Sexuality: Dude, there's something going on!

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Sex in old age - this is finally no longer taboo: ten years ago, the director Andreas Dresen brought his film "Cloud 9" on the market, in which the 70-year-old Inge and the soon 80-year-old Karl fall in love - and sex to be shown. Today, even pharmacy counselors point out the salutary effects of Seniorensex: the circulation gets going and the metabolism gets going. The body produces the stress-reducing cuddly hormone oxytocin and endorphins that increase our happiness.

And it is fun. At least that's the case with the British Annie and John, both over 70, who are now in front of the camera in a new film production.

John and Annie met online dating in 2013, it was love at first sight. So far, the story sounds like a seniors romance for the Sunday evening on ZDF - but now sex comes into play. His way of sleeping together is what the couple calls Soulsex. And because it is convinced that many more people should go this way, the two planned a pedagogical documentary on the subject.

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Where women are allowed to moan more than

In their research, they came across the Swedish porn director Erika Lust. They wrote her an e-mail that began with the words, "We are John and Annie and we believe that there is another form of sex." She ended up offering to become the protagonist of her next film.

Erika Lust, you know, is not a porn director in the traditional sense, but the pioneer of feminist erotic films. For almost 15 years she has been mixing up the male-dominated porn industry with her productions. In their films, women are no longer moaning objects that are reduced to their genitals in close-up, but individuals with their own sexual needs.

It is only logical that the Swede now stages a new fringe group. "Society has convinced us that old people are unimportant, and older bodies are largely absent in the adult lifestyle industry," says Lust. "Pornography has never been known for its cautious approach to marginalized groups, and so has older actors."

Once a day Soulsex

That's why Lust was ready to produce the movie "Soulsex with John & Annie". In the first half she lets the two tell: about herself, her first encounter, her love. The two make beautiful compliments and laugh a lot. Every day, they talk happily, they have sex, sometimes several times, but definitely every morning.

One is tempted to persuade oneself that senior citizens simply have a lot of time - and they are always awake so early, why should the senile bed escape not even drive you to the other side of the rest camp?

But it's worth listening to when John and Annie talk about their experiences. The "Soulsex" is not about erections and orgasms, but about mindfulness and relaxation. It does not count results, but rather the attempt to "connect with the Divine," as the spiritual John says.

If the penis does not play along

How this works, shows the couple in the second half of the film, here begins, so to speak, the practice part. John and Annie start with a kind of prayer full of declarations of love. They hold each other tightly in their arms before moving to the horizontal. Then these aging bodies will love each other with full illumination. Erika Lust has not retouched or over-made, you can see wrinkles and body retention and moles. But everything is aesthetic, it feels right - but the question could arise, why the divine is not just a private matter.

In addition to the protagonists and the plot something else differentiates this film from all comparable productions: It lacks the erect male member. "John's penis did not want to play in front of all the cameras and the crew," explains Annie. "That did not stop us both from having a wonderful experience, and it shows that it is possible even if the man does not have an erection."

Whether a male porn producer would publish a sex scene in which the lead actor has no erection? Probably not, but it's also a man named John, who stands over exactly these questions and shows his true greatness.

Sexfilm with cuddle factor

For Erika Lust, the shooting with the over 70-year-old actors was a new experience. The two of them spent a lot of time touching, cuddling, holding and looking at each other. "The sex scene with John and Annie is completely different from most things you can see online," says Lust. "The film also clears up with the notions that the man must always have an erection, that sex is a match with orgasm as a goal, and that a man can not have an orgasm if his penis is not fully erected."

Is it then at "Soulsex with John & Annie" even a porn? "That was the only thing we were a little worried about," says John. "By definition, pornography is 'sexually explicit writing, visual or audio material intended to stimulate and excite the recipient.' But that's definitely not the intention of her film. "We rather want to inform those who are interested."

Wrinkles disappeared, kilos too

Erika Lust does not like the term porn anyway, for her he is associated with violence, chauvinism and machismo. She prefers to speak of "adult films," and the term fits.

And what about the positive side effects that sex has on the aging process, as suggested by various studies? John and Annie confirm it with joy: thanks to Soulsex they feel much younger, their skin has become softer, wrinkles have disappeared. "John lost 13 pounds and he does not have to take any blood pressure medication," explains Annie.

Friends and family who notice this often ask, "What are you doing?" Well, you can watch it for a fee on the Internet.