James Franco and the Tight-Fisted Porn Star

James Franco is working on a top secret project with an up-and-coming female porn director, TMZ has learned ... and it turns out she has quite the reputation for being handy with her fist.

The woman in the photo is Princess Donna Dolore, who's featured in Franco's soon-to-be released film "Kink."

FYI -- Kink is a documentary about Kink.com ... a bondage website for the S&M community (like Rihanna) and also for people who enjoy peeing on each other (like R. Kelly).

Despite being in the film, Franco only met PDD for the first time in person last week ... and sources tell us, he has already locked her up to be a part of a future project he is working on.

During the encounter, PDD gave Franco an official Princess Donna Dolore shirt, which includes her trademark fist on the back.

James took it ... the shirt, that is ... and sported it proudly.