Feature: The Power Of The Vagina + The Almighty Penis @ Portobello Film Festival

Rosie Cowling reports from this year’s Portobello Film Festival, and tells us all about ‘The Power of the Vagina and The Almighty Penis’; a series of filmed conversations looking at views of sexuality in the Caribbean and universally…

Whether your ‘gun’ is loaded or your ‘punanny’ pays the bills, we all talk genitals (though mostly in a pejorative sense). In two frank documentaries which brought the house down at the Portobello Film Festival [1] in London (in September), director/producer Jimmel Daniel and co-producer Renee Pollonais explored Caribbean perspectives on male and female sexuality.

“LadySaw was talking to the audience about how she pays rent, bills etc... She said it was through the power in her ‘punanny’. I think that video clip just motivated the concept and the need to explore the issue further”

In a series of filmed conversations with ordinary Trinidadians and Tobagonians, feminists at The University of The West Indies and one seriously funny male sex therapist, ‘The Power of the Vagina and The Almighty Penis’ looked at views of sexuality both in the Caribbean and universally. They scrutinize the sexual symbolism within Caribbean culture which echoes modern sexual platitudes; the penis as a destructive force, and the vagina as a trophy item, for men to triumph over and for women to manipulate.

Some of the women are riled by talk of the enduring concepts of male sexuality that they see as oppressive. Others claim to ‘know’ the power their punanny has, and their menfolk laugh knowingly at talk of their girlfriends and wives withholding sex from them.

Issues of sexual ownership (men’s of women’s, women’s of their own) lays the groundwork for much of the films’ discussions. Pollonais cites a Youtube video of Dancehall queen, LadySaw, as inspiration:

“LadySaw was talking to the audience about how she pays rent, bills etc, whilst patting her hand on her ‘punanny’. She said it was through the power in her ‘punanny’. I think that video clip just motivated the concept and the need to explore the issue further.”

For LadySaw, her vagina is her paycheck. Whether she is exploiting her body or a male desire for it, is debatable, which is the very point of the two films. For Jimmel, the way female and male sexuality is framed by violence in Caribbean dialogue, is often interpreted wrongly; as indicative of aggression, rather than of potency and physical characteristics:

“A phallic object like the penis when erected needs to be referenced by a symbol of power or potency. It is a perfect representation of a penis, when hard, to refer to it as a gun or dagger.”

The Power of the Vagina and The Almighty Penis uses a soundtrack of Dancehall to echo the social and sexual notions the films explore. Dancehall’s lyrics are raw, with unapologetic, highly-sexualized language. It deals with sexual prowess, money and power.

“Cock and pum pum, we all know what they are. No tricks there”, says Renee. “Dancehall allows people to express their sexuality without feeling ashamed. It makes sex accessible.”

In a Caribbean framework, The Power of the Vagina and The Almighty Penis speak of the sexual dialogues that commonly endure; female sexual oppression, male sexual performance and penis size. The films exploded when they premiered in London, with an entertaining and engaging take on sex talk. It’s no great surprise really. As Jimmel so succinctly puts it, “at the end of the day, sex is sex.”

Words: Rosie Cowling
Photo: Flickr user frances-anne solomon [2], of Jimmel Daniel and producer Renee Pollonais