After the second screening, imbd's Arno Kazarian stayed and chatted for a little bit.
He said that when covering Sundance, they pick one Slamdance film each year to review. This year it was Graphic Sexual Horror.
Thanks a lot!

http://www.imdb.com/features/sundance/2009/blog

"I walked up the long, sloping hill of Park City's Main Street to Slamdance's HQ, where the limits-pushing documentary Graphic Sexual Horror screened.

GSH offers more than a glimpse into Insex.com, the now-defunct "violent porn" website created of a man who only goes by Brent or his screename pd. Original footage and interviews with Brent/pd, former Insex employees (including models and production staff), as well as a metal worker known as KGB result in much more than a BDSM primer, for GSH delves into the individual personalities, how they relate to what I would call the Insex groupthink, and how sexual desires entwined with the ability to make thousands of dollars from either a photo shot or a live feed, the former being an endurance test (for models and audiences alike) in which a woman such as Lorelei Lee (who was in attendance and was also one of the subjects of an excellent recent short, Tale of Two Bondage Models, with former Insex model Princess Donna) could make $1,000 per hour -- with bonuses -- provided Insex members were blown away by her myriad abilities to receive pain.

Directed by former Insex producer Anna Lorentzon and writer Barbara Bell, their respect for Brent/pd and the Insex models is obvious, though they refuse to tell their audiences what to think (a rule every good documentary follows, right?). I think GSH could be tightened up toward its conclusion, because the fact that Insex was forced to cease operation through use of the Patriot Act gets a bit muddled. But their grandest achievement is the creation of a work that is impossible to dismiss or forget. GSH exists to rattle the repressed thoughts that rest deep within most of us.

The impression I was left with (thus far): Among other things, Brent is a short filmmaker and performance artist who is as relevant as someone such as Ron Athey at his most notorious. He's also an Internet maverick, since Insex began in 1997 as essentially one of the first online fourms for BDSM enthusiasts. Does it bother me when he refers to his former models as "girls"? Did I want to close by eyes during both the water immersion scene? The answer to both is yes, but that is my limitation, and it needs to be reconciled with the fact that Insex was always a safe, sane, and consensual enterprise between willing adults.

Yes, this is a tough work to watch, but it is more compelling and rewarding than any other documentary I have seen in years. I stand by the notion that film festivals -- especially Slamdance and Sundance -- should constantly challenge their own programming ideas, as well as the boundaries of their audiences. Graphic Sexual Horror is hard to top in this respect.

by Arno Kazarian"