LOS ANGELES — Kelly Madison Media’s “Women of the Middle East” has received a spotlight from Vice.com, calling it the “first feature-length hijabi- and niqabi-centered porno.”
Vice writer Mark Hay conducted a Q&A with Madison, who co-produced with her husband Ryan, about the inspiration for the movie which mines controversial territory.
Set to hit the streets Wednesday through Juicy Entertainment, the movie features porn performers adorned in various types of traditional Middle Eastern veils and indulging in their forbidden carnal desires.
The film stars Pakistani-American performer Nadia Ali and Arabelle Raphael, who is half Iranian and half Tunisian, as well as ethnic performers Nikki Knightly and Karmen Bella portraying Middle Eastern women in different veils, including hijabs, niqabs, and burqas.
Madison said the production was inspired by performer Mia Khalifa’s notoriety this year stemming from a Bang Bros scene that portrayed a mother-daughter Muslim duo in a scene with the daughter’s biker boyfriend, all wearing hijabs.
“[My husband and I] were talking about the Mia Khalifa incident,” Madison told Vice. “She basically went from having a hundred followers on Twitter to, after she did this scene... her Twitter basically exploded. With it came a bit of a backlash, but we thought: Okay, that's cutting-edge. How do we approach it in a way where it's not just taking a girl in a burqa doing a gangbang?
“I wanted something with a little more intelligence.”
Madison said that while the movie is supposed to be “titillating,” it’s not intended to offend.
“Not condemning the Muslim religion, but showing that it's sexually suppressing for women not being able to show their bodies, being hidden. So we thought we'd hit on that taboo... with an undertone of social commentary,” she said.
For the full interview, click here.