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Focusing on the observations and experiences of former porn actress Raffaela Anderson (who also went on to star in Virginia Despentes' controversial Baise-Moi), La Petite Morte explores the French porn industry and its efforts over the years to gain mainstream acceptance.
Porn stars appear on French TV chat shows, adult-film producer Francis Mischkind talks enthusiastically about the attributes of his latest star and other key industry insiders such as director John B. Root argue porn's artistic and creative merits—all of which point to the greater acceptance of pornography as a genre. Raffaela's own experiences as a pom actress, however, counterpoint the positive spin and tell of suffering and exploitation. After her audition as an 18-year-old virgin, Raffaela's four years as a porn actress would end when she was raped by two fans, after which she suffered the legal injustice of her profession being used successfully as a defense.
As director Emanuelle Schick delves deeper into the issue, interviewing key players, we are presented with a number of conflicting views on the credibility of the industry and its practices. An alarming and insightful film.