YNOT EUROPE – On June 9, the first guide to French erotic and pornographic films was released in bookstores by Editions Serious Publishing. Dictionnaire des films Français pornographiques & érotiques aims to introduce readers not only to the history of the genre, but also to the filmmakers who work outside mainstream French cinema.

Christophe Bier, a film critic who once was an actor and assistant to renowned director-producer Jean-Pierre Mocky, coordinated the work of nearly 30 writers in order to produce the project.

“To speak of eroticism and even pornography is not an easy task,” said Bier said. “For many, it seems impossible to speak of a porn movie like any other film. Pornography is resistant to analysis or frightens them.”

Research to write such a work required more than 10 years of hard work to search the archives, interview filmmakers and producers, and peruse the files of France’s Centre National de la Cinématographie (National Centre for Cinematography).

In total, nearly 2,000 productions, dating from 1974 to 1996 and originally rendered on 16mm and 35mm film, are identified on the more than 1,000 of the encyclopedic reference work. Many of the films were banned upon release by the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (French film review board). Each film’s listing includes a detailed data sheet supplemented by extensive notes, reviews and anecdotes.

Scholarly in tone and devoid of illustrations which might distract the curious, the book will appeal to genuine film buffs more than voyeurs.