Sex Diva Dares to Tell the Story Behind the Revolution

In an age when cinema often shies away from difficult conversations about sexuality, art, and freedom, Sex Diva strides boldly into the spotlight with a story that’s as provocative as it is profound. Directed by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt and inspired by Debora Attanasio’s 2013 book Don’t Tell Mom I’m a Secretary, the new independent film revisits the rise and fall of Diva Futura, Italy’s first adult talent agency, and the extraordinary family who redefined what it meant to be free.

Set against the backdrop of the 1980s and ’90s, Sex Diva unfolds like a cinematic fever dream: rich, sensual, and unapologetically human. At its heart is Riccardo Schicchi, the visionary photographer and provocateur who, alongside the world-famous Ilona Staller (better known as Cicciolina), blurred the boundaries between pornography, politics, and pop culture. From Cicciolina’s shocking election to Parliament with more than 20,000 votes to Moana Pozzi’s bid for mayor, the film captures an electrifying moment when Italy’s adult stars became symbols of artistic rebellion and political resistance.

Pietro Castellitto delivers a mesmerizing performance as Schicchi, imbuing the character with both the charisma of a showman and the melancholy of a man ahead of his time. Barbara Ronchi’s Debora, the secretary-turned-confidante, gives the audience its emotional anchor—a woman drawn into a world she never expected to understand, let alone love. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the ensemble of powerhouse actresses playing Diva Futura’s icons (including contributions from real-life legend Eva Henger) brings authenticity and reverence to this once-taboo subject.

Steigerwalt’s direction is daring and compassionate. She approaches her subjects not as caricatures of scandal, but as dreamers and idealists. These were people who believed that erotic expression could coexist with art, freedom, and love. As she explains, “Riccardo Schicchi wasn’t a pornographer in the way society imagines. He saw nudity as art and pornography as a tool to break cultural taboos.” That vision infuses every frame of Sex Diva, which balances beauty and heartbreak with extraordinary sensitivity.

Visually lush and emotionally layered, the film’s cinematography captures Rome’s vibrant underbelly - its studios, stages, and smoky nightclubs - with a nostalgic glow that mirrors the characters’ yearning for connection and meaning. Beneath its provocative exterior, Sex Diva is ultimately a love story about chosen family, creative freedom, and the price of cultural revolution.

Beyond its historical lens, the film resonates powerfully today, confronting urgent questions about how society portrays sex, who controls the narrative, and why pornography remains both omnipresent and misunderstood. “Porn is the second-largest entertainment industry in the world,” Steigerwalt reminds us. “Yet society refuses to talk about it.” Sex Diva not only forces that conversation, it does so with grace, courage, and empathy.

In short, Sex Diva is a triumph of independent cinema: provocative, poetic, and profoundly human. It’s a film that challenges, seduces, and ultimately moves us to reconsider how far we’ve really come in the fight to reclaim sexuality as an act of freedom.

Sex Diva is available for streaming today from Breaking Glass Pictures.