Sunday, October 5, 2008
One Step Closer To Solving The Mystery
Turns out there was a little bit of name disambiguation here . . . it would appear the director of said film is not "Angie Downing", but rather "Angie Dowling". Which still boggles my mind, even as a linguist, because while I've studied the phonological cause for nasalization of various sounds, I still have no idea how someone would mix up "l" and "n". But, whatever. So, now we're getting closer. Turns out she's not British, but rather, Australian, although living (or was living at the time) in London. She was apparently the UK's first lesbian pornographer (though I can find no other mention, nor any of her work), and previously worked as a producer/panelist on several lesbian-themed documentaries commissioned by Britain's Channel 4 (such as "The Money Shot"). She was inspired by the work of her idol Pedro Almodavar, who began his directorial career in porn. She may or may not have organized the 2007 BOLD in Pensacola, Florida and been part of writing the same titled play, starring as Natalie in its run, and being a big part of its parent organization BOLD (which stands for "Birth On Labor Day" and is pretty much like "The Vagina Monologues" for labor and childbirth).The names of her other three films have finally surfaced, too: "Knock Knock", "The Girlie Urge", and "Tick Tock". "The Girlie Urge" was marketed as "the first lesbian masturbation movie in the world", featuring seven separate solo scenes of girls getting off. "Tick Tock" takes place in a belltower where a closeknit group of seven gay girls live and spend their time exploring the realm of intense feelings. Supposedly very brightly colored and shot in "funky cartoon style" . . . whatever that means. "Knock Knock" takes a slightly more "boys, you can't have it" stance with its marketing: "These lesbians are 100% real, men have no chance at all. The ladies indulge in erotic pleasures at London appartments, vaginal juices flow like Indian mountain streams and clitorises swell to the size of golfballs. No bi-sexual women here, only true, hot-blooded lesbians in a colourful lesbian sex show." Quite frankly, I'd be a little scared of golfball-sized clitorises, and I have no idea how freely Indian mountain streams flow, but you've got to give them credit for creativity.

"Madam and Eve" also has more secrets to reveal: some of the cast members are also part of Britain's all-girl shock-rock band Rockbitch. Some say it was shot in a abandoned hospital; others say it was shot in a disused Benedictine monastery in France. It's rumored that the film stars the members of a real-life sex commune. Everyone apparently got to wear costumes from latex fetish fashion label and production/performance agency Torture Garden.
I guess I should be pretty happy- I've got a correct name, a lot of personal history that seems to track a very vibrant globe-trotting activist woman, and I've got a number of websites selling all four of her real dyke films. But I'm still curious- I want to talk to this woman who has, it seems, never been interviewed (at least, and then had it published online). First dyke pornographer in Britain is a big title. Does she ever want to return from advocacy for pregnant ladies to producing more dyke smut? I visited Rusty Films but, as often happens, the domain name has expired and now whatever information it once held has been lost.
On the upside, all this searching through British female pornographers has unearthed some seriously cool ladies, including Hungry Films' Anna Brownfield and Anna Span (even if their stuff is mostly het). Although, let's not forget the amazing Brit Petra Joy, either, whose exploits are well-documented on the Web.
Anyways, that's Angie Dowling, Australian-British dyke pornographer maverick, still somewhat of a mystery. You can find her films scattered about UK retailers, but the best site I found, in terms of reviews, screenshots, and 0 (or region-free) coded DVD's, is Orgazmik Europe. Go ahead, buy them. I mean, seriously, you can borrow "Champion" from any of your trendy friends when it comes out. Who else is going ot have these films, though?
Who Is Angie Downing? Or: Dyke Porno Mystery
Yeah, I know, I know, it was only a short while ago that I was complaining about not being able to even keep up with all the new dyke porn out there. So you'll probably only have bad things to say about me when I bring up some old-school porn (old-school, in this case, being at least 5 years old). I can't help it, okay? I have an all-encompassing drive to have *the* most complete real dyke porn collection ever, or at the very least, the most comprehensive knowledge of the genre, no matter how obscure.And this one really does appeal to the dyke detective in me, because, quite frankly, I can find out almost nothing about it.
"Madam and Eve" is a UK flick, which might help explain some of its obscurity for a Yank like myself (along with its age and the relative presumed obscurity of being a real dyke porno). But nonetheless, the information I can scrounge up tells me that the film was nominated for Best Erotic Film of the Year 2003- certainly that means it got some acclaim and fame, right?
But Google is not being very forthcoming with information. All I know is that Angie Downing is the director of the video, and that her name is sometimes spelled "Angia" and that she also sometimes goes by 'Rusty Cave', which really makes me curious. And I know that the cover is plastered with the phrases "100% Lesbian Made" and "Real Lesbians Enjoying Real Sex". And that it has a delightfully wacky plot, involving a lesbian hospital where women are rushed in with their sexual emergencies. The tagline given to every site that sells it: Laugh as Madam gazes through her crystal ball predicting what sexual awakenings will happen in Eden today. Experience the loudest, longest multiple orgasm from Pinkie Vindaloo, witness Madam receive the most divine oral sex from Sista Kitty, and let Eve amaze you with her strap-on techniques.

Certainly, I've had my share of mysterious porn- I still haven't solved, for example, the question of who was really behind Mojo Video's "Real Butch Dyke Lesbians". But I do have Ms. Downing's name and the allusion on the interwebs that "Madam and Eve" is actually the third- yes, third!- lesbian film she's produced/directed.
The companies listed as part of the production are Red Hot Diva and Rusty Films (perhaps shedding light on the nickname), but I can find little about the former (except for the fact that they are heavily into publishing lesbian erotica), and absolutely none on the latter. Dead end there (for me, at least . . . maybe you're better).
Really, what I'm hoping as I post this is that some fantastic reader of mine will be a super-searcher or Internet troller who can promptly report back to me and solve this little mystery. At the risk of cheesily ripping off Ayn Rand, who is Angie Downing? Where have you gone, Rusty Cave? Are you still making lesbian porn for lesbians? What were the other two films you made? And most importantly, if I paid you in British pounds and exorbitant shipping fees, could I get "Madam and Eve" to play on my region 1 DVD player?
I truly am curious to get to the bottom of all of this, Scooby Doo-style. But even more than that, I want to explore this new aspect of queer porn history. I'm well-acquainted with the tale of American queer smut, way back from humble beginnings with OOB (that's "On Our Backs" for you layfolks) and Ssspread.com, all the way to cutting-edge companies like Pink & White Productions. And I got a taste of modern French queer smut with Emilie Jouvet and her film "Pour Une Nuit"/"One Night Stand". But British dykes . . . I know nothing except that Sarah Waters can write one hot lesbian period piece, for sure. I don't even have a language barrier, so it's sad that I- and, presumably, the rest of the the American queer porn fanclub- don't know about our friends across the Atlantic and what they were doing 5 years ago . . . or for that matter, what they might be doing right now. This is now my new goal: investigate Britain's queer porn scene. I shall report back.
In the meantime, if you're out there, Angie, let me know!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Get Your Rocks Off Cheap: $10 Dyke Porn

Yeah, you read that right. I didn't leave off a zero or anything. For the next two weeks, Bren Ryder of Good Dyke Porn is offering you the amazing deal of $10 a month for loads and loads of hot, authentic, honest-to-goodness dyke porn, chock full of butches, femmes, home invasion gangbangs, circle jerks, and much, much more.
I don't know how she does it. I really don't care. You shouldn't question awesomeness, should you?
Go on, support real lesbian porn. Support small, indie porn companies. Support women-run porn. Support Canadian porn. Just, you know, subscribe. (Oh, and get on the forums, even if you don't have a membership- it's lonely in there!).
Hell yes, show me where to I sign up!
No, thanks, I am too poor and must subsist on the few bits o' free dyke porn on the Web. (Found last night on a random "dykes" porn search).
Sunday, September 21, 2008
I Can Barely Keep Up!

And now Abigail Productions and super smexy BDSM vixen Madison Young are stepping up to the plate with a new film! Sure, the cast will be familiar to anyone who follows Pink & White . . . really familiar, in fact (with Crash Pad favorites such as Jiz Lee, Dylan Ryan, Shawn, Lorelei Lee, and Carson). But the filming and directorial differences of Madison are sure to put their own special brand on the action.
Of course, this isn't the first Madison Young flick to step outside appealing-to-men lipstick lesbian action- Jiz Lee starred in Madion's kinda biopic porno "Tail Of A Bondage Model". But compare that to the cover of the new film "Lesbian Life: Real Sex San Francisco"- a prominent "Castro" sign and, even more brilliantly, a rainbow flag. It calls out to the dyke in me. Somehow I imagine this being a little too gay-looking to be a play for male viewers. Hell. Yes.
So that's it, really. Part joyful complaint that I can't hardly keep track of all the must-see porno's coming out, part promotion for the soon-to-be-released "Lesbian Life". See them both. See them all! Tell me about those I keep on forgetting about or don't know about!
