Plattform’s Jessica catches buyers - the director speaks to us

Two clips were sneak-previewed in Haugesund. On the eve of Haugesund’s New Nordic Films, Pape Boye of Paris-based sales agent Versatile, announced the first territories that have pre-bought Plattform Produktion’s latest feature, backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Those include Weltkino for Germany/Austria, Xenix for Switzerland, MK2/Mile End for Canada, KTH for South Korea and Movie Could for Taïwan. Several other territories are in negotiation.

Jessica is the feature length version of Thyberg’s short Pleasure, which garnered much attention on the festival circuit and won the Canal Plus Critics’ Week award in 2013.

In the film, Jessica is a 20-year-old girl who leaves Sweden for L.A. to become the next big porn star. But she soon realises her ‘dream’ is different from what she had expected and she is forced to choose between abiding by the men’s rules and showing solidarity with her female friends.

Cast members – all selected from the adult entertainment business - include Sofia Kappel, Revika Reustle and Dana Dearmond.

During her pitch on Wednesday at New Nordic Films, Thyberg told the 200+ film attendees that her feature is the first ever look at the adult industry from a female gaze. “I’ve used the porn industry as a backdrop to show women in a patriarchal society,” said the rising Swedish filmmaker who studied society, gender studies before graduating from the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2015. “We show what women have to physically endure – from STD infections, to shaving/waxing-to do their work and how difficult it is for them not to be abused in this environment,” added Thyberg who has based her film on true stories collected after several extended periods spent in L.A. within the adult industry (see the short Q&A here under).

In one of the two clips sneak-previews in Haugesund, showing the young Swedish girl’s first porn scene, the camera is reversed, to focus on her POV, cleverly avoiding explicit intercourse. “I want to show new and different angles, especially because the woman is an object. We see what goes on outside the traditional porn gaze,” explained the filmmaker who shot the film in ‘blocks’ using documentary techniques.

A few extra filming days will be shot in Sweden at Film i Väst, with a delivery set for later next year.

The film was produced by Plattform’s co-founder Erik Hemmendorff, with Markus Waltå and Eliza Jones, in co-production with Lemming Film in the Netherlands, Logical Pictures in France, Film i Väst, SVT, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, the Netherlands Film Fund incentive scheme. SF Studios handles Nordic distribution.

Three questions to Ninja Thyberg:

Can you describe the film? 
Ninja Thyberg: The film is set in the porn industry in L.A.. It will be a human and behind-the-scene look of the power structure in the sector, shown from a female perspective. It’s a longer version of my short film Pleasure. Since 2013, I’ve been interested in the subject and travelled to L.A. to research the topic to see what it looks from the other side. I slowly got to know these people, gaining their trust. The script is based on the people I met. It was shot mostly in L.A., with a cast only of people from the porn industry. Some play themselves, then actors play other roles, like agents. The main actress was cast among 2000 girls; it took a year and a half to find her! 

Why did you want to bring that specific and taboo universe to the screens? 
NT: I’ve been interested in the subject since I was 15. I’ve approached it from different angles, including an art project, and I was part of a feminist porn project ten years ago. So the inspiration came when I was at university and studied porn. I wanted to know who are these people, what happens after the scenes, how do they cut, what happens between the scenes etc. I was curious and started to investigate the subject. I used my graduation short film from the Stockholm Film Academy like a kind of pilot to attract attention and get into film. 

Once you had entered the closed adult entertainment sector, did your views change? 
NT: Since I got to know these people and understand them, it’s been like a bumpy road. I started from a feminist perspective, anti-porn, seeing it as a male dominated industry, but then I became interested in the need of representation, of women in sexuality, which is positive. 

There is a lack of good stories about sex, which is a huge part about life, but since it’s taboo, people don’t talk about it. What I discovered is that the women doing it are not always the victims we think-or some of them are. Of course, there is bad exploitation, abuse and rape, but there is also another side with women who are strong, independent. 

In the film, I won’t have a point of view. I will just show things, provide facts, and let people develop their own opinion. Although I studied gender from a theoretical angle, I will use pop culture references and humour as well, to make the film interesting and fun to watch."