Adult Film and Ethical Porn Festivals
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The list of adult film festivals below includes popular alternative or indie adult entertainment studios. We’ll keep them on our radar as we await announcements of their next festival dates.
Our goal at SexForEveryBody.com is to share and expand discussion on the concept of “ethical porn.” We also appreciate adult cinema that artfully represents diverse forms of human sexual expression and sheds light on the politics of sex and love.
In researching the alternative pornography genre and the relatively new category of “ethical porn,” we’ve come across various adult film festivals.
2023 adult film festivals
SanFrancisco PornFilmFestival
The 2023 San Francisco PornFilmFestival returns in August! Tickets are available to purchase at BoldTypeTickets.
As in previous years, the hybrid festival will feature live broadcasts of screenings held at The Brava Theater in San Francisco on Aug. 18 and 19, 2023. Virtual programming will also run from August 16 to 27, 2023, via PinkLabel TV.
The SF porn film festival is often referred to as the US version of the popular Pornfilmfestival Berlin.
In 2020, the San Francisco PornFilmFestival launched as an online-only event due to the pandemic. But in 2021 and 2022, the adult film festival went hybrid, offering virtual events and on-demand virtual screenings, along with in-person film screenings at the Brava Theater in San Francisco.
Related Read: SF PornFilmFestival Kicks Off Annual Fundraiser and Ticket Pre-sales
The 2022 adult films festival was a blast—I attended virtually and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the vintage erotic classics from the 1970s and 1990s. There were also many great current erotic films featured.
Although over, you can still select films from the adult festival that are licensed online at PinkLabel.TV under “Best of San Francisco PornFilmFestival.”
Hump! Film Festival 2023
First launched in 2005, the adult cinema event HUMP! is organized by well-known sex columnist and podcaster Dan Savage.
Savage is perhaps best known for his syndicated relationship and sex advice column “Savage Love,” which has been published in newspapers and websites throughout the United States and Canada since 1991
The 2023 tour launched in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco in February and March. The tour picks up again in September, making stops in various US cities as well as Victoria, BC, Canada.
Related Read: Adult Expo and Porn Convention Listing
Pornfilmfestival Berlin
Pornfilmfestival Berlin is an adult film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. It will celebrate its 18th year from October 24 to 29, 2023.
Pornfilmfestival Berlin is described as “an alternative, independent film festival that focuses on sexuality, politics, feminism and gender issues,”
It offers a platform for filmmakers and performers to share their work with a wider audience, and to encourage discussion and critical analysis of the adult film industry.
Pornfilmfestival Berlin is also much more than a porn festival. In addition to film screenings, visitors can also attend panel discussions, workshops, performances, and exhibitions. A workshop from the 2022 adult film festival called “Consent Practices for All Bodies” was run by Harvey Rabbit.
Program details are available online in English and German.
Related Read: Sex Tech Conferences Listing
Past adult film festivals
HotBits
The Hot BitsFilm Festival is an adult film festival that celebrates queer porn. The queer porn film fest showcases erotic works created by and featuring Black, Indigenous, and other Peoples of Color (BIPoC).
It will take place in Baltimore on May 19 and 20, 2023, and in Philadelphia on June 6 to 14, 2023.
The HotBits adult film festival highlights diverse bodies and subjects often considered taboo. The organizing committee says it invites films that feature “varied approaches and interpretations of the terms ‘queer’ and ‘porn.'”
“We are especially excited to receive submissions created by and featuring folks who are two-spirit, intersex, fat, disabled, elders, hairy, have scars, STI’s, and films that disrupt what is fed to us as mainstream desire and moves beyond/problematizes what is considered ‘sexy’ or ‘normal.'”
Porn Film Festival Vienna
Since 2018, Austria’s capital city has hosted Porn Film Festival Vienna, which explores “sexuality, politics, feminism and gender issues through the pornographic lens.”
The 2023 Porn Film Festival in Vienna took place from April 12 to 16, 2023. Dates for the 2024 event are yet to be announced.
The adult festival committee seeks films that feature a glamorous diversity of bodies and genders and give insight into topics such as bold intimacy, sexual liberation, sexual activism, and sex work.
The Athens Porn Film Festival
The Athens Porn Film Festival was held in June 2023 for the first time as both a virtual and in-person event. People able to travel to the capital city attended in person while an online version of the adult film festival was made possible thanks to support from PinkLabel TV.
Dates for the 2024 Vienna adult film festival are not yet announced.
In 2022, Greece’s capital city hosted The Athens Porn Film Festival for the first time. During the four-day adult film festival, attendees could watch more than 90 short and feature films.
The 2022 adult film festival program showcased film selections from over 12 programs at the Romantso in Athens:
- Opening Film: Irving Park
- Short Section Lovers-Heteroflexible
- Short Section Political
- Short Section Fun – Fun
- Prometheus Short Section – BDSM
- The Female Gaze Party with Strap-On Unicorns
- Lysistrate-Feminist Short Section
- Ganymede-Gay Short Section
- Short Sappho -Lesbian
- Teiresias and Pegasus Short SectionDay Ticket 16/10 – Bios Romance
- Program Greek
- End Movie: CAPTIVE by Anoushka
Toronto Queer Film Festival
Toronto Queer Film Festival (TQFF) returned after a hiatus in March and April 23, 2023, with the theme “Queer Wonderland.”
While it is not an adult film festival, the Toronto Queer Film Festival does celebrate and explore LGBTQ+ sexuality. In 2022, it hosted the explicit program Porn Is So Boring from PinkLabel TV. It was comprised of five shorts that examine “new approaches to the erotic and create inclusive environments for people not typically represented in the porn industry.”
The Toronto International Porn Film Festival
Produced by the now-shuttered adult store Good For Her, The Toronto International Porn Film Festival showcased erotic pornography at 2017 and 2018 events.
For ten years, the adult film festival in Toronto ran under the name The Feminist Porn Awards until rebranding in 2017. The new name is explained on the Toronto International Porn Film Festival website:
“As a response to the growth and popularity of independent and progressive erotic films, the former Feminist Porn Awards have now been rebranded, to broaden the conversation about positive porn and reflect the diverse audience it attracts. These films are for people of all genders, sexualities, bodies and pleasures.
In order to be considered for the adult film festival, film productions must comply with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee’s Model Bill of Rights.
Related Read: What is female-friendly porn?
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