Gay & Lesbian Times: You’ve come a long way since A Family Affair. What inspired you to make the change to lesbian erotica?

Helen Lesnick: Well, A Family Affair was not intended to be erotic; it was a family comedy. I traveled all over the world with A Family Affair, and even in Europe we got requests from lesbians for more erotic films. Plus, all the lesbian [erotica] we saw always had lots of candles, and wasn’t really expressing lesbian sexuality. So that was really the catalyst for making a film – to make an erotic film that wasn’t trying to emulate male porno, because I don’t think that’s what women want. They want a story, they want a relationship, and that’s what Inescapable provides.

GLT: I hear the film is pretty steamy. I know of a gay guy who watched it and said it even turned him on a little bit. Has that been the common response?

HL: Actually, it’s funny – I was talking to a heterosexual woman the other day who had seen the film, and she said she was replaying one scene – it’s a shower scene – over and over again in her head. I think it’s portrayed in such a way that it’s erotic for humans, all types.

GLT: What has the response been to the film so far?

HL: We’ve gotten really good feedback so far and looking at some of the scenes, even I say to myself, ‘Wow, that hasn’t been done before!’ One criticism that we’ve gotten a few times that came as a total surprise to us is, in the film, the two women having this affair are both in relationships, and some people have responded that we shouldn’t show cheating in the lesbian community. And my first reaction is that it’s a movie, and considering the fact that the divorce rate among heterosexuals is 50 percent, I don’t think infidelity is a unique issue to our community. As with everything, there is going to be a spectrum – we are just not a cookie-cutter kind of people.

GLT: Why should women come out to the film festival and see this film?

HL: I think it’s really important for lesbians to understand that unless the industry sees them as a box office audience, lesbian films won’t get made. So it really is essential that lesbian audiences go out and support films that reflect them and that are basically being made for their benefit. For years, gay men have been supporting their cinema, and I think lesbians need to do that, too.