Between 1975, when the “X” classification was introduced, and 1983, when VHS copies became more widespread and the HIV/AIDS epidemic began, 75 French homosexual pornographic films shot on film were officially released in cinemas. A quasi-fertile decade for gay porn cinema, with scripted works of undeniable cinematic quality, far removed from the pseudo-schematic scenarios of today’s porn industry.

Almost 50 years later, what do these works tell us about this unique period, when homosexuality was still criminalised? How did pornographic creation help to overcome power relations? Is gay porn culture linked to the activism of the 1970s? Who is responsible for this flourishing production? What erotic and sexual imaginaries are being constructed? And finally, what do these archival images tell us about our contemporary relationship with porn?

The discussion between Hervé Joseph Lebrun and Robin Corminboeuf invites us to travel back in time to understand this flourishing period of homosexual pornographic production.

With Hervé Joseph Lebrun, filmmaker and photographer, former director of the Chéries-Chéris festival, he is a specialist in French porn of the 1970s, and Robin Corminboeuf, former editor-in-chief of the queer Romand magazine 360° and author of a first novel, he is currently in charge of the press office of the Visions du Réel and GIFF festivals..