It’s that time of year again! Your favourite Canadian smut team at Ciné Sinclaire are rounding up their favourite short films of the year for a screening unlike any other – but this time there’s a twist! This year, we are stepping it up and hitting the road! May/June of 2022, and the fall of 2022 will see Nuit Raunch tour Canada with these smutty selections, reaching folks in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kamloops, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Montreal, and more.

We want to include your work! Submissions are open to all, from any part of the world. All performers and crew must have been over the age of 18 at time of production, you must attest this prior to the film’s final acceptance.

SUBMIT NOW VIA FILMFREEWAY

The history:

In 2017, we hosted our first screening of erotic film during Nuit Blanche. We put out a sandwich board on the street, directing people to a studio on the 3rd floor of an old warehouse, and we didn’t realize how big it would become.

Our screening quickly became standing room only, with attendees eager to watch short films from around the world. We increased capacity and moved to two screenings in 2018, all of which sold out again. We estimate approximately 600 people were in attendance throughout the evening. 2019 saw us increase to 3 screenings, saw over 1000 attendees, AND utilized a fully accessible venue.

AND WE’RE DOING IT AGAIN!

If you have a film that you would like to submit (8 minutes and under please), you must submit it by April 15, 2022. Screening dates will begin in at the end of May, 2022. Details and dates TBD.

We will be paying a screening honorarium of $100 for selected films.

SUBMIT NOW VIA FILMFREEWAY

Things are not right in the world of online censorship. This discussion has been evolving since the ETHI Committee’s Protection of Privacy and Reputation on Platforms Such as PornHub consultation series. If you don’t know much about it, you should absolutely read some more. I’ll make a post about that next on this blog.

The recommendations from the final report have now been lumped in with issues of terrorism and hate speech to form this discussion guide and technical paper. The final report from the ETHI consultation paid a lot of lipservice to listening to and including sex workers, but now that the discussion guide is out, we can see that this absolutely did not happen.

Let’s face it, they’ve designed this issue to be one that no politician wants to speak out against. The idea is that it’s supposed to end terrorism, hate speech, and child porn. Like holy fuck, I want those things to end too, but this set of recommendations will only make things worse for everyone. I need you to know that when they say that these measures will end terrorism, hate speech, and child porn, what they mean is that they will not improve at all (may even get worse) and all Canadians will have to give up all privacy on the internet while allowing for rampant censorship of consensual sexual content (which is fully legal) and politically-motivated content. PHEW. Raw deal y’all.

I’ve submitted the following to the Digital Citizen Initiative at the Government of Canada. Please, if you have time, add your own commentary to the discussion, and tell our government why online surveillance will not fly. Protect freedom of expression, protect sex workers, protect our rights to protest. Please. You can write it as a letter, you can write it as an essay, you can make a bullet-point list. Anything helps.

Here is the letter as submitted:

I’m writing this letter with a feeling of being let down immensely by my own government. I’m writing in a personal tone here, because I feel it’s the best way to get my points across.

I submitted a brief to the ETHI committee, one of the committees whose conclusions led to this discussion paper being released. It detailed my experience as a victim of revenge porn, and the ways that I overcame the shame and stigma that having a crime committed against you can create. Pause and think about that for a second – that being the victim of a crime can cause so much shame and stigma that a person could be refused employment or access to education or, for example, being listened to by your own government.

My revenge porn experience was absolutely traumatic, and was one of at least six experiences reported to the ETHI committee during their consultations with the public. The committee released what seemed like a wonderful final report, thanking all survivors and recognizing the emotional toll that it takes to relive their experiences. The report moved on to thank all five survivors of revenge porn or similar abuse who shared witness testimony and briefs, and described their stories. Can you imagine, at all, how deeply my heart sank when I realized that I was not recognized as a survivor? Despite having sat down to describe my experiences, reliving them, and now to have to do it again? Can you imagine how hard that is?

Can you imaging being a victim of revenge porn, realizing society doesn’t want you if you’re sexual, and then dedicating the next 17 years of your life to try to advance the human rights of people who exist in a publicly sexual way, with the goal of making it so that revenge porn holds less power over victims – only to be told that your victimhood doesn’t count because you thrived? Ouch, man. Ouch. For real, that sent me into a depressive spiral the likes of which have rarely been seen. Thanks for all the lip service to listening to sex workers and victims, it did nothing to comfort me from the pain the committee caused.

I was denied speaking in person to the ETHI committee. I was denied the victimhood that I absolutely have lived through. My narrative is not acceptable, and I would love it if you could ask yourselves why. Sex worker rights advocates and groups were eventually granted permission to appear, but ended up filibustered after their initial statements. It was shameful. That was not inclusion of our voices.

These proposed changes to Canadian law and procedure are incredibly dangerous. The canary is dying here, and I need you to see it.

As law and policymakers, you have a duty to create law and policy that will not be able to be abused by this government, nor the next, nor would that law or policy put Canadian citizens’ privacy at risk in matters related to freedom of expression.

Lumping in the idea of protecting young people from sexual abuse on the internet with hate speech and terrorism is a big thing to speak out against. I, for one, abhor every single one of those things. I want to be clear that I’m not speaking out against ending those horrible actions. I’m speaking out against the methodology, narrative, and the net result of knee-jerk bad legislation. I’m here to say “slow down, include sex worker voices as you said you would, and listen to sound peer-reviewed research.”

1. The organizations leading the conversation at the ETHI committee were largely anti-choice, anti-trans, one-man-one-woman evangelical “christian” organizations whose stated goals are to “end all exploitation on the internet”, with exploitation being defined as any and all sexual content.
Look at the names and mandates of these groups and tell us how you really feel giving them the floor and allowing them to dictate who is and isn’t a victim. REAL Women of Canada, Defend Dignity, Christian Legal Fellowship, Stop au Porno, Stop ExploitationHub, and collections of survivors whose stories are being held up *by these organizations*. Many of these organizations’ websites feature tabs where you can go to learn how to pray for the end of all sex work. The people they deem as survivors get to speak, and you are letting them censor out who officially gets called a survivor. That’s horrifying. That’s not separation of church and state. That’s the exact opposite.

These organizations are more than welcome to not look at pornographic websites if they hate it so much, but they are not allowed to dictate that others must follow their moral views. That is not what Canada stands for. We, as Canadians recognize their desire not to consume or be involved in sexually explicit material, but we, as Canadians, must also recognize the choice of the vast majority of people to choose to participate in and consume those same materials.

I absolutely recognize that a very fancy high priced American lawyer stood up at the start of the ETHI committee’s hearings and instructed everyone that none of this argument is religiously-motivated and that anyone who speaks out against this is a PornHub collaborator, because anyone who actually speaks out against PornHub gets “disappeared”. Hi hello, I have been yelling disapproval against PornHub for years and years, and I’m still here. I’m very sorry that it seems like the ETHI committee bought into this man’s leading comments. In court, this would be considered asking the jury to prejudge the evidence, and the statement would be stricken.

2. The proposed amendments constitute an enormous security and privacy violation for all Canadian citizens using social media-based websites.
As someone that operates an adult website with interactive capabilities on the internet, the idea that all social media-type websites operating within Canada must store for 12 months the IP data of all visitors is horrifying. Couple that with the need to provide identification to ISPs to be tied to that data, and you have created one heck of a security risk. Individual, private companies should not be storing sensitive data tied to identities for that long. You are opening people up to identity theft, stalking, and countless other crimes.

CSIS and child exploitation groups can already obtain warrants for data on very short notices. If that’s the thing you want streamlined, streamline that! Don’t come after the privacy of every Canadian citizen. If you want the data, get a warrant. Those are the rules.

3. The proposed amendments would only end up harming small, independent, ethical producers of adult material, independent sex workers, and everyday Canadians.
PornHub is a huge corporation, and it can pick up and move to another country tomorrow. I can’t. My home is here, my home is in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. My friends and family live here, as do the friends and family of others just trying to make a living in the adult industry in peace. Knowing that these new recommendations could see someone like me falsely accused of distributing images of young people (as the New York Times article that inspired this whole fiasco did to any content describing “barely legal” films) and then fined ten million dollars if I don’t respond within 24 hours, I am absolutely terrified to operate the completely legal business that I operate. There are days I don’t check my email because I’m in class or I’m having a family day or something of the like. My income from my website is in the thousands of dollars per year, and I would be financially ruined by a minimum ten million dollar fine.

You will be killing any existing ethically-run businesses and encouraging underground or large-scale tube sites to move to another country and continue operating. Marginalized voices working in the medium toward a more wholistic representation of their sexuality or gender will be discouraged from ever starting up. You’ll be encouraging the status quo or taking us backwards.

The groups pushing these exploitation narratives don’t differentiate between me, as a queer woman running an ethical and legal business, and a child pornographer. They think we’re one and the same, because it’s all exploitation to them. This is probably why my revenge porn experience did not make me a victim – because I’ve got the title of “exploiter”. That narrative is so incredibly problematic, and has been broken down by countless sex worker rights and advocacy groups, as well as in Canada v Bedford (2013). We need you to listen. The consequences are dire. This kind of bad legislation not only does not end revenge porn (as long as sexuality is a weapon, people will use it as one), but it will also kill sex workers and online content creators working for themselves. Literally, the amount of (generally women, and especially BIPOC and trans women) who will die by violence will rise again. If you’d like to see evidence of how ending criminalization of sex workers leads to decreased mortality in women, I suggest you look into the Downtown East Side of Vancouver’s strategies that have resulted in a drastic decline in murders. This is a real decline that exists across the board. You can also look at the consequences of SESTA/FOSTA in the US taking down sites like Craigslist’s adult services section and Backpage.com. Femicide decreased by up to 17% in cities following the introduction of Craigslist adult services. That bad legislation (which is currently being challenged in the US by the Woodhull Freedom Foundation) has had a direct effect on the wellbeing of folks in the sex work industry, and femicide numbers are again creeping up. Those aren’t just numbers, they’re humans, parents, siblings, spouses. They’re your voters. However you have to think of them to make you care.

Prohibition kills. Additional carceral language kills. We already know who is committing these revenge porn cases, and I can almost guarantee you that the number of those abusers who have been convicted of a crime is astonishingly low. Why is that not the problem we’re addressing?

4. You must make laws that will not harm people in Canada, no matter which government is in power.
This is an extra-credit bit that you should really consider, seeing as it’s literally your job. Our laws must be made knowing that there will be abuses of power, and the laws must be made in a way such that those abuses of power will be as limited as possible.

The Government of Canada, under these new suggested changes, would be able to obtain IP tracked information for anything posted by anyone on the internet in Canada. From there, Page ofdirect photo identification can be retrieved from the ISP. Voila, you’ve got the home address of anyone who posts anything on the internet. Now, that sounds great when you’re saying it’s to end child porn and terrorism. Whoop, sign me up, you might say. But you need to think of how these laws would be enforced in the hands of someone operating in unethical or self-interested ways. Dissenting voices against a government could be deemed terrorists and traced to their home address. This is incredibly dangerous.

Not only is selling sex legal in Canada, so is pornography consumption and production. It would be against Charter rights to create law that would have the direct effect of banning legal work.

In sum, sex workers are ready, willing, and waiting to be included in real and meaningful ways in this discussion. We are not all PornHub agents, we are not on the side of violence and exploitation. We are here to help you write the best possible laws that will leave the fewest people behind, including us.

ALL PERFORMERS MUST BE OVER THE AGE OF 18 AND PROVIDE TWO PIECES OF ID TO PROVE THIS FACT

People of colour, folks with disabilities, and folks in the 2SLGBTQ* community are encouraged to apply.

CinéSinclaire.com, an award-winning Canadian feminist/queer porn production company under the umbrella of Cherrystems Media is announcing a casting call for the Toronto/Tkaronto area around October 8-12, 2021. Shoots will be approximately 3-4 hours in length, with a consent and STI conversation beforehand and debrief afterward.

ALL CAST AND CREW MUST BE DOUBLE VACCINATED AND CARRY PROOF OF DOUBLE VACCINATION.

What we’re looking for:
Do you have a sexual story to share with the world? We’re presently casting performers for 25 minute to 1.25 hour films to be used on CinéSinclaire.com, on PinkLabel, and on television via Vanessa Media in Canada, the US, and Europe, as well as the festival circuit, in perpetuity.

We’re looking for individuals that want to exhibit the ways that they have sex, be it vanilla, kinky, spiritual, masturbation, anything. The kind of sex you’re having is the kind of sex we’d love to put on film.

We are actively seeking anyone of any gender expression, orientation, shape, size, skin colour, ethnicity, ability, and age (over 18), to create porn with us. Extra credit if you already have porn or camming experience. If shooting a scene with more than one person, we are ideally looking for couples or people that would like to work with another person that they are already familiar with. If you don’t have someone like that to work with, consider applying for a solo/masturbation shoot.

To apply, complete the following:
Please send a brief but descriptive blurb about what you would like your scene to be focused on, and why you feel this kind of sex should be on film, to kate@cherrystems.com. If you would like to include your ethnicity, gender, size, orientation, or otherwise, you are more than welcome to self identify but are not required. All applications are confidential, and self-identifying is encouraged to help us represent the most folks possible. Also please add confirmation that you are 18 years of age or older to your email.

Let us know if you have a shooting partner (or partners) in mind. Please only suggest people that you have already approached. We will need to speak with this person before the shoot as well.

Please include one photo of yourself so that we know what you look like! We do not discriminate, this is purely to get to know you and your aesthetic. Clothed selfies are just fine!

Shoots will take place in the area of so-called Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Please advise if you’ll need an accessible space, and what you would require. We are very happy to work with your needs, we just need a heads up. We are unable to provide travel stipends for people wanting to shoot that do not live in Toronto/Tkaronto. Please only apply if you will already be in the area in October 2-7, 2021.

This is a paid shoot. Our reply email will contain details. Email kate@cherrrystems.com to apply.

COVID NOTE: with respect to COVID-19 precautions, all crew will be provided with masks and ideally we would work in a space with adequate ventilation (shoot space TBD once we decide on the feel of the shoot). All cast and crew must be double vaccinated and carry proof of vaccination. Hand sanitizer will be available for all, as well as access to a washroom with running water. The space will be pre-sanitized before shooting. As for STIs, we have an assortment of condoms, dental dams, and lube available on set for use anytime. We’ll also have a lil’ STI chat prior to the start of the shoot to be sure everyone feels empowered to make the right choices for themselves.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: September 26, 2021

Each year since 2017, I’ve run a lil porn screening of about 7-10 short films in my hometown of Winnipeg, Mantioba, Canada. The year is now 2020, and what started as a sandwich board on a street grew to a 1000-person 3-screening event in an accessible venue in 2019. I finished that screening in 2019 looking forward to putting down a deposit on the same venue for 2020.

But alas. The world is on fire.

Manitoba has been doing “well” during the COVID pandemic. We’re at only 18 deaths as a province – something helped along by the fact that our spring break was later than other Canadian provinces, so we didn’t get that sweet returning-from-travel influx they did. Things returned to a sort of normal quicker than other cities. Our current outdoor gathering limit is something like 500 people, and so I set out to find an appropriate spot to hold Nuit Raunch outdoors.

There are a lot of considerations to make when picking a locale for an outdoor porn screening. First off, it would need to be in a location where minors would realistically not see it. Not through a fence, not from a nearby apartment window, none of that. Perfect, I thought. I have a studio with a roof that would be *so great*. But how do I get people to the roof safely? How do people socially distance in a stairwell or on a fire escape? What happens when people need a bathroom? Roofs are also not accessible to folks with different physical abilities, and how queer is my event if it’s only accessible to able bodied people?

Ok, scratch that.

AN ALLEY! We have some awesome old carriageways in the Exchange district, and it would be relatively easy to basically just canvas tarp the entrances to the alley! Wait… I’ve basically just restricted airflow and created an indoor space outdoors.

ooook, scratch that too…

Well maybe I can just have it in that same venue as last year, but open all the windows, ensure people distance, and allow in only like 20 people at a time? I mean, 60 people is better than 0 but it is down from 1000. Oh. Venue’s closed so this isn’t even possible.

ok.

Well maybe I can just have it in my studio like I used to, keep people distanced, open the windows. It won’t be accessible to wheelchairs but there is an elevator to help people with some mobility. I was kind of resting on this until I saw Nuit Blanche’s entire plan for the event, released just a few days ago. Basically… it looks like it’s going to be a shit show. We’re talking about a city that hasn’t had a major event in 6 months, opening an entire neighbourhood for what is generally a 20,000 person event – with basically no limits. Masks are recommended, and some volunteers will be going around collecting names and email/phone information of as many people as they can so they can reach out if there’s an outbreak. Not only is that actually a terrible idea for privacy’s sake, but it’s only going to capture about 5% of the attendees. It all seems super ill-thought out. It makes me feel gross. I don’t want the awesome porn we’ve got to show you to be a reason for an outbreak and deaths. I remember crowded stairwells last year, crowded elevators, crowded hallways. And drunk people in all those crowded spaces being incredibly difficult to control – something I’d have to hire *a lot* of people to do.

So. You get the idea.

I’ve really been trying to keep this as an in-person event, and I may do a very limited screening on a separate day, but I can’t in good conscience give people a reason to go hang out in crowds as part of Nuit Blanche.

I’m reaching out to the lovelies at Pink Label to get access to their streaming festival platform (which is a godsend BTW, since most streaming services block you for doing anything sexy). I’ll have an update shortly. I’m sorry this is coming so close to the date. We WILL have a screening, it’s just going to look a little different. But what I do want to maintain is a social element to the screening. Watching porn in public is an experience we don’t get often, and I’m going to strive to make that a reality again. I should have an update later this week as to a new date.

Thanks so much for all your support. This event is so damn fun and valuable, and I’m gonna make sure it happens. ❤

ALL PERFORMERS MUST BE OVER THE AGE OF 18 AND PROVIDE TWO PIECES OF ID TO PROVE THIS FACT

People of colour and folks in the 2SLGBTQ* community are encouraged to apply.

CinéSinclaire.com, a award-winning Canadian feminist porn production company under the umbrella of Cherrystems Media is announcing a casting call for the Winnipeg area around September 2020. Shoots will be approximately 3-4 hours in length, with a consent conversation beforehand and debrief afterward.

What we’re looking for:
Do you have a sexual story to share with the world? We’re presently casting performers for 1.25 hour clips to be used on CinéSinclaire.com, on PinkLabel, and on television via Vanessa Media in Canada, the US, and Europe, as well as the festival circuit, in perpetuity.

We’re looking for individuals that want to exhibit the ways that they have sex, be it vanilla, kinky, spiritual, masturbation, anything. The kind of sex you’re having is the kind of sex we’d love to put on film.

We are actively seeking anyone of any gender expression, orientation, shape, size, skin colour, ethnicity, and age (over 18), to create porn with us. Extra credit if you already have porn or camming experience. If shooting a scene with more than one person, we are ideally looking for couples or people that would like to work with another person that they are already familiar with, but will also look at full casting options if need be.

To apply, complete the following:
Please send a brief but descriptive blurb about what you would like your scene to be focused on, and why you feel this kind of sex should be on film, to kate@cherrystems.com. If you would like to include your ethnicity, gender, size, orientation, or otherwise, you are more than welcome to self identify but are not required. All applications are confidential, and self-identifying is encouraged to help us represent the most folks possible. Also please add confirmation that you are 18 years of age or older to your email.

Let us know if you have a shooting partner (or partners) in mind. Please only suggest people that you have already approached. We will need to speak with this person before the shoot as well.

Please include one photo of yourself so that we know what you look like! We do not discriminate, this is purely to get to know you and your aesthetic. Clothed selfies are just fine!

Shoots will take place in the area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Please advise if you’ll need an accessible space, and what you would require. We are unable to provide travel stipends for people wanting to shoot that do not live in Winnipeg. Please only apply if you will be in Winnipeg in September of 2020. If you have travelled to Winnipeg, you must have completed your 14 day isolation period for COVID-19 prior to the day of shooting.

This is a paid shoot. Our reply email will contain details. Email kate@cherrrystems.com to apply.

COVID NOTE: with respect to COVID-19 precautions, all crew will be provided with masks and ideally we would work in a space with adequate ventilation (shoot space TBD once we decide on the feel of the shoot). Hand sanitizer will be available for all, as well as access to a washroom with running water. The space will be pre-sanitized before shooting. As for STIs, we have an assortment of condoms, dental dams, and lube available on set for use anytime. We’ll also have a lil’ STI chat prior to the start of the shoot to be sure everyone feels empowered to make the right choices for themselves.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: AUGUST 25th, 2020

It’s that time of year again. Annually, Winnipeg’s countless galleries, studios, and venues open their doors for a full night of art, celebration, and culture on the last Saturday of September for Nuit Blanche.

In 2017, we hosted our first screening of erotic film during Nuit Blanche. We put out a sandwich board on the street, directing people to a studio on the 3rd floor of an old warehouse, and we didn’t realize how big it would become.

Our screening quickly became standing room only, with attendees eager to watch 8 short films from around the world.

AND WE’RE DOING IT AGAIN!

If you have a film that you would like to submit (8 minutes and under please), send a screener link and film description to kate@cherrystems.com BEFORE AUGUST 29th, 2018. Screening date will be September 29th, 2018. All films will be credited in a full-colour paper program, and awards for Best Film, Best Humour, The Most Beautiful, and Most Poignant (political) will be presented. Filmmakers not in attendance will have physical awards mailed to them. 

Submission details:

-8 minutes or less (can be cut from a longer scene)
-Deadline August 29th, 2018
-Must be an erotic film (porn or otherwise)
-You own the rights to distribute this film and have the consent of all parties involved
-1080p H.264
-USC 2257 requirements are fulfilled for your film (including declaration)
-email kate@cherrystems.com with your screener link and film description
Thanks, and good luck!

ALL PERFORMERS MUST BE OVER THE AGE OF 18 AND PROVIDE TWO PIECES OF ID TO PROVE THIS FACT.

CinéSinclaire.com, a award-winning Canadian feminist porn production company under the umbrella of Cherrystems Media is announcing a casting call for the Toronto area from February 22-26, 2018. Shoots will be approximately 3 hours in length, with a consent conversation beforehand and debrief afterward.

What we’re looking for:
Do you have a sexual story to share with the world? We’re presently casting performers for 30 minute to 1 hour clips to be used on CinéSinclaire.com and in Canada on video on demand (bell, shaw). We’re looking for individuals that want to exhibit the ways that they have sex, be it vanilla, kinky, spiritual, masturbation, anything. The kind of sex you’re having is the kind of sex we’d love to put on film.

We are actively seeking anyone of any gender expression, orientation, shape, size, skin colour, ethnicity, and age (over 18), to create porn with us. We are ideally looking for couples or people that would like to work with another person that they are already familiar with, but will also look at full casting options if need be.

To apply, complete the following:
Please send a brief but descriptive blurb about what you would like your scene to be, and why you feel this kind of sex should be on film, to kate@cherrystems.com. If you would like to include your ethnicity, gender, size, orientation, or otherwise, you are more than welcome to but are not required. All applications are confidential, and self-identifying is encouraged to help us represent the most folks possible. Also please add confirmation that you are 18 years of age or older to your email.

Let us know if you have a shooting partner (or partners) in mind. Please only suggest people that you have already approached. We will need to speak with this person before the shoot as well.

Please include one photo of yourself so that we know what you look like! We do not discriminate, this is purely to get to know you and your aesthetic.

Shoots will take place in the area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Please advise if you’ll need an accessible space, and what you would require. We are unable to provide travel stipends for people wanting to shoot that do not live in Toronto. Please only apply if you will be in Toronto February 22-26, 2018.

This is a paid shoot. Our reply email will contain details. Email kate@cherrrystems.com to apply.

People of colour are strongly encouraged to apply.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: JANUARY 20th 2018.