Petra Joy

Petra Joy is an award-winning feminist filmmaker. Her movies focus on providing a female perspective on pornography and sexuality. To obtain a master's degree in Film History from the University of Cologne, Joy wrote her thesis on the representation of female sexuality in Nazi films. After graduation, she moved to England, where she worked for 10 years as a freelance producer and director for over 70 documentaries on German television. Since 1990, the main focus of her work has been sexuality from a female perspective. Starting in 1992, Joy produced segments for a programme about sex airing on the German satellite station. In 2003, Joy launched a film production company, for which she filmed her first alternative pornographic film for women next year. In 2009, she established the Petra Joy Award, an international erotic film competition for first-time female directors. Joy runs "how to make your own creative porn" workshops and speaks on the subject of women and pornography across Europe. Joy curates and produces a feminist porn series called Her Porn and has shot a documentary called The Joy of Porn: My Life as a Feminist Pornographer.