Interview: Erika Lust’s Obsession
"I love oysters, and food and sex go so well together."
NAILED: Have you ever been obsessed with anything? Are any obsessions, sexual or otherwise, at play in your films? If so, what are they, where did they originate, and how have you made them (or avoided making them) a part of your art?
ERIKA LUST: Oh many things! Especially with XConfessions, when I get so many great fantasies being sent to me every month. But that also means they change a lot, as once I get to make a great film with that obsession, usually I’m looking for the next. But there are some recurring themes, like shooting films with food; I love oysters, and food and sex go so well together. That lead to films like, Eat With… Me and My First Time Eating Oysters and Pussy.
More recently, I have been very into exploring BDSM, power play relationships, and the more kinky and fetish side to sex. It started with An Appointment with Master, as I also felt like I needed to make a film that clearly showed the importance of communication between people in a BDSM relationship, and that it’s actually the dominant who is there to serve the submissive. BDSM too often gets a bad reputation. Then I made Dominate Me and at the next shooting, I am looking to work with latex clothing!
Another recent obsession I had was when I found this metallic gynecology chair. I loved it and had to shoot with it. But it took some time to find the right confession. Now you can see it in Dirty Doctor. And doesn’t it look awesome!
So yes I can have a lot of obsessions, but once I find the right confessions and film to shoot, and the end result looks so great, it’s so satisfying.
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This Q+A has been excerpted from a forthcoming, full-length interview with the filmmaker, Erika Lust.
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Header image courtesy of Zak Smith. To read his installment of Sex Stories on NAILED, go here.
Erika Lust (erikalust.com) is a filmmaker, writer and blogger based in Barcelona. Born in 1977 in Sweden, she studied political science, feminism and sexuality. Tired of chauvinistic and tacky mainstream porn, she burst into the adult industry in 2004, with the indie short film The Good Girl — a humorous statement of principles.