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Sex
Despite the accessibility of erotica, audiences still seek out the more substantial approaches to sex that only narrative cinema can offer.
Here you’ll find the full array, from Sixties-era cautionary tales to incisive art films that scrutinise the theme of sexual obsession.
Anatomy of a Pin-upAnatomy of a Pin-up
Documentary 1971 30 minsDirector: David Cohen
This documentary explores attitudes to nude modelling in Britain - models, photographers and members of the public express their opinions.
Bad TimingBad Timing
1980 122 minsDirector: Nicolas Roeg
Nic Roeg's complex, elusive cult classic is a Vienna-set tale of all consuming passion, starring Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell and Harvey Keitel.
Caught LookingCaught Looking
Drama 1991 35 minsDirector: Constantine Giannaris
Years before Grindr, a gay man turns to virtual reality to satisfy his sexual fantasies in this strangely prophetic short film.
Central BazaarCentral Bazaar
Drama 1976 142 minsDirector: Stephen Dwoskin
Five strangers explore their fantasies over a period of five days in Stephen Dwoskin's remarkable experimental film.
Eden and AfterEden and After
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 98 minsDirector: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s sensual fantasy follows a group of students who enter a bizarre sado-masochistic realm after taking a mysterious drug.
FascinationFascination
Horror 1979 82 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Jean Rollin’s best-known film is the most full-blooded of his vampire tales, teeming with sex and lavishly filmed gore scenes
Immoral TalesImmoral Tales
Anthology 1974 103 minsDirector: Walerian Borowczyk
Walerian Borowczyk presents four stories of sexual taboos throughout the ages, in his highly controversial classic of 1970s erotic cinema.
Interior. Leather Bar.Interior. Leather Bar.
2013 60 minsDirector: James Franco and Travis Mathews
James Franco and Travis Mathews recreate explicit footage cut, rumoured to be lost, from one of the most notorious gay features ever made.
Kelly + VictorKelly + Victor
Drama 2013 90 minsDirector: Kieran Evans
In modern Liverpool, a couple meet and begin a transgressive, sexually charged affair set against a background of crime and encroaching danger.
King of EscapeKing of Escape
Comedy 2009 90 minsDirector: Alain Guiraudie
A film about tractors, aphrodisiacs and forbidden love from Alain Guiraudie, the Cannes award-winning director of Stranger by the Lake.
The Lickerish QuartetThe Lickerish Quartet
Drama 1970 88 minsDirector: Radley Metzger
A decadent couple and their son invite a circus stunt-woman back to their castle for an evening of erotic games, role-play and revelations.
MaitresseMaitresse
Drama 1976 113 minsDirector: Barbet Schroeder
Gerard Depardieu plays the young innocent who falls for the mysterious maitresse Ariane (Bulle Ogier), a leather clad dominatrix, in Barbet Schroeder’s controversial film.
MoreMore
Drama 1969 116 minsDirector: Barbet Schroeder
The first feature by Barbet Schroeder (Maîtresse, The Valley), More created a sensation when it was released in 1969, quickly becoming a cult classic and famed for its Pink Floyd soundtrack.
NighthawksNighthawks
Drama 1978 113 minsDirector: Ron Peck
A schoolteacher juggles everyday life with nights spent cruising for Mr Right in this fascinating landmark in British gay cinema
Nighthawks 2: Strip Jack NakedNighthawks 2: Strip Jack Naked
Documentary 1991 91 minsDirector: Ron Peck
Ron Peck’s experimental follow up to the groundbreaking Nighthawks is both a making-of documentary and a deeply personal film memoir.
The Nude VampireThe Nude Vampire
Horror 1969 85 minsDirector: Jean Rollin
Jean Rollin’s second vampire film is a mesmerisingly surreal art-horror, short on logic but steeped in gorgeously sensual imagery.
ProstituteProstitute
Drama 1981 98 minsDirector: Tony Garnett
Explicit and controversial drama. An ambitious working girl moves to London hoping to securing wealthier patrons, while her social worker friend fights to change antiquated prostitution laws.
Red RoadRed Road
Thriller 2006 110 minsDirector: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold’s highly acclaimed film, winner of top prizes at Cannes and the BFI London Film Festival, is a haunting drama about a woman confronting past demons.
StripStrip
Documentary 1966 26 minsDirector: Don Defina, Peter Davis and Staffan Lamm
Documentary about the lives of the women who work at a striptease club called The Phoenix on Old Compton Street, in the heart of Soho in the swinging sixties.
Successive Slidings of PleasureSuccessive Slidings of Pleasure
Drama 1974 106 minsDirector: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s serpentine erotic mystery presented as a surreal investigation into a woman with feared sexual powers.
Trans-Europ-ExpressTrans-Europ-Express
Thriller 1966 95 minsDirector: Alain Robbe-Grillet
This stylish, cult 1966 erotic thriller stars French New Wave icons Jean-Louis Trintigant and Marie-France Pisier.
TwinkyTwinky
Comedy 1970 94 minsDirector: Richard Donner
Richard Donner directs this unlikely romance between a 38-year-old writer of erotic novels (Charles Bronson) and a 16-year-old schoolgirl (Susan George). After marrying and absconding to Scotland, the pair finds it hard to adjust to life together.
Visions of EcstasyVisions of Ecstasy
Drama 1989 20 minsDirector: Nigel Wingrove
Nigel Wingrove's experimental depiction of the erotic imaginings of the 16th Century Carmelite nun remains the only film ever to banned under Britain's blasphemy laws.
What Can I Do with a Male Nude?What Can I Do with a Male Nude?
Comedy 1985 24 minsDirector: Ron Peck
Ron Peck tests the thin line between pornography and art with his amusing rumination on the difficulties of showing the naked male form.
Woman of the DunesWoman of the Dunes
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 147 minsDirector: Hiroshi Teshigahara
Hiroshi Teshigahara's mystifying, serene and provocative fable about an entomologist who becomes trapped in a young widow’s desert shack.