Saturday, 07 June 2014
until
Thursday, 12 June 2014
FEATURE FILMS
Peter de Rome Grandfather of Gay Porn
WORLD PREMIERE
Sun 8th June, 12:15 - Showroom 3
Wed 11th June, 17:45 - Showroom 3
Director: Ethan Reid | Producer: Alex Main | Country: United Kingdom | Year: 2014 | Duration: 97 MINS
During Peter de Rome’s lifetime, being gay has gone from a pathological disorder to an accepted part of human sexuality. At 90, de Rome’s sense of mischief has not diminished, and it’s easy to see how he might have charmed his way to those wonderfully illicit encounters that he has committed to film. His dreamy pornscapes evolved from brazen cruising experiences to the later genre mash-ups. The erotic thrill of getting caught and the joy of sex were only ever filmed for a small, trusted audience, liberating de Rome of a wider artistic burden and emboldening him to make some truly inventive, ground-breaking work. But word spread quickly about the films in the New York underground, attracting the likes of David Hockney and Andy Warhol to the viewing parties. Director Ethan Reid’s portrait of gay porn’s granddaddy celebrates his life and revisits some of the most orgasmic moments caught on film.
.jpg "Regarding Susan Sontag")
Regarding Susan Sontag
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Sat 7th June, 13:30 - Sheffield Library Theatre
Tues 10th June, 15:15 - Sheffield Library Theatre
Director: Nancy Kates | Producer: Rachel Antell | Country: United States | Year: 2013 | Duration: 98 MINS
Susan Sontag was an author, a social critic, a filmmaker, and an activist, though her preferred description would probably just have been “writer”: “someone who is interested in everything”. A formidable voice of the American political and cultural spheres, Sontag’s work defied the high-brow, patriarchal expectations of traditional academia and launched her into the embrace of New York City’s nocturnal art scene in the 1960s. Her brilliance gave form to the intangible — from the slipperiness of “camp” homosexuality to the “erotics” of art — as she battled her superego demands and physical desires. Forever ruffling feathers, she refused to concede to sexist, outdated presumptions and fought back with a fierce commitment to oppression. Award-winning filmmaker Nancy Kates chronicles the life of the first rock star intellectual in Sontag’s own words and images, as well as through interviews with the people who loved and loathed her best.
.jpg "The Dog")
The Dog
UK PREMIERE
Wed 11th June, 19:15 - Sheffield Library Theatre
Sun 8th June, 17:45 - Showroom 2
Director/Producer: Allison Berg, Frank Kerauden | Country: United States | Year: 2013 | Duration: 101 MINS
Brooklyn, August 22, 1972. Determined to secure a sex change operation for his lover, John Wojtowicz decides to hold up a bank. The chaotic afternoon that ensued was famously depicted by Al Pacino in the classic Dog Day Afternoon. Ten years in the making, directors Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren take us through Wojtowicz's unorthodox life, guided in large part by Wojtowicz himself, in the months before he died of cancer. A conservative Italian American and Vietnam vet, he was also a sexual pioneer undeterred by the social mores of the time, and an enthusiastic participant in NYC's fledgling gay rights movement, marrying his lover in one of NYC's first gay drag weddings, despite having a wife and kids. Aided by a still doting mother, the frank Wojtowicz looks back in fondness at the romantic passion that drove a series of bad decisions, earning him both national attention and a lengthy jail sentence.
.jpg "Goodbye Gauley Mountain")
Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story
UK PREMIERE
Wed 11th June, 15:15 - Showroom 3
Director: Beth Stephens, Annie Sprinkle | Producer: Beth Stephens, Xandra Coe, Annie Sprinkle, Jordan Freeman | Country: United States | Year: 2013 | Duration: 70 MINS
It's a practice as destructive as it sounds: Mountain Top Removal has to date decimated 500 mountains in the Appalachian Mountains, blowing the tops off mountains and pushing them into the rivers and valleys below. Ecosexuals Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle return to Stephen’s West Virginia homeland to visit those devastated by the practice, and heartbroken over its effect on the land that they cherish. Stephen’s family have mined coal since the 16th century, but now stand by helpless as MTR destroys their community. As leaders of the ecosexual movement, Stephens and Sprinkle consider nature as lover – espousing the eroticism of the natural world, cuddling up to tomatoes and conducting wedding ceremonies with the mountains. Their vows are ones that they hope will spread well beyond their small numbers -- promising to speak up, act out and raise hell about MTR, whilst making the environmental movement a little more fun and sexy at the same time.
What is Left?
UK PREMIERE
Sat 7th June, 11:00 - Showroom 3
Director: Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi | Producer: Gustav Hofer | Country: Italy | Year: 2014 | Duration: 74 MINS
After 20 years in power and a compilation of public gaffes only rivalled by George W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi is finally bowing out of Italian politics. Life partners Luca Ragazzi and Gustav Hofer examine a post-Berlusconi reality in their third collaborative quest for the modern Italian identity (Suddenly Last Summer and Italy: Love it, or Leave it?) — this time, through the country’s history of radical politics. Sidelined, marred, and compromised, the once-mighty Italian Communist Party has been whittled down to the current Democratic Party, a shell of its former self. In their signature reflexive, bicker-banter style, the filmmakers look back at their own upbringing to locate a bevy of political influences: parents, radio shows, the workers’ movement, comedians. Tailgating candidates and attending meetings of different political persuasions, they look for traces of the left today. As Europe’s “free” market proves itself to be a hoax, Ragazzi and Hofer reflect upon Italy’s past insurgencies.
.jpg "The Case Against 8")
The Case Against 8
Sat 7th June @ 19:00 - Showroom 2
Tues 10th June @ 10:00 - Sheffield Library Theatre
Director/Producer: Ben Cotner, Ryan White | Country: Israel, United States | Year: 2014 | Duration: 112 MINS
The euphoria that greeted California's first same sex marriages in June 2008 was all too short-lived. In November of that year - on the day that Barack Obama was elected president - a proposition to once again ban same sex marriages passed. The LGBT community fought this outrage by focusing their full energies on the highest court in the land - the Supreme Court. The determined legal team's secret weapon was a shocking one: Ted Olson, one of the most prominent conservative lawyers in the country and the man with the dubious distinction of having successfully steered George W Bush to the presidency in 2000. Shot over five years, we follow Olson as he brings together a cross-party team -- and two same sex couples who open up their lives to intense public scrutiny -- in this gripping story which earned Sundance's best doc directing prize for co-directors Ben Cotner and Ryan White.
Chemsex
Work in Progress
Wed 11th June, 10:00 - Showroom 2
Director/Producer: Will Fairman, Max Gogarty|| Country: Canada | Year: 2014 | Duration: 85 MINS
A powerful and unflinching exploration of a hidden health emergency in London’s gay community. Chemsex is a feature-length documentary with extraordinary access to the secret world of '’chemsex’' and "slamming” parties - where intravenous drug use and unprotected sex is fuelling a huge rise in HIV infections and drug addiction in the capital.
.jpg "Dog Day Afternoon")
Dog Day Afternoon
Sun 8th June, 20:30 - Showroom 2
Director: Sidney Lumet | Producer: Martin Bregman, Martin Elfand | Country: United States | Year: 1975 | Duration: 125 MINS
A desperate and crazed man with the help of an accomplice, takes a local Brooklyn bank hostage with plans to rob it in order to pay for his lover's sex-change operation. Al Pacino and director Sidney Lumet both picked up Oscar nominations for this 1975 classic.
The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome
Director/Producer: Peter de Rome | Country: United States | Year: 1972 | Duration: 98 MINS
In the late 1960s and early 1970s British-born New Yorker and unsung hero of gay underground filmmaking Peter de Rome produced a number of explicit, painstakingly crafted Super 8 films each of which took the viewer on an immersive sexual journey. In 1973, eight of these films were brought together as The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome producing one of the finest cinematic examples of the intersection of artistry and eroticism, in the tradition of Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger. Now released on DVD for the first time, these extraordinary films are accompanied by a new BFI documentary.
SESSIONS
Ecstasy, Breathing And The Creative Process
Wed 11th June, 10:45 - Other
Barbara Carrellas and Annie Sprinkle have travelled the world to learn new and ancient techniques to create ecstasy and bliss. They will share with you their favourite: Ecstasy Breathing and Energy Orgasms. It’s an artistic vision quest, a sexual healing session, an emotional cleansing, and a mind expanding shamanic journey all rolled into one yummy pleasurable experience. This technique can profoundly change your experience of your sexuality and its creative possibilities. Annie and Barbara will provide a safe, supportive, gentle, yet energized atmosphere. They have taught this technique to thousands of people of all ages, races, genders, backgrounds and beliefs. Although this is a participatory workshop, there will be no nudity and you will not be asked to work with a partner.
Making It Sexy – New Ways Of Unlocking Creative Potential
Tues 10th June, 19:15 - The Crucible Studio
What do you hope to achieve with your films? Social change? A paradigm shift? Worldwide peace and understanding? Now, how do you make all this happen? Struggle? Hard work? Long hours? Little pay? What if you could achieve your goals more effectively, efficiently and pleasurably? Barbara Carrellas, author of Ecstasy is Necessary, has spent the second half of her life discovering and sharing the creative magic that can happen with out erotic and spiritual purposes align. Barbara spent the first half of her working life as a Broadway producer and general manager, making art the old fashioned way – struggle, hard work, long hours, little pay. Then, on a quest to reinvent sex during the AIDS crisis, she and her best friend, porn star/performance artist Annie Sprinkle discovered the power and potential of Eastern sex practices. Barbara soon realised that the techniques that were transforming her sex life, were also lighting creative fires in the professional life. In this presentation, Barbara will discuss how modern versions of ancient erotic techniques can help you make your best, most effective art by allowing you to create from an ecstatic spirit. The same techniques that can open you to a healthy and joyful integration of sex and spirit can also be applied to any artistic or business challenge. In this inspiring, innovative presentation, Barbara will use a combination of brain science, Tantric and Taosist sex techniques, video clips, and humour to show you how getting your body, sex and spirit firing together can change everything, and produce stunning outcomes for you, your team and your films.
Other films to look out for....