THE SARNOS: A LIFE IN DIRTY MOVIES will be the “CineKink Season Opener” selection for the eleventh annual film festival, CineKink NYC, running February 25-March 2, 2014.
The documentary is a love story about legendary sexploitation director Joe Sarno, “the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street,” and his wife and collaborator Peggy. Following the couple for a year, as 88-year old Joe struggles to get a new project off the ground, the film’s intimate perspective reveals a filmmaker’s golden years and a quest for significance, while providing a look back at the evolution of softcore films into the hardcore porn that all but put the Sarnos out of business.
“I always knew that Joe and Peggy, and their relationship, would be a big part of the film,” said director Wiktor Ericsson, describing how he became involved with the project. “I fell in love with them before I knew anything about Joe’s filmmaking: ‘Imagine your favorite grandparents, only they make sex movies!'”
“I’ve been a long-time fan of Joe Sarno’s films, and the way they capture the abandon and hedonism of a particular time and place,” said Lisa Vandever, co-founder and director of CineKink. “What struck me here was the poignancy of a man looking back at his life, and working to revive what had once given him a sense of purpose and relevance.”
The Sarnos / Trailer from DIVISN on Vimeo.
THE SARNOS: A LIFE IN DIRTY MOVIES will screen on Wednesday, February 26, 7:00 PM at Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue, NYC), where the majority of the festival’s screenings are also unfolding. Immediately following, at 9:00 PM, CineKink will present THE BED AND HOW TO MAKE IT, a black-and-white classic from Sarno’s early, New York-centered prime, which follows the sordid goings-on that transpire when a young woman goes to work as a chambermaid in her aunt’s motel.
CineKink NYC kicks off the previous evening, Tuesday, February 25, with a gala fundraising kick-off party at Taj Lounge (48 W. 21st St., NYC), and runs through Sunday, March 2, concluding with an awards ceremony and an AfterGlow closing party.
Known as the “kinky film festival,” CineKink NYC will again feature films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality. With offerings drawn from both the independent cinema world and the adult, works presented at the festival will range from documentary to drama, comedy to experimental, slightly spicy to quite explicit – and everything in between.
The screening of THE SARNOS: A LIFE IN DIRTY MOVIES is made possible by Film Movement, which will be distributing the documentary sometime next summer. THE BED AND HOW TO MAKE IT is courtesy of DistribPix.