Marquesa – Portrait of a Dominatrix, The

This film sets the focus sharply on the often maligned and misunderstood world of sadomasochism. It gives us a glimpse into the life of the Marquesa, a Toronto Dominatrix who guides the audience on a journey through the SM community, its rituals and motivations. The marquesa explores and examines her own relationship to SM, and to the submissives that make the scenes possible. There is not a deliberate attempt to justify the practices of this unique sub-culture to the mainstream, but nonetheless, this piece and the Marquesa dismantle the myths and fallacies surrounding it by straightforward and frank talk. The piece itself is a collage of film, video and animated photgraphs. Aesthetically, it possesses a warm and appealing visual dynamic that stands in contrast to the images themselves. This, coupled with the charismatic narration of the Marquesa, and the formal metaphors that underlie the subject matter, discourage the audience from engaging in a merely voyeuristic experience, but rather force them to confront these tendencies in themselves, be they initiated or not.