Kristen Bjorn
Kristen Bjorn (12 October 1957 in London, England) is a British director and producer of gay pornographic films and a former gay porn film actor.
Kristen Bjorn | |
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Born | |
Years active | 1989–present |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Website | www |
Early life
Bjorn was born in London, the son of a Russian mother and a British father. He was raised in Washington, D.C., where his father was stationed as a diplomat. He has a brother and two sisters. In an interview conducted in 1997, Bjorn stated that only one of his sisters knows his profession as a maker of gay erotic films.[1]
After graduating from high school, Bjorn set out to travel widely, to places including Asia, India, and Europe. His career goal at the time was to be "a photographer for a magazine like National Geographic. I wanted to travel across the world and photograph people. I was really very interested in different cultures."[2]
Career
Bjorn arrived in San Francisco in 1978, where he encountered the gay community for the first time. "[I]t was all very strange to me."[2] Encouraged by the ideal of male beauty that he found in gay erotic magazines, Bjorn took up working out and paying attention to his own physique. Around 1980, he was photographed by Fred Bisonnes for Mandate magazine. This was followed by two appearances in Falcon videos: Biker's Liberty (Falcon Studios 30, 1983) and The New Breed (Falcon Studios 32, 1983). Falcon chose the pseudonym Kristen Bjorn for him due to his resemblance to the Swedish tennis player Björn Borg.[3]
In the foreword to a book devoted to Kristen Bjorn's work, director William Higgins wrote that, "[in] the relatively brief history of hardcore gay videos, Kristen Bjorn has emerged unchallenged as the best director to date."[4]
Filmography
- Director/videographer
- Tropical Heatwave (1989)
- Carnaval in Rio (1990)
- Island Fever (1990)
- Manhattan Latin (1991)
- Caribbean Heat (1991)
- A Sailor in Sydney (1992)
- Jackaroos (1992)
- Manly Beach (1992)
- Call of the Wild (1993)
- Montreal Men (1993)
- Jungle Heat (1994)
- Paradise Plantation (1994)
- Mystery Men (1994)
- The Caracas Adventure (1995)
- The Vampire of Budapest (1995)
- Comrades in Arms (1995)
- Hungary for Men (1996)
- A World of Men (1996)
- Gangsters at Large (1996)
- Amazon Adventure (1996)
- Manwatcher (1997)
- The Anchor Hotel (1997)
- Hot Times in Little Havana (1998)
- Thick as Thieves (1998)
- Wet Dreams 1 (1999)
- Wet Dreams 2 (1999)
- Making It with Kristen Bjorn (documentary) (1999)
- The Isle of Man (2000)
- Dreamers (2000)
- The Agony of Ecstasy (documentary) (2000)
- Men Amongst the Ruins (2001)
- Bone Island (2001)
- Crossroads of Desire (2002)
- Parashooter (2003)
- Males Tales (2003)
- Manville (2004)
- Fire Dance (2004)
- Rocks & Hard Places 1&2 (2005)
- El Rancho (2005)
- Skin Deep 1&2 (2006)
- Action! 1&2 (2007)
- Pride 1&2 (2007)
- Trouser Bar (2016)
- Wild Attraction
- Executive producer (with other directors)
- Hungarians (1997)
- Moscow: The Power of Submission (2000)
- Behind the Curtain (documentary, 2000)
- Italian Style (2002)
- A Sicilian Tale (2002)
- Out in Tuscany (2003)
- Under the Big Top (2003)
- Ambassadors of the Ice (2003)
- Journey to Greece (2004)
- Legion of Vengeance (2004)
- Hangar (2004)
Awards and nominations
- 2007 Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival Heatgay Award winner – Best Film (El Rancho – Kristen Bjorn), Best Director (El Rancho – Kristen Bjorn Productions), and Best Script (El Rancho – Kristen Bjorn Productions)[5]
- 2010 XBIZ Award nomination – Gay Studio of the Year (Kristen Bjorn Production)[6]
See also
References
- Jamoo & Bjorn (1997), p. 15
- Jamoo & Bjorn (1997), p. 17
- Jamoo & Bjorn (1997), p. 19
- Jamoo & Bjorn (1997), pp. 9–10
- "Winners of the 2007 FICEB Ninfa Awards", h.b., 10 October 2007, xstarsnews.com. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- XBIZ Announces Finalist Nominees for 2010 XBIZ Awards, XBIZ, Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Bibliography
- Jamoo; Bjorn, Kristen (1997). The Films of Kristen Bjorn. Laguna Hills, CA: Companion Press. ISBN 978-1-889138-00-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) This book offers a reliable account of Kristen Bjorn's life, views, and work until 1997. It consists of a series of interviews with Bjorn himself.
Further reading
- The Films of Kristen Bjorn, by Jamoo. With a Foreword by William Higgins (Laguna Hills, Calif.: Companion Press, 1997), ISBN 978-1-889138-00-8.
- Men of the World (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder, 2002), ISBN 978-3-86187-241-2. A collection of photographs by Kristen Bjorn.
- Men of Kristen Bjorn (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder, 2003), ISBN 978-3-86187-282-5.
- Stallions (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder, 2005), ISBN 978-3-86187-682-3.
- Body Heat (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder, 2007), ISBN 978-3-86187-860-5.
- Greats—Kristen Bjorn: Men of the World (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder, 2008), ISBN 978-3-86787-000-9.
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Wash West for Naked Highway |
GayVN Awards for Best Director for Man Watcher 1998 |
Succeeded by Jerry Douglas for Dream Team |