The Circuit

by Ed Meza
One foreign documentary has managed to titillate Rio fest-goers like no other, even days before its official premiere on Saturday.

German filmmaker Jens Hoffmann (pictured between Cleonice Comino and Ida Martins) wishes he had brought extra "9 to 5 - Days in Porn" t-shirts, so great has been the demand from cineastes and fest staffers alike.

Produced by Munich-based Brazilian Cleonice Comino and sold internationally by fellow Brasileira Ida Martins of Cologne-based Media Luna Entertainment, “9 to 5 - Days in Porn” is a rarity in Germany – a completely independent production without a cent of subsidy coin from the country’s normally generous film boards. The film offers a stark and objective look at the lives of porn stars and producers and the intense demands of their work. Despite its title and the prurient fascination it’s generated, “9 to 5” is anything but pornographic, says Hoffmann.

Hoffmann’s initial cut of the film, which is the one screening here, examines the porn industries in California'’s San Fernando Valley and the Czech capital Prague, but he’s in the process of making a shorter version that will focus solely on the American biz.

The subject matter and the title made it impossible for Hoffmann and Comino to receive a grant from Bavaria’s subsidy office, the FFF. “Just mentioning the word ‘porn’ made the wall rise. We were constantly explaining to people, we are not making porn; we are making a movie about porn. There’s a difference.”

Hoffmann says he was inspired by photographers such as Larry Sultan, whose book “The Valley” examines the transformation of middle-class suburban homes into stage sets for adult films.

It was a hard sell for potential coproducers, however. “At the beginning I had a treatment and a trailer that I shopped around in Germany looking for a coproduction and many people were interested. They agreed to coproduce and give us money, but they wanted that victimized Russian girl who’s getting traded around. All the stereotypes -- again! We didn’t see it like that. It’s not prostitution. That’s not what we wanted to shoot. And that’s when they all pulled out.”

Martins says the film challenges preconceived notions of the porn industry. “It doesn’t fulfill any expectations of the cliché. Jens’ work is very distant and observing. It’s impossible to watch an adult film in the same way after watching this film.”

Hoffmann spent a long time convincing his subjects of his sincerity and winning their trust. "The concept was to have a longer period of shooting so that you have a development of character guaranteed. That’s what I thought was the interesting part.”

In the end, Hoffmann invested his own money and managed to get support from industry giant ARRI, which offered post-production services. “9 to 5” went on to screen at the Montreal World Film Festival in August to packed theaters, attracting hundreds of viewers at the event and piquing the interest of major buyers like Canada’s Mongrel Media, which picked up all rights, and HBO’s Latin American pay TV channel LAPTV.

Hoffmann, who is heading for Southeast Asia for his next project, began his career shooting outdoor sports like mountain climbing and worked with German ski movie maestro Willy Bogner on the 2001 IMAX pic “Ski to the Max” before launching his own company, F24 Film. Since then he’s gone on to direct a number of award-winning documentaries, including 2006’s “Fatima’s Hand” and, more recently, “20 Seconds of Joy,” both about Norwegian BASE jumper and free skier Karina Hollekim.