This is a bit of a different review than normal. In October 2024, Swedish feminist porn director Erika Lust (see my previous review of her film, The Wedding) held a UK tour of Brighton, Edinburgh and London. I follow Erika on Eventbrite, and received notifications about the Brighton and Edinburgh events. Not knowing there'd be one in London, I started making plans for Brighton, until I discovered a listing on the website of London's Rio cinema.
On the night of the 17th, as I made my way to Dalston, I wondered what the event would entail. Seeing porn at a cinema is such an alien concept in this day and age. I've been to an adult cinema in Japan, but they just showed softcore films. The closest thing I've been to in the UK is a screening of In the Realm of the Senses. I considered that maybe they'd cut out the hardcore bits. Fortunately, I was wrong.
I approached the Rio and saw a large billboard for the event, boasting that it be "real, hot and unfiltered". The juxtaposition of the word "unfiltered" with the word "c*m" seemed a bit ironic, but it was really cool to see such a prominent sign for the event. Posters for the event were also displayed on the cinema's exterior. I took some photos, and noticed others were, too. I soon realised there was a queue extending outside the building. I swiftly joined it, and it wasn't long before the queue was gradually making its way inside, where it was absolutely heaving.
I was ushered up some stairs and found myself in the gallery, i.e. the upstairs seating area. I didn't remember there being an upstairs or downstairs option when I was selecting my seat, but I did manage to find a seat corresponding to the number on my ticket. However, it was already occupied.
Turns out they had basically scrapped the allocated seating system. Every five minutes or so, someone would shout out that audience members should just sit at any available seat. Unfortunately, it was difficult to hear him, so there was a bit of arguing over seats. I told one confused-looking person about the new seating arrangements, but they didn't believe me. Oh well, you can but try.
Eventually, everyone made it into a seat if not their seat, and the lights dimmed. It was a full house, and the audience erupted into applause as Erika herself took to the stage. She briefly introduced herself, her career and her approach to film-making, before asking us to enjoy the screening.
We saw a trailer for the somewhat kinky Madame Oh's Shoeroom before presentations of some of the short films Erika had released over the past year. These included:
- A Man of Faith, in which a woman confesses her desires for the priest to himself
- Siren Song, a depiction of a couple having sex at the bottom of the ocean
- Rain Goddess, about a woman who escapes the dreary London weather (something which got a chuckle from the audience), but who instead made it rain indoors
- A Love Letter to All Those Men, a visual poem about the various men in the speaker's past relationships
- Sex Toy Story
- Dirty Martini Sex Party
There were also some trailers for other Erika Lust films, including a sneak peek at Kazumi's Party, which was to be released a few days later.
Throughout the screening, the audience would laugh at funny moments, or cheer at a cumshot. The audience participation really added to the unique experience.
At the end was a Q&A with Erika Lust, Heidi Priestess and Eva Oh. Unfortunately there wasn't much time for questions as the venue needed to be cleared for another screening, but there were some interesting insights such as Heidi Priestess talking about how she views herself as being a performance artist and Eva Oh describing how she was surprised to get so much creative control in Erika Lust's films. Lust herself expressed delight at being able to bring people together with an in-person screening.
This was a unique opportunity to watch uncensored porn films on the big screen together with hundreds of others. It's a shame there were some issues in terms of how it was organised (I was particularly annoyed when we were told to get a leaflet which had a QR code to watch Erika Lust's films for free, but when we left, we were ushered out onto the street and weren't allowed back into the venue to pick up a leaflet). Still, I hope there'll be more screenings like this in the UK in future.
★★★★☆ 4/5