DEEP THROAT + PANEL DISCUSSION

It is a fact:  Cinema RITCS and Offscreen will be screening a newly restored version of the porn film that single-handedly caused a sexual revolution in the 1970s. The porn film that led to heated debate and parliamentary questions in the Netherlands as recently as 2009 when the public broadcaster wanted to schedule it. You may have heard of it, but whether you have ever seen it is another question: the iconic Deep Throat, the beginning of the "Golden Age of Porn". 

Exactly 50 years ago, in 1972, director Gerard Damiano's film hit the theatres and porn broke into the mainstream. What makes Deep Throat so iconic? At least not the plot that is wafer-thin or the grainy 1970s cinematography (the production values of Damiano's later films, such as The Devil in Miss Jones, do the quality label of so-called "porn chic" more justice). The film is pure camp and rather pulls the card of a shameless comedy, laced with gratuitous hardcore sequences. And with a running time of barely an hour, the ride is over in no time.... 

The historical value, however, is unprecedented. At a time when the United States still clung to puritanical sexual repression, Deep Throat made a huge impact. The middle class suddenly showed openly that it was interested in sex. The film was all about women's, not men's, carnal pleasure - also unprecedented. And as icing on the cake, Deep Throatrevolves around the protagonist's clitoris - that the clitoris existed at all was openly doubted in many circles in pre-1972 America. 

Many attempts were made to ban the film, and many succeeded. Charges of "obscenity" reached all the way to the US Supreme Court. Even later, the controversy deepened when lead actress Linda Lovelace opened up (in her biography Ordeal) about her toxic relationship with her then-husband, manager and pimp Chuck Traynor who had threatened and forced her to participate in the film.  "Every time someone sees this film, they see my rape," she said in 1986. 

The children of director Damiano, who initiated the 4K restoration and who will be present at the screening, firmly claim that Linda Lovelace enjoyed Deep Throat and her acquired celebrity status. She was an outspoken advocate of sexual revolution who only years later aligned herself with the Anti-Porn Feminist movement. 

Regardless, the film Deep Throat remains surrounded by controversy and its screening is the subject of debate to this day. 

Cinema RITCS and Offscreen are certainly not avoiding this discussion, quite the contrary. The screening of Deep Throatis framed with a firm disclaimer beforehand and an in-depth discussion afterwards, ably led by moderator Ben Van Alboom. There is no taboo and questions, critical or otherwise, from the audience are more than welcome.