Spit and Ashes

MARIA BEATTY
BIOGRAPHY

For the past twenty five+ years, Maria Beatty has produced and directed films on the cutting edge of art, porn and eroticism. She is a precursor to the so called new wave of "alt-porn".
She is renown for her exploration into the depths of female sexuality, fantasy, fetish and sm. Her vision is inspired by expressionist German cinema, French surrealism, American film noir and gay underground filmmakers such as Jean Genet and Kenneth Anger, setting new standards in erotic cinema.

After a start in the eighties as a fashion photographer and photographer for music labels, she started shooting in Super 8 experimental short-movies profiling eccentric women and transexuals living in her neighborhood then, on the Lower East Side of New York City.

In 1989, she directed her first film entitled "Gang of Souls" a documentary exploring the insights and influence of the Beat poets on the future artistic rock and poetry scene. Some of the artists featured in this film include- William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Jim Carroll, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Hell, Lydia Lunch and Henry Rollins… while working as a curator in a cultural media center programming videos by minorities and activists (gays, lesbian, women, blacks,…)

Soon after, she directed two additional documentaries about women and the use of their bodies as a powerful tool through performance art. The first one entitled, "Sphinxes Without Secrets" (1991) presents some of the most engaging work produced by women performance artists: Diamanda Galas, Carolee Schneemann, Holly Hughes, Annie Sprinkle…and the following one "Sluts and Godesses" (1992) explores the slut and goddess side(s) of female sexuality. Simultaneously, she was in the process of digging deeper into the world of sado-masochism and the secret dungeon spaces where these fantasies and bds&m desires are usually played out in.

From 1995 and onward, she conceived her first fetish film, "The Elegant Spanking", shot in black and white, without spoken words and accompanied with experimental music and sound composed by John Zorn, where she performs as a submissive “bottom” maid in an s/m relationship with another woman and her mistress lover at the time. The following film in 1997, "The Black Glove”, quickly became a cult-film in. That same year she started her own distribution company, Bleu Productions, and since then she produced, directed and edited over thirty fetish lesbian s/m films. She has performed in a few of her movies live performances on stage and featured performing in the documentaries: "Didn't Do It For Love" by Monika Treut and "Fetishes" by Nick Broomfield.

Her films have been presented internationally in festivals and museums (The Whitney Museum, The Museum of Modern Art of New York, The New Museum of New York, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art…).
She has been interviewed for TV (Canal Plus, "La Nuit Gay" 2002- France , "Le Journal du Hard" 1996- France; Channel 13- NY, USA; TPS Star " En attendant Minuit", October 2007- France) and "Inspired", a documentary about the making-off of her fetish film "Ecstasy in Berlin, 1926", which was produced and aired on the French-German Television Channel ARTE, in May 2004.

Several retrospectives of her works have been presented at:
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, 2009, Holland; "Flesh, Fetish, Fragment: A Romance, Film in the Cities" St Paul, Minneapolis, USA; Fetish Film Festival, 1999 and 2000, Paris, France; Lille Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2002, France; Barcelona International Short Film Festival, 2005, Spain; Athens Erotic Film Festival, 2005, Greece; Seattle Erotic Film Festival, 2005, USA; Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006, Germany.

"Boy in a Bathtub" (coproduced by Soft Focus Productions and Bleu Productions USA), a story of a older prostitute locking a young man up in her boudoir and feminizing him, co-written with Claire Menichi and shot in New York on High Definition in 2006, was her first foray into feature length filmmaking. Maria Beatty frequently collaborates with her partner and french writer Claire Menichi, whose writings deal with dark sexuality, body metamorphosis and romanticism.

Beatty’s "Belle de Nature", a short movie about nature and erotism with Paraiso Films (french production company) and France 2 TV, "Bandaged", a lesbian fetish erotic feature film which had it’s world premiere at the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, March 2009.

Beatty’s film collection and short film commissioned and featured in the upcoming Larrieu Brother’s long metrage (feature film) “The Last Days of the World” and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, 2009.

CATALOG OF SOME OF HER FILM TITLES
•Fuck Them All, 75 min (2017)
Torino Film Festival 2019 (Torino / Italy)
Muestra Internacional de Cine Realizado por Mujeres 2017 (Zaragoza / Spain)
Best Video Award - Transgender Film Festival 2017 (Kiel / Germany)
Toronto Queer Film Festival 2017 (Toronto, Canada)
PopPorn Brazil Film Festival 2016 (São Paulo, Brazil)
Chéries Chéri LGBTQ Film Festival 2016 (Paris, France)
Berlin Porn Film Festival 2016 (Berlin, Germany)

•FEED: The Last Supper, 72 min (2017)
Cinekink 2017 (NY, NY)
Fish & Chips International Erotic Film Festival 2016 (Turin, Italy)
Chéries Chéri LGBT Film Festival 2016 (Paris, France)

•The Black Widow, 55 min (2015)
BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival 2016 (London, UK)
Out on Screen 2015, Vancouver Queer Film Festival (Vancouver, Canada)
Pop Porn Festival 2015 (São Paulo, Brazil)
20e Cheries Cheris, Festival du Film Lesbien, Gay, Bi, Trans & ++++ de Paris 2014 (Paris, France)
Berlin Porn Film Festival 2014 (Berlin, Germany)

•The Return of Post Apocalyptic Cowgirls, 72 min (2010)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, October 2011 (Germany)
Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, October 2010 (France)

•Vampire Sisters, 50 min (2010)

•Bandaged, long métrage, 92 min (2009)
• London Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival 2009,
World Premiere, April 3rd and 5th, 2009
• Palais de Tokyo, April 2009, France
• Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, April 2009, USA
• Brisbane Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, April 2009, Australia
• Fairytales International Queer Film Festival, May 2009, Canada
• San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, June 2009, USA
• Tel Aviv Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, June 2009, Israel
• OUTFEST Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, July 2009, USA
• GAZE Gay and Lesbian FIlm Festival, August 2009, Ireland
• Vancouver Queer FIlm Festival, August 2009, Canada
• Reykjavik International FIlm Festival, September 2009, Iceland
• Reel Affirmations: The Nation’s LBGT Film Festival, October 2009, USA
• Festival De Nouveau Cinema Montreal, October 2009, Canada
• Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, October 2009, USA
• One in Ten: Washington DC LGBT Film Festival, October 2009, SA
• Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, October 2009, USA
• Chicago Reeling: Lesbian and Gay International FIlm Festival, October 2009, USA
• 39 Kiev International FIlm Festival “Molodist”, October 2009, Ukraine
• Image+Nation Festival Cinema LGBT Montreal, October 2009, Canada
• St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, October 2009, Canada
• Queersicht Film Festival, November 2009, Bern, Switzerland
• 38th Montreal International Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, October 2009, Canada
• OUTSIDERS Liverpool LGBT Film Festival, October 2009, England
• Frauenfilmfest: Bimovie München, November 2009, Germany,
• Chéries-Chéris, 15e Festival de Films Gays Lesbiens Trans de Paris, November 2009, France
• 17th Mix Brasil Festival of Sexual Diversity, November 2009, Brazil
• Wilmington Queer Film Festival, January 2010, USA
• Brussels Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, January 2010, Belgium
• Melbourne Queer Film Festival, March 2010, Australia
• Amsterdam Pink Film Days Festival, March 2010, Holland
• Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, April 2010, Italy
• MIX Mexico 2010 Film Festival, May 2010, Mexico
• Nice Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, September 2010, France

•Belle de Nature, 12 min (2008)
Music by John Zorn
Cine Kink Film Festival NYC, 2009 (USA)
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
France 2 TV Diffusion, Septembre 2008 (France)

•Post Apocalyptic Cowgirls, 70 min (2008)
Music by Lydia Lunch and Spoken Word
Gijon Porn Film Festival, May 2009 (Spain)
Cine Kink Film Festival NYC, 2009 (USA)
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
Paris Porn Film Festival, October 2008 (France)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, World Premiere, October 2008 (Germany)

• Strap-On Motel, 50 min (2008)
Gijon Porn Film Festival, May 2009 (Spain)
Cine Kink Film Festival NYC, 2009 (USA)
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
Paris Porn Film Festival, October 2008 (France)

• Skateboard Kink Freak, 72 min (2007)
Gijon Porn Film Festival, May 2009 (Spain)
Isreal 3rd International LGBT Film Festival 2008 (Isreal)
Los Angeles Erotic Film Festival, 2007 (USA)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2007 (Germany)
Pink Screens, 2007 (Belgium)

• Sex Mannequin, 48 min (2007)
Cine Kink Film Festival NYC, prix Best Experimental Feature Film 2008 (USA)
AEBN VOD Awards, prix Best BDSM Film 2008 (USA)
Isreal 3rd International LGBT Film Festival 2008 (Isreal)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, prix Honorable Mention 2007 (Germany)
Pink Screens Film Festival, 2007 (Belgium)

• Boy in a Bathtub, long métrage, 106 min (2006)
Coproduced by Soft Focus Productions and Bleu Productions, USA
Festival des Films Gays et Lesbiens de Paris, 2006 (France)
Cinémarges, 2006 (Bordeaux, France)

• Silken Sleeves, 50 min (2005)
Brazil – MIX BRASIL Festival of Sexual Diversity, October 2008 (Brazil)
Cine Kink Film Festival NYC, prix Best Experimental Feature Film 2008 (USA)
Pioneer Theater, NYC, January 2008 (USA)
UK Erotic Awards; prix Best Independent Film 2007 (England)
Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival; prix Best Director 2007 (Spain)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006 (Germany)

• Ecstasy in Berlin 1926, 45 min (2004)
Gijon Porn Film Festival, May 2009 (Spain)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006 (Germany)
Festival Quand les Lesbiennes Se font du Cinema (Paris, France)
Cinekink Film Festival 2005 (New York, USA)
Festival internacional de Cine de Gijon, 2005 (Spain)
Festival des Films Gay et Lesbiens de Paris, 2005 (France)
Festival des Cinémas Différents de Paris, 2005 (France)
Cineffable, Paris lesbian film festival 2005 (France)
Exposition "Girls, girls, girls", 2005, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Neuchatel (Switzerland)

• Lust, 35 min (2002)
Quand les Lesbiennes Se font du Cinema, 2002 (Paris, France)

• The Seven Deadly Sins, 50 min (2002)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006 (Germany)
Quand les Lesbiennes Se font du Cinema, 2002 (Paris, France)
Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival, Prix Best Director- Tacon Aguja 2004 (Spain)

• Ladies of the Night, 32 min (2000)
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006 (Germany)
Cinekink (New York, USA) (2005)
Seattle Fim Festival (USA) (2005)

• Let the Punishment Fit the Child, 22 min (1997)
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
The Rotterdam Film Festival, 1998, (Nederland)
Cinekink 2006, 2004, (New-York, USA)
Journées "En bordure…de l'identité" par Le peuple qui manque, oct 2006 (Paris, France)
Berlin Porn Film Festival, 2006 (Germany)

• The Black Glove, 30 min (1997)
Music by John Zorn
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
Work on FleshFestival, 2007 Paris, (France)
Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijon, 2005 (Spain)
International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand, 2000 (France)
The New York Underground Film Festival, 1999 (USA)
Stichting Film Festival Rotterdam, 1998 (Nederland)
San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1997 (USA)
Brazilian Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2000 (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
Chicago Underground Film Festival, 1997 (USA)
Carre Blanc sur Fond Blanc, Bruxelles, 1998 (Belgium)
Amsterdam Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2000 (Nederland)
Out on Screen Festival - Vancouver Lesbian and Gay Film Festival,
1997, (Canada)
Lesbian and Gay Film/Video Festival of Toronto, 1998 (Canada)
Subversive Film and Video, Copenhagen Film and Video Festival, 1999 (Denmark)
Festival Quand les Lesbiennes Se font du Cinema, 1998 (Paris, France)
Outrage, Buffalo Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1999 (USA)
"The Wet Spot", Anthology Film Archives, 1998 (NY, USA)
Zeitgeist Theatre Experiments, 1999 (New Orleans, USA)
"Abject Art: Repulsion and Desire in American Art", The Whitney Museum, 1998 (NY, USA)
"Women’s Perspectives: On Both Sides of the Lens", Museum of Fine Arts, 1997 (USA)
"Erotiques", A.B. Galeries, 1998 (Paris, France)
The Pleasure Dome, 1999 (Toronto, Canada)
"Violent Women", University of Southern California, 1997 (USA)
"Art and the Forbidden: Images of Female Aggression", SF University, 1999 (USA)
The Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 2000 (NY, USA)

• The Elegant Spanking, 30 min (1995)
Music by John Zorn
Amsterdam Erotic Film Festival, Retrospective, January 2009 (Holland)
Festival Schermi D’Amore, 2005 (Verona, Italy)
San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1996 (USA)
Queer Articulations: Princeton Film and Video Festival, 1996 (USA)
New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film/Video Festival, 1996 (USA)
Montreal Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1996 (Canada)
Festival Internazionale di Films con Tematiche Omosessuali, 1999 (Italy)
Chicago Underground Film Festival, 1997 (USA)
Out on Screen Festival - Vancouver Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1998 (Canada)
Lesbian and Gay Film/Video Festival of Toronto, 1999 (Canada)
Subversive Film and Video, Copenhagen Film and Video Festival, 1999 (Denmark)
Festival Quand les Lesbiennes Se font du Cinema, 1997 (Paris)
Harvard Film Archives, 1997(USA)
"Sex, Truth and Videotapes", University of Maryland, 1996 (USA)
"Erotiques", A.B. Galeries, 1997 (Paris, France)
"Every Conceivable Position: Inside Gay Porn", Cornell University, 1995
(NY, USA)
The Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 2000 (NY, USA)

• Sluts and Goddesses, 52 min (1992)
Australien International Video Festival, 1993 (Australia)
Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and Video, 1992 (Canada)
Copenhagen Film and Video Festival, 1993 (Denmark)
San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1993 (USA)
Baltimore Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1994 (USA)
Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1993 (USA)
Melbourne Queer Film and Video Festival, 1993 (Australia)
London International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1993 (UK)
Dangerous to Know London, 1993 (UK)
Stockholm Gay Film Festival, 1994 (Sweden)
Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 1992 (USA)
Pittsburg International Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival, 1992 (USA)
The New UK Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, 1993 (USA)
The Winnipeg Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival, 1992 (Canada)
The New UK Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, 1993 (USA)
Champaign Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival, 1992 (USA)
Nova Scotia Lesbian and Gay Film/Video Festival, 1992 (Canada)
Revealing Desire, Cristinerose Gallery, 1993 (NY, USA)
"Bad Girls", The New Museum, 1992 (NY, USA)
Lesbian Genders, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1993 (NY, USA)
L.A.C.E. (Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibitions), 1993 (USA)
The Lesbian and Gay Community Center, 1992 (NY, USA)

• Sphinxes without Secrets, 58 min (1991)
Australien International Video Festival, 1991 (Australia)
Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and Video, 1991 (Canada)
Le Festival du Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir, 1992 (Canada)
Copenhagen Film and Video Festival, 1991 (Denmark)
Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1991 (USA)
Av-ark/Muu Media Festival, 1992 (Finland)
Monitor, 1992 (Sweden)
Festival De Films et Video De Femmes, 1992 (Canada)
Montbeliard International Film Festival, 1991 (France)
Forum de las Artes, 1991 (Spain)
Third Wave International Women’s Film and Video Festival, 1991 (USA)
Nova Scotia Lesbian and Gay Film/Video Festival, 1992 (Canada)
Athens International Film and Video Festival, 1991 (USA)
"Trancesex: A State of Mystical Absorption", AMO Contemporary Art, 1992 (USA)
"Revealing Desire", Cristinerose Gallery, 1992 (NY, USA)
Kuntwerk, 1991 (Viena, Austria)
"The Body", Kunstlerhaus Stuttgart, 1992 (Germany)
C.A.G.E. Gallery, 1991 (Cincinnati, USA)
Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibitions, 1991 (USA)
Highways Performance Space, 1991 (USA)
"Outspoken Women", Intermedia Arts Gallery, 1992 (Minneapolis, USA)
University Art Museum, Berkeley, 1991(USA)

• Gang of Souls, 57 min (1989)
San Sebastian Film Festival, 1990 (Spain)
Odense Film Festival, 1990 (Denmark)
Australien International Video Festival, 1990 (Australia)
Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and Video, 1990 (Canada)
The Berlin Video Festival, 1990 (Germany)
Copenhagen Film and Video Festival, 1990 (Denmark)
Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 1990 (USA)
International Video Week, 1990 (Switzerland)
Av-ark/Muu Media Festival, 1990 (Finland)
Monitor, 1990 (Sweden)
Sacramento International Film and Video Festival, 1990 (USA)
American Independents in Berlin, 1990 (Germany)
Dallas Video Festival, 1990 (USA)
Louisville Film and Video Festival, 1990 (USA)
Sacramento International Film and Video Festival, 1990 (USA)
USA Film Festival, 1990 (USA)
The Kitchen, 1990 (NY, USA)
"Beat Culture and the New America", Whitney Museum of American Art, 1997 (NY, USA)
"The Concerned Video: Selections of Recent Documentary", Institute of Contemporary Photography, 1996 (NY, USA)
"Video Viewpoints", Museum of Modern Art, 1996 (NY, USA)