Porn Is So Boring
Deepest desires divulged, revealed and reveled in. Inner landscapes dress the screen. Erotic elements expressed, explored, erupt…in laughter, in intimacy, in orgasm…in leather, in wine, in slime. You might need to go into the anus to get there, let your pussy ravish cake as she pleases, or get sensationally fucked by a beautiful monstrous sculpture. In either case, go all in. This program reminds us to not fear the dark and the horrific, but rather recognise it as a space where we are at our most vulnerable and brave, and where the possibilities are endless.
Program curated by Tara Hakim
Tara Hakim is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist who creates public displays of vulnerability that invite the viewer to meditate on notions of self, multi-cultural identities, and spaces in between – both physically and mentally. Her first short film ‘Teta, Opi & Me” screened in festivals around the world, and won Best Documentary and Audience Choice at MOMO in Zurich 2019. Tara recently extended her work into the gallery space with a solo exhibition at Charles Street Video. Right now, she is developing a commissioned short film that explores the language of self-talk, while simultaneously undertaking her first acting role.
Partners
Films
The Holy Grail
Ethan Folk, Ty Wardwell,
It’s trial by goblet for this horny cup-bearer on his first day. Madame is thirsty and he’d better not spill a drop!
Ethan Folk and Ty Wardwell are nasty chefs who kiss. They have been serving New Queer Cuisine together since 2016. Their nine-film tasting menu began with Breakfast in Bed and will culminate with the feature length film MEALS in 2024.
STATE OF MIND
Donald C. Shorter Jr
“State of Mind” highlights the intimacy and beauty found through the experience of power exchange in BDSM/leather/fetish/kink.
Donald C. Shorter Jr is an artist, professor, drag queen, filmmaker, and activist. Shorter’s highly acclaimed film, “A Guide To Breathing Underwater” is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and has appeared in over a dozen film festivals around the world. Donald holds a M.F.A. in Dance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
vice versa
Julian Curico
Dancing towards his prey, Jamal is ready for his long awaited opening. Through extreme practices, this film is an intimate celebration of bodies and their expandable powers.
Julian Curico is a Berlin based video artist, photographer & filmmaker. His work often explores sex positive narratives through collaborative process. As a director of explicit scenes, he seeks to understand and support the individual desires of people in his projects and facilitate a space without shame or judgement.
Pulled by her
Anna Ivanova
The protagonist of the film is a Berlin-based queer performer, LoFi Cherry, who participates in the Berlin porn scene as an actor, producer, and workshop organiser. In this short film, LoFi Cherry first explains and then shows how she lets her pussy lead her.
Anna Ivanova is a porn studies researcher and filmmaker. She studied Visual and Media Anthropology and is currently conducting research on visual activism in queer pornography. She lives and works in Berlin.
positions
Justin Ducharme
“Positions” tells the story of a queer, Indigenous, male sex worker in Vancouver and is an unapologetic and realistic exploration of sexual desire, the quest for financial stability, and the pursuit of agency over one’s own body.
Justin Ducharme is a writer, filmmaker and curator from the Métis community of St. Ambroise on Treaty 1 Territory. He was selected as a fellow in the Sundance Film Festival’s 2022 Native Film Lab with his television pilot “Positions” based on his short film of the same name. He was the recipient of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Barry Avrich Fellowship and is an alumni of their 2021 Filmmaker Lab. He is the co-editor of Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers Poetry published by Arsenal Pulp Press. He currently lives and works on the Unceded Coast Salish Territory colonially known as Vancouver.
a good boy
Joseph Beeson
A short story about love and identity.
Joseph Beeson (he/him) is a Milwaukee based Filmmaker who loves exploring the world of analog video to paint a dark and humorous caricature of modern America. Integral in many of his movies are characters who struggle with personal crises of gender, religion, and both sexual and social identity.
Monster Dykë
Kaye Adelaide & Mariel Sharp
A transgressive portrait of desire shot on 16mm, “Monster Dyke” examines trans-lesbian love and longing with humour, heat, puppetry and a subversive twist.
Kaye Adelaide is a Montreal based filmmaker and alumni of the From Our Dark Side program (2019), as well as a recipient of The Diversity of Voices Initiative at the BANFF World Media Festival, and the SODEC Jeunes Createurs Development Program. Kaye has directed four experimental short films, as well as the critically acclaimed short horror comedy Don’t Text Back (2020).