The Critics Adult Film Association (CAFA) was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based group of

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

adult sex

film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

, which bestowed

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s upon those working in

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

during the 1980s. The awards were first presented in 1981, honoring the movies of the previous year. ''Talk Dirty to Me,'' a sex

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

starring John Leslie, who won Best Actor, was voted best film of 1980.

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...

was the first Best Actress, winning for her role in ''This Lady Is A Tramp,'' another sex comedy. ''

Amanda By Night Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much b ...

'', an adult crime-drama and ''Roommates'', also a drama, would become CAFA's most-honored movies, with the latter being presented with seven awards in 1983, including Best Director ( Chuck Vincent) and Best

Actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

(

Veronica Hart Jane Esther Hamilton (born October 27, 1956) is an American former pornographic actress and current adult film director who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart during the 1980s. She is sometimes credited as Jane Hamilton, V. Hart, Ver ...

). ''Amanda By Night'' scooped six awards the previous year in a ceremony "held at the famed Copacabana":"1981 Adult Film Critics Awards", ''Porn Stars: The Stag Erotic Series'' Vol. 3 No. 4, July/August 1982, pp. 6–9. Best Film, Best Actress (Hart), Best Supporting Actress (

Lisa De Leeuw Lisa De Leeuw (born July 3, 1958) is an American former pornographic actress. Career She appeared in over 200 films and was inducted into both the X-Rated Critics' Organization Hall of Fame and the AVN Hall of Fame. She also appeared in mag ...

), Best Director ( Robert McCallum), Best

Screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

and Best Editing. The CAFA and

Adult Film Association of America The Adult Film Association of America (AFAA) was the first American association of pornographic film producers. It fought against censorship laws, attempted to defend the industry against prosecution for obscenity, and held an annual adult film ...

awards were considered the major adult film awards of the

Golden Age of Porn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist/Archives/2018/01#Another_Worthy_Journal_Article_on_Wordpress ---> The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American porno ...

. By 1985, sex news magazine ''Cheri'' declared: "Held at the Silver Lining, a snazzy little

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods ...

on the

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

's Restaurant Row, the fifth-annual Critics Adult Film Awards was a gentle reminder that porn films can be measured against standards other than the Peter Meter.""CAFA Capers: The N.Y. Critics Salute Porndom's Finest", ''Cheri Magazine'', October 1985, pp. 24-27. The seventh CAFA Awards were presented May 27, 1987 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

.Will H. Jarvis, "The 7th Annual CAFA Awards: The X-rated stars cum out at night!", ''Cinema Blue'' magazine, Vol. 4, No. 8, November 1987, pp. 6-9. The association seems to have faded away after that, as did the New York-based adult film industry, overtaken by the

X-Rated Critics Organization The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) is a group of writers and editors from the American adult entertainment industry who each year present awards in recognition of achievement within the industry. After the controversy and criticism of the ...

and its Heart-On Awards, which had first been presented two years earlier and which were based in California, the new centre of porn production. In 1986 all three awards programs chose the same Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.Bill Bottiggi, "The 10th Annual Erotica Awards", ''Stag'' magazine, December 1986, pp. 56-57.

CAFA Awards

The

trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

were called the Critics Adult Film Award and each was inscribed with the year the award was being given for, on a gold-plated round icon with decorative edges on a wooden base.Phot
(enlarged)
accompanyin

by Charles Shea LeMone, June 8, 2009. Retrieved 2012-05-22. In 1987, ''Cinema Blue'' magazine described the voting as a two-stage process: "CAFA President Jack Shugg and officers Steffani Martin, Colette Connor and Will H. Jarvis, aided and abetted by the members of CAFA...mail out two ballots to the New York porn critics. On the first ballot, the critics make five choices for best movies and performers in each category. (This year, any film or video released between January 1, 1986 and February 28, 1987 was eligible.) The ballots are then mailed back and the officers and their assistants count them. The choices with the most votes are then listed on a second ballot and again mailed to the critics who make one final choice in each category. These votes are once again tabulated and the movie or performer in each category with the most votes becomes the winner." Winners are listed below by the year in which the awards presentation was held, not by year the award was for, which was the previous year.

Best Film

Best Actress

Best Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Best Director

Best Erotic Scene

Other Categories

Like the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, CAFA also honored the best in various production categories. For example, at the awards show held in 1985, ''Every Woman Has a Fantasy'' scooped up

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

and music awards, ''Raw Talent'' polished off top honors for editing prowess and Sandy Amsterdam's production design and ''Talk DIrty to Me III'' netted make-up and costuming kudos for

Traci Lords Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered the adult film industry using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult fi ...

' mermaid tail. However, unlike the Academy Awards, CAFA also presented awards in categories specific to the pornographic movie industry, such as Best Group Scene, bestowed in 1987 to '' The Devil in Miss Jones 3: A New Beginning'' with

Vanessa del Rio Vanessa del Rio (born March 31, 1952) is an American retired pornographic actress. Early years Vanessa del Rio was born Ana María Sánchez and raised in Harlem, New York, the only child of immigrants from Cuba and Puerto Rico. Her mother would ...

and seven studs. With the advent of pornography on video, a Best Adult Video award was created, won by

Candida Royalle Candida Royalle (born Candice Marion Vadala; October 15, 1950 – September 7, 2015) was an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography, pornographic actress, sex educator, and sex-positive feminist. She was a member of the XR ...

for ''Urban Heat'' in 1985 and ''Christine's Secret'' in 1987. The annual

Gerard Damiano Gerardo Rocco "Gerard" Damiano (August 4, 1928 – October 25, 2008 ) was an American director of adult films. He wrote and directed the 1972 cult classic '' Deep Throat,'' which starred Linda Susan Boreman ''aka'' Linda Lovelace. He also dir ...

Special Achievement Award, named after the producer, writer and director of the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

cult classic '' Deep Throat'', went to actress

Georgina Spelvin Shelley Bob Graham (born March 1, 1936), known professionally as Georgina Spelvin, is a former American actress and pornographic performer who is best known as the star of the classic 1973 pornographic film ''The Devil in Miss Jones'', released ...

in 1982, Erica Eaton, publicist and former CAFA chairperson, in 1985 and

Gloria Leonard Gloria Leonard (born Gale Sandra Klinetsky; August 28, 1940 – February 3, 2014) was an American pornographic actress during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984) who later became the publisher of ''High Society'' magazine. As a board member of ...

in 1987.

Notes

There is a discrepancy as to which movie(s) Tom Byron won for in 1985. ''Cheri'' magazine states "He managed to walk off with Best Actor (for ''Sister Dearest'') and Best Supporting Actor (''Talk Dirty To Me III'')". Internet Adult Film Database founder Peter Van Aarle lists ''Private Teacher'' as his Best Actor win and ''Sister Dearest'' as his Best Supporting Actor award. In the book ''The X-Rated Videotape Guide II'', author

Robert Rimmer Robert Henry Rimmer (March 14, 1917 – August 1, 2001) was an American writer who authored several books, most notably ''The Harrad Experiment'', which was made into a film in 1973. The recurring theme in almost all of Rimmer's writing w ...

states, "In May 1987, the CAFA (a New York film critics group) gave ''Snake Eyes II'' awards for Best Script (Anne Randall), Best Actor (Jerry Butler, who also received it for the original ''Snake Eyes''), and Best Director (Cecil Howard)."Robert H. Rimmer
''The X-Rated Videotape Guide II''
p. 522. Prometheus Books, 1991. However, this seems unlikely as ''Snake Eyes II'' was not released until 1987Data for ''Snake Eyes 2'' was taken from th

and it contradicts two other sources that list Butler and Howard winning in 1987 for ''Star Angel'' and no category called Best Script. Possibly ''Snake Eyes II'' won the following year, however, there doesn't seem to be a record of whether any awards were held in 1988.

References

External links

IMDb: CAFA Awards
Partial listing of film awards handed out by the association {{adult entertainment awards Sex industry in the United States American pornographic film awards Adult industry awards American pornography Awards established in 1981 American film awards