More than 500 people attended the film festival organized by the Self Serve Sexuality Resource Center. Titles such as “Lesbians of Enchantment,” “Fistbump,” “Putting the Sex Back into Sex Education” and “Bike Porn,” among others, filled the Pornotopia itinerary.
However, the shows weren’t just about sex, said Matie Fricker, co-owner and co-founder of Self Serve.
“The objective of Pornotopia is to showcase sexuality that is real and people who are actually enjoying themselves,” she said. “We rarely get to see genuine experiences of human pleasure. Both mainstream porn and mainstream Hollywood often get that wrong.”
Pornotopia brings the community together for the pleasure of sex, an aspect that she said is her favorite. Also, the festival aims to create a sex-positive community in Albuquerque.
Most of the messages received through media are not founded on the idea that sex is good, she said. There are many negative connotations that come with having sex that will lead to bad consequences such as sexual transmitted diseases or pregnancy.
“Sex-positivity is a reframing of that attitude and asks for there to be a shift,” Fricker said. “Instead of saying ‘what is the worst thing that could happen?’ let’s focus on that, it is saying ‘actually, sex is pretty awesome.’”
Each of the shows focused on the importance of consent as well as genuine pleasure, she said.
The Rev. Phil Sano, founder for Bike Smut and director of the Bike Porn event at Pornotopia, said consent is an important part of pleasure.
The films also focused on trigger warnings that warn viewers of the content in effort to please everyone, he said. Some had scenes with fisting or pee play, which can cause a heightened sense of arousal for some but not for others.
“Almost anything could be triggering because we all come from different backgrounds,” Sano said. “It would put you back in a place you don’t want to be, and that probably wasn’t the intention of the film makers.”
However, a lot of people get off on being put in an uncomfortable situation, he said. Sano added he strived to be supportive of people at the event and not make them feel that he was being inconsiderate.
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The content notes and trigger warnings help make the experience a more positive one and more welcoming to everyone, he said. Sano said he is happy to work with Self Serve in making this a big part, as well as consent, of the films.
“The film festival helps encourage people to learn how to do it in a better way,” he said. “We are trying to make consent an active part of the festival.”
Fricker said Pornotopia hosts shows that attempt to please everyone. This year they held a single night dedicated to fisting, titled Fistbump, and a night about having pleasurable, desirable sex, titled Putting Sex Back into Sex Education.
“Every Pornotopia is special. We have had some really popular sessions so far where we have had 100 plus people,” she said. “The least-attended session we have had so far was Fistbump. It is a celebration of fisting which is an exiled sex act.”
Fricker said they were very intentional in the choice of shows while also adding an educational aspect it in.
The Bike Porn festival brought out the “bikesexuals,” or people who love bikes and sex, for the pleasure of seeing both, Sano said.
Jett Bullock, a retail associate at Guerilla Graphics said she won tickets to the event and decided it was worth going to because she enjoys working on bikes.
Bullock said she attended two nights of the Pornotopia and thought it was fun and exciting.
“It supports sex positive spaces and de-stigmatizes sex and body, and bikes,” she said.
Moriah Carty is the assistant culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted by email at cultureassistant@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MoriahCarty.
