Jens Hoffmann – The Porn Diaries

What was the highlight of making this documentary?

JH: The highlight was definitely the outcome. Against all odds the movie was so well received, went big on festivals and drew a lot of interest, even in the cinemas. When we made it we expected it to be way more controversial, making people leaving the cinema. But it turned out almost nobody left and the female audience actually was less irritated than the male viewers.

Another highlight was the support of artists like the musicians. Big names like Brant Bjork (Ex-Queens the Stoneage, Fu Manchu), Martina Topley Bird, The Dwarves – all of them offered their support after learning about the project. In normal terms we would have never been able to afford this kind of soundtrack. It was great to experience all this loyalty. Another highlight was when Sasha came to the world premiere in Montreal even though she was already a star on the cover of Rolling Stone.

And what was the worst thing?

JH: The limited horizons of the industry people who refused any support, the way we had to defend the project and the way we had to discuss it. You mention the word porn and the eyebrow goes up. I am sure that these people I am talking about, the ones who see porn as a shady part of society, are the ones with the big download accounts on the ’spermwar websites.

Of course we had miserable moments, like the one when all our camera gear got stolen in Prague, unreliable people who make you drive crossways through the San Fernando Valley three time a day. The producer with the attitude. The so cool avant-garde electronic music producer from Berlin who refused his tracks by saying he does not want to be involved with porn because it is bad for his image. And the insolvency of our world distribution after cashing all advance payments, but never forwarding the money to us. It has been a rollercoaster for sure!

You must have been involved in some pretty strange situations whilst filming. Which times stick out for you?

JH: Obviously you want to hear the crazy sex stuff. But sex becomes part of the work in this industry and also for our work very fast. Of course there were situations which you never experience out of the industry, like the fuck-machine scene, which is shot in front of the office desk between phone calls. A real bad situation happened in Prague, when we were on a porn shoot in a house, with 6 year old kids were playing around and in the house, hand guns with ammunition were laying around on the kitchen table, the set in the room was barely covered to anybody around. But this was the only occasion like this.

Another funny one – actually after the movie was out – happened last winter, when I met up with Sasha. We were entering a metro station and standing next to a family with 3 boys around the age of 10. The kids were starring at Sasha with their mouths opened and obviously recognized her. Of course, they did not tell their parents. Sasha was also not sure how she should feel about it. I thought it was very funny and tells a story about our kids and the internet.