Mondo Homo: A Study of French Gay Porn in the ’70s

Calling all homo- and Francophiles! Bask in the big-screen glory (holes) of très sophistiqué adult entertainment produced in the City of Light during the bygone era of bushy pubes and pre-condom abandon. Mondo Homo is a sexy and sweetly nostalgic documentary ode to the wonderfully artistic and filthy gay porn films made in France by a cadre of horned-up directors some forty years ago, when seemingly every innocent visit to the proctologist’s office led to an entirely different sort of exam.

Wild fantasy scenarios of all sorts propelled the imaginations of trailblazing filmmakers, who fondly recall their hot and heavy productions and the sweaty atmosphere of the underground cinemas where their crude masterpieces—films such as Young Prey for Bad Boys and Hand Balling—delighted mustachioed viewers eager to see their sexuality celebrated on screen. Shooting outdoors and on location, these porn provocateurs took their cues from the Nouvelle Vague masters, as well as their country’s guiding principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, helping to kick off the gay liberation movement while introducing audiences to water sports, facials, and fisting (in a scene rejected by censors as “an affront to human decency”).

At once a fascinating look back at an important chapter in gay porn history and a total turn-on with its archival clips of orgiastic writhings among big bears, leather daddies, and tender hooligans, Mondo Homo is essential viewing—and the ’70s music is delicious fromage.

— Steven Jenkins

This film contains scenes of explicit sex.

In French with English subtitles.

AT&T Audience Award Text Voting Code: D319

Co-presented by:
Center for Sex & Culture
St. James Infirmary