Dirty Diaries
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''Dirty Diaries'' is a 2009 collection of thirteen
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
s of
feminist pornography Feminist pornography, also known by other terms in internet such as 'ethical porn' or 'fair-trade porn' is a genre of film developed by or for those within the sex-positive feminist movement. It was created for the purpose of promoting gender eq ...
made by Swedish activists and artists and produced by Mia Engberg. The individual films are highly diverse in content, although many of them feature humour and different forms of
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
sex. The creative decisions were based on a manifesto with the aim to create pornography that is non-commercial and follows feminist ideals. The film sparked controversy before and after its release because of sexually provocative content and the fact that it was mainly financed through public funds. Film critics were split in their reception; some found the film amusingly provocative while others thought it was dull.


Plot

The thirteen short films that make up the entire collection vary considerably in length and style. # ''Skin'' features two figures, one male and one female, clad in full-body nylon stockings caressing and kissing each other intimately. After a while, the two figures begin to cut open the nylon with a pair of scissors to reveal the naked skin underneath, and engage in oral and penetrative sex. There is no dialogue and only soft background music. Directed by Elin Magnusson. # ''Fruitcake'' is a mix of close-up shots of various objects and human
anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...
es being licked, dripped with saliva, fingered or penetrated with
sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating. The ...
s. The images are accompanied by a monologue. Directed by Sara Kaaman and
Ester Martin Bergsmark Ester Martin Bergsmark (born 1982) is a Swedish movie director and screenwriter of the documentaries ''Maggie in Wonderland'' and ''She Male Snails''. Bergsmark's first fiction feature ''Something Must Break'' (2014) has been shown in more than ...
. # ''Night Time'' shows a woman kissing a man passionately while filming herself. They both proceed to perform oral sex on each other while the woman later uses a vibrator to reach orgasm. Directed by Nelli Roselli. # ''Dildoman'' is the only animated film in the collection. It shows images of a men's club where masturbating adult or middle-aged men watch two women having sex on a pool table. One of the men is then suddenly grabbed by one of the women, who now dwarfs him. The woman proceeds to insert the man into her vagina. When she reaches climax, the man inside her goes limp. The film ends with a shot of the front of the men's club. Directed by Åsa Sandzén. # ''Body Contact'' portrays two women, one filming the other, searching for a man to have sex with on the Swedish dating site Body Contact. A man with a
Scanian dialect Scanian ( ) is an East Scandinavian dialect spoken in the province of Scania in southern Sweden. Broadly speaking, Scanian has been classified in three different ways: # Older Scanian formed part of the old Scandinavian dialect continuum, an ...
shows his penis to the women through a webcam. Later the man pays them a visit, but is unnerved by the presence of the camera. The two women convince him to have sex. Directed by Pella Kågerman. # ''Red Like Cherry'' is a series of quick, blurred clips of unidentifiable people swimming in the surf of a beach and then having sex in a room. Directed by Tora Mårtens. # ''On Your Back Woman!'' is a series of clips of nude or semi-nude women wrestling each other. Directed by Wolfe Madam. # ''Phone Fuck'' features a newly separated lesbian couple who talk over the telephone and eventually engage in
phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. As a practice between individuals temporarily separated, it is as ...
. Directed by Ingrid Ryberg. # ''Brown Cock'' shows the naked pelvis of a Caucasian woman. Her vagina is penetrated by a brown
dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos are made from a number of materials. The shape and size are typically t ...
held by a mixed-race woman, who then goes on to
fist A fist is the shape of a hand when the fingers are bent inward against the palm and held there tightly. To make or clench a fist is to fold the fingers tightly into the center of the palm and then to clamp the thumb over the middle phalanges; i ...
her. The two women engage in sex-related dialogue throughout the scene, commenting the sex act. Directed by Universal Pussy. # ''Flasher Girl on tour'' is a semi-documentary manifesto of Swedish artist Joanna Rytel and her alter ego Flasher Girl, a woman flasher. In the film she travels to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where she exposes herself to men and expounds on her motives for doing so. Directed by Joanna Rytel. # ''Authority'' starts with a lightly clad androgynous woman breaking into an abandoned lot in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and spraying graffiti. She is caught in the act by a similarly androgynous female police officer, who chases her into an empty building but is eventually overpowered and bound. The two then engage in rough sexual activities, including spitting, slapping and anal sex. Directed by Marit Östberg, who later went on to direct 'When We Are Together We Can Be Everywhere' (2015). # ''For the Liberation of Men'' is an abstract mix of clips of a man clad in women's clothing masturbating and close-ups of an old woman's face. Directed by Jennifer Rainsford. # ''Come Together'', the short that Engberg and others made before the twelve actual ''Dirty Diaries'' shorts, is included last in the collection. It consists of Engberg and several others filming themselves with mobile phones while masturbating and eventually reaching orgasm. Directed by Mia Engberg.


Production

The idea for creating ''Dirty Diaries'' emerged after Engberg and some of her friends made ''Come Together'' for the
Stockholm International Film Festival The Stockholm International Film Festival () is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November, and focuses on emerging and early career fil ...
. It was a short film where all the participants filmed themselves with mobile phone cameras while
masturbating Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person sexually stimulates their own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of hands, everyday objects, sex toys ...
. ''Come Together'' received a large amount of negative commentary, primarily from men, who complained about the actor-photographers being unattractive. To Engberg, this was proof that pornographic films demanded that their female participants should be seen as pleasing to their primarily male audience. Engberg had previously made another feminist pornographic short called ''Selma and Sofie'', which enjoyed some success. This and Engberg's record of other successful cultural ventures motivated the Swedish Film Institute to supply an initial 350,000 
Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; currency sign, sign: kr; ISO 4217, code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usual ...
, later supplemented with an additional 150,000.Roger, Susanne, ''Filmnyheterna'',
Pornografi ur feministisk synvinkel
". September 3, 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.


Dirty Diaries Manifesto

The film was based on a ten-point manifesto made available on the official website: 1. Beautiful the way we are To hell with the sick beauty ideals! Deep self-hatred keeps a lot of women's energy and creativity sapped. The energy that could be focused into exploring our own sexuality and power is being drained off into diets and cosmetics. Don't let the commercial powers control your needs and desires. 2. Fight for your right to be horny Male sexuality is seen as a force of nature that has to be satisfied at all costs while women's sexuality is accepted only if it adapts to men's needs. Be horny on your own terms. 3. A good girl is a bad girl We are fed up with the cultural cliché that sexually active and independent women are either crazy or lesbian and therefore crazy. We want to see and make movies where Betty Blue, Ophelia and Thelma & Louise don't have to die in the end. 4. Smash capitalism and patriarchy The porn industry is sexist because we live in a patriarchal capitalist society. It makes profit out of people's needs for sex and erotica and women get exploited in the process. To fight sexist porn you have to smash capitalism and patriarchy. 5. As nasty as we wanna be Enjoy, take charge or let go. Say NO when you want, to be able to say YES when YOU want. 6. Legal and free abortion is a human right! Everyone has the right to control their own body. Millions of women suffer from unwanted pregnancies and die from illegal abortions every year. Fuck the moral right for preaching against birth control and sex information. 7. Fight the real enemy! Censorship cannot liberate sexuality. It is impossible to change the image of women's sexuality if sexual images in themselves are taboo. Don't attack women for displaying sex. Attack sexism for trying to control our sexuality. 8. Stay Queer A lot of opposition to erotica is homophobic and even more transphobic. We don't believe in the fight between the sexes but in the fight against sexes. Identify as any gender you want and make love to whoever you want. Sexuality is diverse. 9. Use Protection "I'm not saying go out an' do it, but if you do, strap it up before you smack it up." (Missy Elliott) 10. Do it yourself Erotica is good and we need it. We truly believe that it is possible to create an alternative to the mainstream porn industry by making sexy films we like.


Release

''Dirty Diaries'' was first shown at a gala premiere at the small neighbourhood cinema Bio Rio near
Hornstull Hornstull () is an area in western Södermalm, Stockholm. Hornstull is actually the name of where the streets Hornsgatan and Långholmsgatan intersect. Up to the early 19th century it was also a city toll; "tull" in Swedish. Hornstull also has ...
in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
on September 3 and released on DVD the same day. There were further screenings on the weekend of September 5–6, which drew large crowds. Though public interest was intense and all screenings were sold out, no further shows in Stockholm were scheduled. The reason stated by Bio Rio and Engberg was that the cinema screenings were intended to be limited, and that the films were intended to be enjoyed on DVD. The film also saw limited theatrical distribution in Finland.


Reception


Political reactions

The funding from the
Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...
(SFI), which receives most of its funding directly from the Swedish government, sparked controversy in Sweden. Using tax money to finance pornography was considered offensive by some. Beatrice Fredriksson, member of the
Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...
youth organization and author of the Anti-Feminist Initiative Blog, labelled the use of public funds as hypocrisy, since mainstream pornography would never receive the same financial support. Marit Östberg, one of the film's directors, defended the public financing of the project by stressing that the values behind ''Dirty Diaries'' are radically different from that of mainstream pornography. ''Dirty Diaries'' also received criticism from feminists critical against pornography in general. Prolific Swedish director and feminist
Suzanne Osten Carlota Suzanne Osten (20 June 1944 – 28 October 2024) was a Swedish film director, stage director, and screenwriter. She won the award for Guldbagge Award for Best Director, Best Director at the 22nd Guldbagge Awards for the film ''The Mozart ...
voiced scepticism, referring to her belief that pornography is inherently objectifying and that feminist pornography would therefore constitute an oxymoron. Due to the debate over the use of tax money for financing a pornographic feature, the director of the SFI Cissi Elwin Frenkel considered it necessary to write a letter to Swedish Minister of Culture,
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth Lena Elisabeth Adelsohn Liljeroth (born 24 November 1955) is a Swedish politician who served as Minister for Culture and Sports from 2006 to 2014. A member of the Moderate Party, she was an MP of the Swedish Riksdag from 2002 to 2014. Person ...
, and explain exactly why it received the financing.Helmerson, Erik, ''
Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...
'',
Filminstitutet förklarar porrfilmen
". September 22, 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
Elwin Frenkel repeatedly maintained that SFI does not support pornography, and that ''Dirty Diaries'' received financing because it aimed to try a new approach to depicting female sexuality. Rasmus Malm in ''
Göteborgs-Posten (), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language, Swedish-language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1822. It re-appeared in 1850. Publication seven day ...
'' summarized the controversial potential of ''Dirty Diaries'' as "a Kinder Egg from hell, specially designed to provoke
Christian Democrat Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...
columnists. Three nightmares in one: porn and gay sex paid for with tax money". The unusual circumstance of government-sponsored pornography also led to the topic being the butt of a parody by US talk show host
Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...
.


Critical response

Critical reception of the films themselves were mixed. Hynek Pallas of Stockholm-based ''
Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...
'' praised the shorts as "amusing, provoking and exciting", especially the opening short ''Skin''". Lars Böhlin of ''
Västerbottens Folkblad ''Västerbottens Folkblad'' is a Swedish language newspaper published in Umeå, Sweden. History and profile ''Västerbottens Folkblad'' was founded in 1917. It is published in Umeå, Västerbotten and covers regional news from Västerbotten. In ...
'' described it as "dull, ugly and rather artistic" and criticized its being filmed with mobile phone cameras in an age of large television screens. Böhlin also noted his negative reactions to the portrayal of a man being lured into having sex in front of a camera in ''Body contact'' and expressed sympathies for the people exposed to the advances of Johanna Rytel in ''Flasher girl on tour''. Some of the films, like ''Dildoman'' and ''Skin'', were considered to be of good quality, but Böhlin was doubtful whether they should be considered to be pornographic at all. Camilla Carnmo, writing for ''
Smålandsposten ''Smålandsposten'' is a local morning newspaper published in Växjö, Southern Sweden. Founded in 1866 it is one of the earliest newspapers in the country. History and profile ''Smålandsposten'' was established in 1866. The paper is based in ...
'' was more positive, commenting that it was "good-looking and professional" despite being filmed only with phone cameras, but also added that it was "more art than porn", even if it fulfilled the technical criteria for traditional pornography. Unlike Böhlin, Carnmo praised ''Flasher Girl on tour'' for "combining humor, sex and politics in a liberating way". The soundtrack provided by
Fever Ray Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. They released their debut solo album unde ...
was described as appropriate, though repetitive.Carnmo, Camilla, ''
Smålandsposten ''Smålandsposten'' is a local morning newspaper published in Växjö, Southern Sweden. Founded in 1866 it is one of the earliest newspapers in the country. History and profile ''Smålandsposten'' was established in 1866. The paper is based in ...
'',
Dirty Diaries
". September 4, 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 1686029
''Dirty Diaries'' at the Swedish Film Institute

Elin Magnusson
homepage
Ingrid Ryberg
staff page University of Gothenburg 2000s pornographic films 2000s Swedish films 2009 LGBTQ-related films Feminism in Sweden Feminist pornography Queer pornography Swedish LGBTQ-related films Swedish pornographic films