what would work well with the stories and the characters. If the truth be known anything with a beat and a rhythm is great to have sex to, it just depends on what type of sex you want!!!
My next erotic film “Screwed in Suburbia” I’m hoping will feature a Metal soundtrack. So make up your own mind what the sex will be like!! Hee hee
Is there any book that you have read and thought: “I wish I could adapt it into a movie”?
There is a book I love called “Taming the Beast” by an Australian author Emily Macguire. I read it years ago and would love to make it into a movie. It’s very dark and explores the depths of destruction that love can take you to. As it deals with some very taboo subjects, I don’t think it could be an explicit film and I think would be very difficult to find someone willing to finance such a dark, edgy film! But I would still love to try!
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