Inspired by the Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto and the Berlin Porn Film Festival, founder Dr Laura Merritt created the PorYes European Feminist Porn Awards in 2009. The term “PorYes” is a play on the slang term “porno” or pornography. The event, held bi-annually in Berlin, celebrates sex positivity and the creators of porn that is seen as feminist. The awards are organised by Freudenfluss, a women’s collective, along with Laura’s salon and sex shop Sexklusivitäten. The award is held at a public event with film screenings along with panel discussions in conjunction with local universities and centres of learning.
Criteria for the awards include a sex positive attitude, collaboration with performers and ethical work conditions, safe sex, emotional engagement, good cinematography and a diversity of body types, genders, orientations and sex acts. Women should be significantly involved in production roles.
The 2009 PorYes Award Winners
Candida Royalle
Feminist porn pioneer, creator of the Femme line of films and the first director of porn films for women.
Annie Sprinkle
70s porn performer, 80s director and documentary creator, performance artist and ecosexual
Maria Beatty
Venezuelan BDSM lesbian filmmaker, her first film was The Black Glove.
Petra Joy
British filmmaker who focuses on a female perspective.
Shine Louise Houston
Queer porn pioneer from San Francisco, creator of Crash Pad Series and Pink Label TV
The 2011 PorYes Award Winners
Catherine Breillat
French author and filmmaker, creator of controversial explicit films Romance and Anatomy of Hell
Rusty Cave
British director of lesbian sex comedies, Madam and Eve.
Mia Engberg
Writer and producer of Dirty Diaries, a feminist porn project funded by the Swedish government.
Emilie Jouvet
Queer director and performer, exploring lesbian sexuality in Too Much Pussy
The 2013 PorYes Award Winners
Monika Treut
German lesbian pornographer and documentary filmmaker whose films focus on female sexuality.
Joseph Kramer
Creator of a special form of erotic massage / bodywork. In 1984, he founded the Body Electric School in Oakland, California
Cleo Uebelmann
German Swiss SM artist who created the 1986 bondage film Mano Destra.
Shu Lea Cheang
Taiwanese American French filmmaker. Her cyberpunk film “I.K.U.” (2000) was the first porn movie to screen at Sundance. She has since made Fluid0
Lola Clavo
London-based Spanish post-pornography and gender theorist.
Ula Stöckl
German pioneer of filmmaking from a female perspective.
The 2015 PorYes Award Winners
Gala Vanting
Australian sex worker and “slow porn” director, Sensate Films
Goodyn Green
Lesbian and queer porn director, Shutter.
Jiz Lee
Genderqueer porn star and advocate
Buck Angel
First female-to-male trans porn star and activist
Jennifer Lyon Bell
Dutch-American cinematic porn creator, Blue Artichoke Productions
The 2017 PorYes Award Winners
Ms Naughty
Filmmaker, writer and porn webmistress, creator of BrightDesire.com
Dorrie Lane
Creator of vulva puppets and House O’Chicks films in the 80s
Maria Llopis
Spanish founder of Girls Who Like Porno
Sky Deep
Director of queer vampire film Enactone
Chanelle Gallant
Creator of the Canadian Feminist Porn Awards in 2006
Bishop Black
British porn performer and artist
The 2019 PorYes Award Winners
Loree Erickson
Queer femmegimp Porn Academic and activist, creator of the film Want (2007)
Sadie Lune
Multimedia artist, sex worker, porn performer and pleasure activist, based in Berlin
Adina Pintalie
Russian director of Touch Me Not, a film exploring body image and sexuality
Wayne Yung
Chinese-Canadian writer, performer and video artist exploring issues of race and identity
Nan Kinney
Queer porn pioneer, co-editor of legendary lesbian magazine On Our Backs creator of and Fatale video
Anna Brownfield
Australian director of The Band and The Bedroom
The 2021 PorYes Award Winners
Marit Östberg
Filmmaker, producer, visual artist and journalist from Sweden
Del Lagrace Volano
Queer activist, artist and photographer exploring gender identity
Morgana Muses
Australian age-positive director and performer celebrating the sexuality of older people
Nenna Joiner
Filmmaker and performer from the USA, fighting racism
Lina Bembe
Mexican porn performer and sex worker, sex educator, sex work activist.
The 2023 PorYes Award Winners
Eri Sarmet
Brazilian queer writer, director and researcher, post-porn film Latifúndio
Popo Fan (Fan Popo)
Queer documentary filmmaker from China, dedicated to relationships of performers
Deborah Sundahl
US filmmaker and sex educator about female ejaculation, co-creator of the first lesbian porn film
Aba Naia
Feminist performing arts collective based in Berlin, making art and porn, vocal pleasure
Jamal Phoenix
French porn performer, sex worker and activist
(Pic via PorYes FB page, winners and organizers of the 2023 awards)