Trailblazing female porn director Erika Lust has deconstructed porn filming and consumption in the 21st century, breathing new life into an industry that could benefit from a revision she calls Ethical Adult Cinema. Lust’s porn focuses on women’s pleasure, stepping away from rape culture and the idea of women as objects in porn films, instead making them active and equal participants in sex. Over the years, the innovative approach has also highlighted the importance of treating sex workers/actors with respect, and making film production sets safe places. Lust puts thought into the narrative, making sex purposeful and not just a random act in a nonsensical situation. She explores the conversation of pornography and how it’s approached, while keeping porn hot and alive, generating fantasy and content that expands the imagination of the possibilities of sex. 

Now living and working in Barcelona, Lust talks to us about the industry, her method, female pleasure, working with couples, and the complexities of the recent PornHub decision to erase all user-upload videos, without properly addressing the problem or conversation surrounding their decision. Lust helps to shed light on these issues and the industry at large.

How would you describe your work to new audiences?

My name is Erika Lust and I’m an indie adult filmmaker based in Barcelona. During the years, my Erika Lust Films company became an online and offline hub for daring sex positives creatives from all around the world, who joined me in my mission to change the rules of porn and how we look at pleasure and sex.

With my crowd-sourced project XConfessions, along with a growing community of sex positive adult directors from all over the world, I turn the public’s anonymous fantasies into explicit short films, while my studio Lust Cinema produces plot-driven original series and feature films for lovers of cinema and sex. Else Cinema is the Erika Lust Soft Edition for those looking for a softer erotic experience, and The Store by Erika Lust offers a wide catalog of adult films made by me and other filmmakers around the world with no need of subscription.
We make films but we also strive to educate, inspire, and give space to more and more voices and perspectives on sex, sexuality, and intimacy in my Uncensored Mag, the Lust Zine.
The Porn Conversation is the non-profit organisation that I started together with my husband Pablo and that will be relaunched in 2021, with the aim of giving other parents and educators the tools to help open up the topic of porn and sex to the younger generation. Given the current hectic times, you may want to try my XConfessions App to connect with a partner even if apart from one another and swipe through hundreds of fantasies to try together!

Our upcoming Volume 3 issue’s theme is about sex- whatever the word means or however it is interpreted by the individual. This came about because we realized that a woman’s ability to talk about sex and her own sexual desires are still largely influenced by our patriarchal-based society. This includes the very definition of “sex”, which is still mostly perceived as heterosexual: vaginal penetration with a penis. What is your definition of sex?

Sex is such an infinite, fascinating world; how can we keep on believing it is just that narrow idea that mainstream porn offers about it? Sex is just one aspect of our lives, but it’s an important, sensitive one. That’s why I believe in the importance of creating sex scenarios that are relatable and inspiring to as many people as possible out there, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender expression, or ethnicity. Most of all, sex is not only about genitals, it’s about the whole pleasure experience! That’s what I strive to display in all my movies at XConfessions, Lust Cinema, and Else Cinema. I believe that we need to educate people about the fact that our desire for sex is healthy, and that we should take good care of it. We need to teach young women and men the tools to interact sexually in a respectful and consensual way, to build sexual relationships based on trust and mutual communication.

Feminism taught women that we own our sexual desire and that our sexual desire is for our benefit. Well, men need a mindset change too. Male sexual desire doesn’t exist to conquer as many women as possible. Male sexual desire is something for men to enjoy. The problem is that healthy male sexuality gets distorted through the media into a drive to conquer and possess. 

Heterossexual men who love sex will make sure that the woman they’re having sex with is getting what she wants as well. Men who love sex may suggest a position and open a conversation about it. On the other side, men who have problematic relationships with sex and see it as their moment to possess a woman will assume that the only thing that a woman wants is their dick, or worse, won’t consider what she wants at all. And when they’re done, the sex is done. 

There are more and more resources proliferating out there for female-identifying people to reclaim their right to pleasure, while men seem to be quite disoriented when dealing with the still rooted social pressure that says they should like the ‘grab them by their pussy’ approach to sex.  

I think we should demand more sex toys specifically designed for men, for example. The more men discover sex toys for themselves the more they become aware of their own sensuality, learning different speeds and forms of touch rather than just the same menu they learn from mainstream porn. This would make them better lovers, both for themselves and their partners.

How does your academic background in gender studies and human rights inform your work? 

When I was studying Political Science and Gender Studies at university in Sweden, I came across a book by Linda Williams called ‘Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the “Frenzy of the Visible”‘. It gave me my lightbulb moment and I realised that pornography was part of a discourse on sexuality that express specific ideologies and values on sex and gender. Williams explains that porn wants to be about sex but on closer inspection, it’s always about gender. 

What are your thoughts on the current problems (abuse, promotion of rape culture, health risks) that exist within the commercialized porn industry? What do you think is the solution? 

After an expose on the New York Times called ‘The Children of Pornhub’ and signed by Nicholas Kristof, which investigated the number of rape videos being hosted on the site (including those of minors), Pornhub recently made major changes to how their platform works, including expanded moderation and new guidelines for content uploads. Now, only verified users can upload videos to the platform – a decision which meant the total number of videos hosted on Pornhub were more than quartered overnight from 13.4 million to 2.9 million – and users can no longer download videos from the site. 

The op-ed launched a huge debate within the adult industry over censorship & moderation. People, rightfully so, do not trust Kristof because of his ties to anti-porn organisations and his reputation when it comes to reporting on sex work. In the past he has been accused of conflating sex work with sex trafficking, using misleading statistics, and was instrumental in the shutting down of Backpage, a vital safeguarding tool for sex workers, calling it “the pillar of sex trafficking”. He also quoted Laila Mickelwait in the op-ed, who is an activist and director of Traffickinghub, a campaign launched by Exodus Cry which has anti-sex work, anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion links (it’s founder reportedly compared abortion to the holocaust).

Two days after Pornhub announced their changes, Visa and Mastercard started an investigation and soon announced that their cards would no longer be accepted on the platform. This has left Pornhub with no way to process payments other than with cryptocurrencies. But, the decision from Visa & Mastercard has panicked adult content creators who make their living from paid content on Pornhub. Mastercard & Visa’s decision will not hurt Pornhub, who always have and always will continue to make money off of stolen content. This decision hurts sex workers – the people that Pornhub has never cared for. 

Porn performers, producers and directors have spent years speaking out about the exploitation that Pornhub exists on and the tube site business model which is detrimental to their livelihood, yet no one has listened. If properly implemented by Pornhub, their new regulations could have had a significant impact on illegal and stolen content, which would be a win for adult performers who have no choice but to use the platform. But with the new ban from Mastercard & Visa, they could now be in an even worse position than before. 

This is yet another example, just like SESTA/FOSTA, that shows that when it comes to making changes to the adult industry we must speak to sex workers & have their involvement in policy. Pornhub, Mastercard, & Visa, do not care about the issue of rape videos or of pirated material, these are policies that were brought in under pressure to “do something” out of fear of negative publicity. 

We know that Pornhub does not care about the content it hosts, the people it hurts or the lives it ruins – they have shown us this time and again. 

We need to protect and support the people who will actually be harmed by this. We must remember who have been talking about this for years whilst no one has listened; sex workers. Please go and find performers and indie producers that you want to support and pay them for their work. Whether it’s on Only Fans or through their personal websites, pay & support sex workers & adult content creators.

How did you come up with the ethical adult cinema concept? How did you get your company or concept started? What were some challenges you faced, or things you learned along the way?

Watching my first porn film when I was a teenager, I was feeling conflict in myself. Those videos got me aroused somehow, but at the same time it wasn’t really pleasurable as I felt that something was wrong with them both ethically and regarding the content. I knew that there was so much more to sexuality than what was depicted in those films. I understood that it was made with the sole purpose to arouse, but I didn’t understand why we can’t experience the same visual pleasures we seek in any other type of movies even when watching porn? Why can’t we make porn with beautiful images, interesting locations, and captivating storylines that actually immerse you into a whole context of sensuality and passion?

Back in 2000, I started working in a well-known advertisement company making quick steps forward – from runner to producer – and soon I realised that I loved the atmosphere of a film set. At some point, I felt the need to do my own thing, and what I wanted to do was to shoot an explicit film! I wanted to create something totally different within the genre, a porn film according to my own taste, expressing my values, showing the importance of female pleasure, and with great cinematography.

In 2004, I shot my first erotic film, ‘The Good Girl’, which was a humorous take on the classic pizza delivery boy porn trope. To be honest I can’t really watch it now without cringing at my lack of experience, but it was a start and it changed my life! I uploaded it to the internet and made it available for free download. Next thing I know, it had over 2 million downloads in less than two months! That’s when I realised there were other people out there looking for alternatives to mainstream pornography, and I decided to start making adult films that reflected my taste and values on sex and gender. That’s how Erika Lust was born! 

Before that, when trying to pitch ‘The Good Girl’ to adult content productions, they used to tell me that the film was good but that there was no market for women; women are not interested in buying anything that has to do with sex. You pay women for sex but you don’t do films for them. That made me angry but also motivated me to push even harder and create my own kind of adult content. 

We are used to adult movies made by men, where you have lots of close-up genital shots (a man’s presence is generally represented only by his penis!) and sex is something that is done to women, instead of having them actively participating in it. With my movies, I want to portray hot, realistic sex with a cinematic vision. I want to capture the whole feeling of it – the chemistry between the performers, their bodies touching each other, and the evolution of their sensations during sex. 

I want to confront pornography that focuses on male pleasure and sexual athletics by focusing on the potential and eroticism of human sexuality and relationships. I don’t typecast performers based on their age, race, sexuality, or gender and, when shooting, I allow them to have sex that feels organic and natural to them. I want performers to be focused on each other instead of posing for the camera. I want sex to be real and performers to represent a wider as possible range of human body shapes and identities.

My porn is about giving value to the real pleasure of everyone who is involved in sex and to let the public identify with it, or get inspired by it. Just because I make my films from a female perspective doesn’t mean I only make soft porn with silk sheets and roses targeting the female audience only. I want to show different sides of sexuality and cinematic perspectives, in order to do something different from the mass produced stereotypical porn you can find on the free tube sites, and I’m sure every kind of public can benefit from watching porn made from an inclusive perspective.

Ethical porn means that there’s an understanding of consent between everyone on an adult film’s set, including the whole crew that needs to be aware of the inherent complexities of sex work. Me and my team need to ensure that the set is a safe sex environment in which performers can explore their sexuality in a comfortable and relaxed way. We strive to let performers feel free to voice their opinions and feelings, and to stop the shooting whenever they feel uncomfortable for any reason. I have women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC people behind the cameras, in production, in editing, in scriptwriting, in art design, as guest directors… that’s how we can really make a change in the industry and broaden the range of perspectives on sex.

I have a talent manager on set to make sure the performers are being taken care of at any time. We ensure that healthy food and water are provided on set by a local catering service, good accommodation, and flights are paid if necessary. Everything related to the sex scene must be discussed and agreed in advance with the performers. After that, it is important that there are no last-minute changes of plans that could make them feel obliged to do something. When we’re on set I talk to them before shooting sex, to make sure once again that they’re ok with the scene they’re about to perform, and then I let them go with their own flow, without being pushy in my direction.

Making ethically produced adult films also means that everyone who is involved in making them – from performers on set to interns in the office – is compensated and treated appropriately. There are many reasons why ethically produced adult content is accessible behind a paywall. Money is needed to pay performers, crew, post-production, and all freelance collaborators fairly, and to ensure that sex work is done in a safe environment. I believe we should be responsible consumers and support the people that create the entertainment we enjoy. We pay Netflix for the series. We pay Spotify for music. We should also pay for the porn we enjoy.

What keeps on surprising me is that making adult films doesn’t necessarily mean that at some point it will get repetitive. If there is something that I’ve been learning during all these years is that, as long as you represent diversity and not just the typical porn archetype by taking inspiration from real life, there are actually countless stories you can tell when making adult movies! Also, many guest directors that have been collaborating with me for XConfessions and Lust Cinema are bringing their visions and styles to my platforms, helping me to create a whole community of daring adult directors.

 Who is your target audience? Does your primary audience differ from that, and if so, what has surprised you the most about your primary audience?

I just make porn for everyone (18+) who enjoys the positive side of sex! My audience is generally made up of 50% women and 50% men. Many people keep on defining my movies as ‘porn for women’ which only reaffirms the stereotype that women don’t enjoy mainstream porn just because it is ‘too hardcore for them’. The truth is women don’t typically feel represented in mainstream pornography! My films have a narrative and I aim to represent realistic sex scenarios and relatable characters. I’m interested in relationships – who are these characters? Why do they end up in a sexual situation? I just treat women as people, not mere objects of pleasure. They have their own lives, opinions, and an active idea of what they want sexually. And the fact that I describe sexuality from a female point of view doesn’t mean that I treat the man as an object: both of them are people, and I want them to enjoy respectful and pleasurable sexual experiences on set. If they are not worried about overperforming for the camera, the sex will be greater, and the public will appreciate more!

What is it like to work with real-life couples? Is the approach different?


It’s always nice to work with performers who are real-life couples as they are able to show a different kind of connection. I shot three films with real-life couples who are very different from each other. ‘Soulsex’ with senior sex educators John and Annie Campbell has been a very special project to me; their sex scene could not have been further from a typical, mainstream set! They started with some beautiful words of intention before starting their slow and tender ‘soul sex’. They spent much more time touching, cuddling, holding, and gazing at each other than performers usually would. 

‘Pregnancy Sex Doc’ is a a sex-documentary shot with real-life couple and parents Tiffany Doll and her husband Bruno, when Tiffany was eight months pregnant. It’s such a wonderful experience to see them speak about their experiences as a couple and how the pregnancy has affected each of them together and individually. 


Also ‘Ink is My Blood’ shows real-life couple and performers Moth & Rust spending the day at home while transcending time and space into a spiritual and sexual artistic experience that seems to happen out of this world.

You have a really interesting and extremely progressive educational project called The Porn Conversation, “A project offering tools for parents to teach the younger generation about porn”. It’s a very logical and convincing idea, backed by facts, that offers a great solution to sex education for kids in the 21st century. However, you, as a parent, know how touchy this subject can be, and how many parents (especially the religiously inclined) would be resistant to it. How has the project been received? What else can you say about the project that could convince parents who are still hesitant about it?

As a mother of two, I am of course concerned about the fact that most parents are still reluctant to discuss how their kids are being shaped by such an early exposure to porn (the age of watching porn for the first time has dropped to 9 or 10 years old). So I decided to take action and, in 2017, I started the non-profit project The Porn Conversation with my husband Pablo to offer other parents and educators free and easily accessible tools to talk to the younger generation about sex and initiate them to the topic of porn. The project, which will be relaunched in 2021 with even more resources and a more diversified Ambassador Program of sexual health professionals, includes age-specific guides (8-11, 12-15, 16+) detailing how to broach the subject of porn, articles, workshops, Q&As, animated educational videos covering everything from the meaning of consent to anatomical information, conversation guides for parents and curricula for sex educators at schools, and a hub for teens where they can anonymously ask questions about sex, sexuality, and puberty. All of this with an overall emphasis on diversity and inclusion, creating sex ed for all so no youth, no matter the gender, sexuality, race or disability feels left out of ‘the conversation’.

Young people will definitely see free online porn, whether it’s by accident or because they have gone looking for it. It’s so important to give them the tools they need to be prepared for the first time they do see it. I talk to my girls about sex the same way as I talk about gender roles, racism, food or body size. I tell them the information and the technical words. I want them to know that they can come to me whenever they have questions. And they do have questions, as do their friends. Chatting about the intimacies of sex with your children isn’t an easy task. I would recommend starting conversations when they’re very young, and being open and patient responding to their doubts. Be honest with them and direct them in the direction of healthy and inclusive information about sex, before they take it from inaccurate or dubious sources.

Amarantha da Cruz is a writer, editor, witch, and the founder/publisher of OyeDrum.