The Purity Myth

The Perfumed Garden(ar)

THE PERFUMED GARDEN is an exploration of the myths and realities of sensuality and sexuality in Arab society, a world of taboos and of erotic literature. Through interviews with men and women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation, the film lifts a corner of the veil that usually shrouds discussion of this subject in the Arab world. Made by an Algerian-French woman director, the film begins by looking at the record of a more permissive history, and ends with the experiences of contemporary lovers from mixed backgrounds. It examines the personal issues raised by the desire for pleasure, amidst societal pressures for chastity and virginity. The film discusses pre-marital sex, courtship and marriage, familial pressures, private vs. public spaces, social taboos (and the desire to break them), and issues of language.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated(en)

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.

Une vie sans sexe?(fr)

1h30 d'orgasme(fr)

Bodysong(en)

Documentary footage from various sources, set to music. Showing the whole of human life, from birth to death and beyond.

Playboy: How to Reawaken Your Sexual Powers(en)

Couples learn how to reawaken their sexual desires.

Playboy: Best Kept Sex Secrets(en)

A collection of the best lovemaking tips from our For Couples Only series, this sensual and elegantly-produced instructional video reveals techniques for sparking passion, maximizing foreplay, and giving and receiving heightened pleasure. Discover the erotic joy of ultimate surrender as Playboy gently guides you through the sensual secrets of deeper levels of sexual arousal, full-body orgasms, ultimate positions and unique techniques

Die Lust der Männer(de)

The Skin Horse(en)

An award-winning, ground-breaking TV documentary dealing sensitively with the topic of sex and intimacy within the disabled community.

Dancing in the Dark(en)

A series of interviews with students living in London reveals the dangers present in the capital's nightlife.

Stripper(en)

A strippers' convention and a major contest. The movie focuses on a few strippers, each with her own strong motive to win.

I'm a Porn Star(en)

I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.

Die Ehe(de)

Marriage and sexuality is examined through the lens of screenwriter Dr. van de Velde, a Dutch gynocologist.

Maria: Don't Forget I Come From the Tropics(pt)

An examination of the relationship between the life and art of Maria Martins, now recognized as one of the greatest Brazilian sculptors, in addition to her engravings and texts. The film reveals the greatness of her work and her boldness when dealing directly with the feminine perspective of sexuality, a transgression that led to attacks by Brazilian critics. In parallel, her life as the wife of an important diplomat and her connection to Marcel Duchamp, in a relationship of mutual collaboration between the two artists.

Sexo é Bom(pt)

Prüdes Hollywood - Laster, Lust und Leidenschaft im Film(de)

In recent years, Hollywood productions have turned away from sensuality. Is the sex scene on the verge of extinction or reinvention? Alongside film professionals and researchers, this documentary deciphers a trend that speaks volumes about the evolution of the industry and our societies.

James Baldwin: From Another Place(en)

In Istanbul, American writer James Baldwin muses about race, the American fascination with sexuality, insights into his interrupted writing decade in the country, the generosity of the Turks, and how being in another country, in another place, forces one to re-examine well-established attitudes about modern society.

Stories of A(fr)

French documentary campaigning for the liberalization of abortion and contraception, directed by Charles Belmont and Marielle Issartel in 1973.

Do I Sound Gay?(en)

What makes a voice “gay”? A breakup with his boyfriend sets journalist David Thorpe on a quest to unravel a linguistic mystery.

James Baldwin Abroad(en)

Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.

The Codes of Gender(en)

Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.

The Merchant of Venice(en)

Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.

American Graffiti(en)

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

Cries and Whispers(sv)

As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.

New York Stories(en)

Three tales of love, ambition, and neurosis unfold in the city that never sleeps. In "Life Lessons" (Martin Scorsese), a tormented painter channels heartbreak into his art. In "Life Without Zoë" (Francis Ford Coppola), a precocious 12-year-old navigates privilege and loneliness in a Manhattan hotel. And in "Oedipus Wrecks" (Woody Allen), a man’s domineering mother literally becomes a looming presence over New York.

Waking Ned(en)

When a lottery winner dies of shock, his fellow townsfolk attempt to claim the money.

Child's Play 3(en)

Eight years after seemingly destroying the killer doll, teen Andy Barclay is placed in a military school, and the spirit of Chucky returns to renew his quest and seek vengeance after being recreated from a mass of melted plastic.

Hi, Mom!(en)

Vietnam vet Jon Rubin returns to New York and rents a rundown flat in Greenwich Village. It is in this flat that he begins to film, 'Peeping Tom' style, the people in the apartment across the street. His obsession with making films leads him to fall in with a radical 'Black Power' group, which in turn leads him to carry out a bizarre act of urban terrorism.

Infernal Affairs II(cn)

In this prequel to the original, a bloody power struggle among the Triads coincides with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, setting up the events of the first film.

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum(ja)

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead(en)

The Tall Man, that imposing menace from Morningside Mortuary, is back and once again haunting the thoughts of the now-adult Mike and his friend, ex-Ice Cream vendor Reggie. The two continue their hunt for the mysterious figure and in his path of destruction encounter a variety of dangerous situations, friends and enemies.

The Insider(en)

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl(en)

Monty Python perform many of their greatest sketches at the Hollywood Bowl, including several from pre-Python days.

Decalogue IX(pl)

Roman and Hanka have a loving marriage, but his impotence has led to her having an affair. The unbearable situation drives Roman to extreme measures both physically and mentally, testing their love and his own will to live.

Black God, White Devil(pt)

Wanted for killing his boss, Manuel flees with his wife Rosa to the sertão, the barren landscape of Northern Brazil. Thrust into a primordial violent region, Manuel and Rosa come under the influence and control of a series of frightening figures.

The Play House(en)

Upon waking from the dream of a theater peopled entirely by numerous Buster Keatons, a lowly stage hand causes havoc everywhere he works.

The Sweet Hereafter(en)

A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima(ja)

Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.

Synecdoche, New York(en)

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

The Grifters(en)

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.