Les fantômes du hard – Chapters 1 & 2

Event has passed ICA,

Desire leaves traces – on bodies, in memories, in the flickering frames of old VHS tapes. Les fantômes du hard is a journey through these remnants, an attempt to reconstruct a lost history of hardcore sexuality in Marseille. From the legendary Mineshaft, France’s first hardcore BDSM club, to the rediscovery of its forgotten archives, this story is one of resistance, desire, and ghosts that refuse to fade.

Marseille, 1967. In the dim corridors of Mineshaft, leather gleamed under red neon, and bodies moved in silent, primal understanding. More than a club, it was a refuge – where pleasure and pain intertwined, where the unspoken found expression. Edited from old BDSM porn VHS tapes, this archival film explores a world captured in grainy footage. From homemade tapes shot in Marseille to U.S. productions, it traces the genealogy of SM imagery, diving into underground corridors of troubled and deviant sexualities. For decades, Mineshaft stood as a witness to an underground world, immortalised in secretive VHS tapes. Then, silence. The club faded, its history buried beneath time. Yet some ghosts never rest.

In August 2022, a group of squatters entered an abandoned building in Marseille. Inside, they uncovered the forgotten remnants of Jean-Pierre’s life – hidden among decaying papers and neglected VHS tapes – a treasure trove of the Mineshaft founder’s archives. Piece by piece, they began to uncover a history of pleasure, transgression, and community. Guided by a voice-over, they navigated Jean-Pierre’s intimate space, uncovering a story of defiance and desire, preserved in the materials he left behind.

Curated by Marta Calderón.
Followed by a conversation with Lazare Lazarus.

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