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The UK’s best-known and most successful female director of pornographic fi lms lives in Groombridge. She stood (under her real name, Anna Arrowsmith) as candidate for the Lib Dems in the 2010 general election, and is currently studying for a PhD in gender studies at Sussex University. Sasa Jankovic talks to her
You wrote your dissertation on ‘Towards a new pornography’ in 1997. What gave you the idea? I’ve always liked sex and sexual imagery but never actively sought it out – after all, this was in the days before the internet so porn wasn’t as easily accessible. I was also a strong feminist from childhood and when I went to study at St Martin’s College, it was with a view to making feminist fi lms, but I didn’t know what sort. It was then that I realised that there was an absence of pornography that suited women and I felt that needed addressing. In 1998 I tried to remake the fi lm Brief Encounter from the point of view of sex not being this big guilty secret, and funded it all on my credit card. I spent almost the next year doing odd jobs all over the place for family and friends as I tried to pay that off. In 1999 I was taken on at the adult channel Television X and, after I’d told them some of my ideas, they gave me a couple of scenes to direct. This spurred me on to make my fi rst two proper fi lms, and then I really had to get out there and represent myself to the big production companies.
Where do you fi lm? In exotic locations? I’m an English girl at heart, and I want my fi lms to portray the British aesthetic when it comes to porn, so I fi lm here.
In her bestselling book on contemporary feminism, How to be a Woman, Caitlin Moran argues that the world would be a better place if more women were involved in making pornography. I’m guessing you’d agree with that?
Of course! And I like to think I have opened up the industry to make it more accessible for women to get involved and have a say in how they want these kinds of fi lms to be made. I’ve even set up my own label – Women Love Porn – to support the work of other female directors.
Would you say the industry has changed discernibly in the years since you started? I think it has, but not in the way you might expect. The misogynistic porn has got even more misogynistic, but the mainstream stuff has got more female-empowered. I think adult shops are less seedy and scary now than they used to be, and more approachable for women.
Why did you stand as the LibDem candidate for Gravesham at the 2010 general election? I’ve always been a very political person, leaning towards Liberal politics and taking part in lots of
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lectures and debates on women’s rights and equality. In fact, I’ve always had a desire to be an MP, but I don’t believe it is or should be a young person’s game. It wasn’t until I felt I had enough life experience that I decided to stand, although it is fair to say that I was parachuted into the Gravesham seat because the previous candidate stood down. I did think I could win it, although in the end I came third, but I’m really proud that I managed to increase the LibDem vote by just under 30 per cent from the 2005 count.
So what can politics learn from porn? Politicians are not brave because they want to be seen as proper and keep the voters on side. Porn, on the other hand, is about the refusal to be politically correct or conform to a restrictive life framework. Most people in porn want to create things in the way they want, and are prepared to live with the consequences. An attitude a bit more like that could benefi t politics, I think.
How would describe the British attitude to porn today? I think it’s changing. Remember the uproar when so-called ‘porn baron’ Richard Desmond bought The Express newspaper in 2000? He bought Channel 5 last year and there was barely a whisper. I think the internet has had a lot to do with this - porn is more accessible and less ‘secretive’ these days.
What’s the best thing about porn? In my view, porn democratises the body. You may not know this, but 50 per cent of all porn productions are made by amateurs, which means you’ll see all kinds of body shapes and sizes on display. Unlike the fashion industry, which pushes the idea that there is only one – tiny – body type that is attractive and acceptable, porn can show you that people fi nd all kinds of bodies appealing. I always say to women, think about the thing you dislike most about your own body, then type it into Google with the word ‘porn’ after it, and you’ll fi nd hundreds of sites dedicated to whatever it is, which means that there are thousands of people out there who consider it to be attractive.
Do your neighbours know what you do? Yes, I’m really open about what I do as I’m proud of it, so I’m pretty sure that everyone knows.
What’s next for you?
Eventually I’m going to write up my PhD as a book, and keep fi lming, and if I can fi nd a winnable seat I’ll defi nitely stand for the LibDems again. I think I’ve contributed a lot to the democratisation of porn, and I’d like to do the same in politics.
www.indexmagazine.co.uk
Anna Span
*Very Interesting Person
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