THE DOMINA FILES ONLINE: THE INTERNET'S PREMIER DOMINA WEBSITE   Dominant, sadistic and sexually aggressive women have existed for centuries, but until recent times their existence was shadowed deep in societal awareness. It's only in the past few decades that the title 'Dominatrix' has become part of the publicly accepted vernacular. Literature such as Leopold von Sacher Masoch's 1870 publication, Venus In Furs, was possibly our first titillating glimpse at this burgeoning sexual icon. The Dominatrix was next heralded in kinky-but-prim sepia-tone photos, and prurient prose, in WWII-era English fetish erotica published in London Life. It was only after WWII, in the era of fetish artists and publishers like John Willie, Eric Stanton, Irving Klaw and Lennie Burtman, that our favorite ladies really came into any appreciable limelight. Her rise in public awareness built very slow and steady through the 1950's and '60s. The 1970's, however, bore her up on a wave of BDSM porn publications that had recently been legally allowed in mass distribution. The 1990's, of course, assaulted us with her presence thanks to myriad websites on the Internet.   Created in 1995, the original online version of The Domina Files was conceived for DDI magazine's website, www.DDIMAG.com. For more than 20 years, DDI has been the world's foremost print source for meeting the kind of kinky women that Sacher-Masoch and John Willie first told us about. When we threw the switches on DDI's web presence in '95 something new and fresh was called for. So, what could be better than vintage stories of whip women from decades past?   In the 8 years that DDIMAG.com existed as a subscriber-based web presence, The Domina Files department was easily its most popular attraction. Users of the site appreciated the comprehensive directory of current Mistresses, but what they exhibited the most enthusiasm for were the Mistresses from yesteryear. Well over 200 photo-illustrated Domina Files bios were published while DDIMAG.com enjoyed its tenure as a subscriber site.   Despite the eagerness of our readership to see each new month's Domina Files subjects, not all of the ladies we highlighted were overjoyed with this notoriety. Mistresses who were already dead, or of an advanced age, certainly didn't mind the historical remembrance. The problems arose with younger Mistresses who 'dropped out' for an extended period, but never bothered to let anyone know! Our DDI readers were interested in what happened to their favorite Dominatrix. One day she's aggressively promoting her SM studio and administering to her growing stable of slaves for fun and profit; the next she's packed up shop and vaporized, leaving everyone wondering where she went and why she quit? It speaks to the nature of many Dominas that they don't feel they owe anyone an explanation for their actions. When they disappear, their admirers are left empty and wanting. Naturally those adoring fans came to us, and to The Domina Files, to have their questions answered. When and where we could, we posted what non-sensitive information was available to us. Usually this was okay with the Dominas, but there were a few instances where the lady in question became quite unhappy. This usually occurred once she decided to re-enter the SM job market, pretending nothing had changed and her three year disappearance had never happened! If telling the truth is a sin, then I guess we have sinned now and then.   The Domina Files took a different tack early in 2003. With the ever increasing popularity of the Internet professional Dominas all over the world had gained remarkable independence in terms of their own self promotion. Young and old alike, they were quickly educating themselves to use this meteoric medium for direct advertising, as well as for alternative sources of revenue and artistic expression. Our subscriber-based DDIMAG.com website was no longer salient, therefore we stripped it down to it's current day profile and did away with subscriber access. Now everyone can access the directory listings of DDI magazine, online, at no cost. Unfortunately, as a free site it was no longer reasonable to maintain the labor-intensive archive of Domina Files postings. Subsequently we switched delivery systems and began publishing upgraded, more complete Domina Files bios in an on-going DDI magazine feature by the same name. This began in 2003 with DDI's first re-combined world edition, issue #49. The Domina Files remains to this day an exceedingly popular aspect of our best-selling magazine!   The idea for recording the Domina Files to video, and presenting it via mass distributed DVD marketing began in 2006. Several readers of DDI asked if we had any plans to make a television version of the Domina Files? What they were hoping for, unrealistically, was that we might have oodles of film, or early video footage, in our archives from decades ago and create historical documentaries. This was flattering but naive. Home video systems weren't even invented until the 1980's. Decades previous to the '80s, Super 8 film footage of simple nudity, let alone bondage and flagellation, was particularly difficult to get developed without going to jail! You could ask Irving Klaw about this if he were still alive! These queries did however set us to thinking. Why not turn The Domina Files clock forward and do with modern day Mistresses - and DVD - what we have done for bygone Mistresses on our DDI website, or in print in DDI magazine? The wheels started turning and before the close of 2006 we sent our video crew to several major cities in Europe. The result was a dozen exciting Domina Files productions "in the can," ready to release in 2007!   This modern, recorded version of The Domina Files is a simple but exciting concept. Ripped right from the pages of DDI, we invite select Dominas who advertise in our magazine to star in their very own DVD! Like a fly on the wall of her dungeon, we unobtrusively document authentic SM, bondage and fetish play between the world's most experienced Dominas and their real life slaves! Each Domina Files DVD consists of 4 or more distinctly different scenes, each in a unique dungeon setting. Running time for each DVD is at least one hour, often closer to an hour and a half! The more fetish fashion-oriented Mistresses change their leather, latex and exotic footwear scene-by-scene! Interspersed with these elaborate and lengthy action sequences of bondage, corporal discipline, suspension, humiliation, role play and fetish eroticism, our Domina Files camera documents the interiors and equipment in each dungeon chamber and captures candid interview moments with the ladies we so admire!   What makes The Domina Files DVD's different from most run-of-the-mill BDSM productions is the exacting authenticity we pour into each title, the wide variety of international Mistresses and dungeons we'll take you to visit, and the unmatched availability, worldwide, resulting from our 25 years of distribution expertise in the fetish publishing business. DDI magazine and our own long associations with professional Mistresses going back 50 years and more make The Domina Files possible. We sincerely hope you enjoy this unique series of DVD's! DOMINA FILES 37 DOMINA FILES 38 DOMINA FILES 39 DOMINA FILES 40