Promoting Sexual Literacy

Promoting Sexual Literacy Through Sexuality Films

Mark Schoen, PhD, is building a virtual library of sexuality films, SexSmartFilms.com. “Without films and photos your only frame of reference for sex is your own sexual experience,” says Schoen.

Schoen recently visited PHS to share his vision for SexSmart Films. Launched in June 2008, SexSmart Films serves therapists, educators, and individuals. Schoen’s goal is that one day this resource will serve professionals in a manner akin to peer reviewed print sources. Currently over 100 films are available for viewing. The films cover a variety of sexual health subjects and are geared toward a range of audiences. Schoen’s goals are to preserve the history of human sexuality and create innovative and accurate educational tools.

Schoen received his PhD in sexual health education in 1980, and he has been creating and archiving sexuality films since 1974. His path began as a health education teacher charged with the task of teaching STD prevention to junior high and high school students in New York. He quickly realized the disservice of teaching students about sexuality in the context of disease. In an effort to create an accurate sex education program, he started taking classes in sexual health at NYU. Photography had long been a hobby, and as he worked on his PhD he met others who were producing sexual health materials including filmstrips and 16mm films. He worked on the revised slide shows for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s educational course About Your Sexuality with Deryck Calderwood of NYU. Schoen was hooked. He returned to teaching high school for a brief period, but soon the call of film making changed his career. Schoen realized, “The sexual health films I create reach a much larger audience than I did in the classroom. Producing also gives me the freedom to educate on a wide range of sexual health issues.”

Schoen has produced more than 50 sexual health films that have been broadcast, used in clinical settings and universities, and seen by the general public around the world. He is author of the award-winning children’s sexual anatomy book and video, Bellybuttons Are Navels . His productions have included projects for SIECUS, Sinclair Institute, and Planned Parenthood. Schoen has won six prestigious Telly Awards, as well as other noted film awards for producing and directing in the sexual health field. His film Betty Dodson: Her Life of Sex and Art won Best Feature Documentary at FilmOut San Diego 2008.

Enjoy your 10-day pass to the SexSmart Films library by going to www.SexSmartFilms.com. Click on the film that you wish to view and enter the following information in all lowercase type:

Username: phsnews
Password: sexuality