Come tryst with us!

CineKink's Tawdry Summer Tryst!

Tuesday, August 5th - 8 pm
The Red Room @ KGB Complex
85 E. 4th Street (@ 2nd Ave)

It's our fifth anniversary and we'll be mixing it up at The Red Room to celebrate! Cozy up to a new best friend, sink back into air-conditioned comfort and heat up with CineKink's anniversary revisit with a few of our favorite, recent hook-ups ...

TEAT BEAT OF SEX (Signe Baumane)
Three animated lectures on sex.

SALT (Campbell Farquhar)
A shared passion for food - and other things.

HIGHWAY AMAZON (Ronnie Cramer)
A meet up with bodybuilder Christine Fetzer, who earns her living traveling the country and wrestling men on hotel room beds.

IN YER ROOM (Bobby McNasty)
Ol' Blue Eyes never sang it quite like this.

THE PARTY (Jessica Rotondi)
A guy drags his girlfriend to a craigslist "Make-out Party," but soon discovers it wasn't quite what he expected.

HIGH INFIDELITY (David Hansen)
The filmmaker examines his own ideas about sex and love by venturing into the world of swingers, where partners are interchangeable and have virtually nothing to hide.

and

THE GOOD GIRL (Erika Lust)
Alex is a high-powered exec who thinks about sex a lot, but rarely acts upon her desires and never takes the initiative. Until now, that is.

Cocktails to follow, downstairs at KGB Bar.

More info and advance tickets - highly recommended - are here!

Boom-chucka-oy!

What do you get when you mix madcap Jewish humor with the Superstars of Seventies porn?

Find out when CineKink proudly sponsors a Kinky Jews presentation of A Touch of Genie, director Joe Sarno's long-lost tribute to a boyhood spent at raucous Lower East Side comedies (and an adulthood spent writing and directing some of the finest adult films to ever grace a grindhouse screen).

From the After Hours Cinema description of their recently restored classic: "Poor Melvin! His meddling mother is making him nutz. His only relief is the covert afternoons he spends at New York's notorious Times Square porn theaters. One day, Melvin discovers a genie in a bottle. What does he wish? To become his favorite porno superstars and indulge in wild sexual adventures with the sexiest women in sex film."

Starring Doug Stone as Melvin Finkelfarb and Ultramax - the First Lady of New York Porn! - as his yiddishe mama, along with over-the-top performances by porno greats Harry Reems, Tina Russell and Eric Edwards!

A Touch of Genie

Thursday June 5, 2008

Bar Opens: 9:00 PM
Film Begins: 10:00 PM

Q&A with Doug Stone following the film

Location: KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St. at 2nd Ave., NYC

Admission: $18, with advanced RSVP, $20 at the door
(Two drink vouchers included with admission)

RSVP/More Info: contact @ kinkyjews dot com

Of Ilsa and her ilk

A new documentary, Stalags, examines the pornographic paperbacks, featuring colorful depictions of buxom SS officers bending captives to their will, that cropped up in Israel around the time of the Holocaust trials in the early 1960s.

Claims by Max Mosley to the contrary notwithstanding - and as a subsequent slew of sexploitative titles will attest - Nazi iconography can pack a huge libidinous wollop. In a comprehensive review of the film, Lauren Wissot discusses the film's powerful dissecting of the phenomenon:

Simply put, this film is a revelation. Like the best investigative journalists, Libsker patiently sifts through each and every contradiction to discover that something that would seem so horrifically paradoxical on its face proves ultimately inevitable beneath the surface. How could Israeli Nazi pornography even exist, let alone be a widespread phenomenon? Stalags answers, “How could it not?”

Stalags open tonight at NYC's Film Forum and runs through 4/22.

Just 7,999,999 stories to go...

Many congratulations to CineKink alum Audacia Ray, whose new sexuality blog, Naked City, debuted this week at The Village Voice. While Audacia predicts that the blog will evolve over time, one feature that's already up and running is Naked City TV, a weekly video show intended to "document and explore the personal and professional lives of people for whom sexuality is central."

This week's episode, a profile of Porno Jim (CineKink '08/Hookin' Up) and his live, porn-clip show, manages to capture both the engaging frenetics of Jim's evangelistic presentations - and a few graphic moments of live-action Smurf-on-Smurf pornography:

CineKink NYC Photo Round-Up

Lest we take as long with getting these photos out as we spent on finally putting together our wedding album, herewith a few images from CineKink NYC 2008!

First up, from photographic phenom Stacie Joy, some shots of the CineKink Kick-Off Gala.


Lux Alptraum and Molly Crabapple


JZ Bich, Dizzy Swank, Cherry Bomb, Ignacio Rivera

Here's more of the set - or visit filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff's blog for another vantage.

And a few candids from around the festival taken by Viviane for Viviane's Sex Carnival:



Boymeat and Lolita Wolf


Cory Silverberg, Jamye Waxman & Candida Royalle

And back to Stacie Joy, for still more of the CineKink scene:


Tanya Bezreh and Rachel Kramer Bussel


CineKink's "Women Behind the Lens" panel

Including proof positive for the parents back home, no neglect - our birthday was celebrated indeed!


Lisa Vandever's birthday!

And the award goes to...

As promised - though slightly delayed by the lingering and distracting effects of our Afterglow - a variety of CineKink NYC awards were announced at our awards celebration on Sunday night!

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS - "CineKink Choice"
CineKink Choice awards, which go to feature-length works in competition during the festival, were determined by audience balloting at the close of each eligible work's screening. The 2008 award winners are:

CineKink Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature:
"Call Me Troy" (Scott Bloom, 2007, USA, 100 minutes)

CineKink Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature:
"Viva" (Anna Biller, 2006, USA, 120 minutes)

CineKink Choice Award for Best Experimental Feature:
"Silken Sleeves" (Maria Beatty, 2006, USA, 50 minutes)

CineKink Choice Award - Honorable Mention:
"Triple X Selects: The Best of Lezsploitation"
(Michelle Johnson, 2007, USA, 48 minutes)


JURY AWARD FOR BEST SHORTS - "CineKink Best"
CineKink Best awards, which go to short works in competition during the festival, were determined by jury deliberation and ranking. The 2008 award winners are:

CineKink Best Narrative Short:
"Who's the Top?" (Jennie Livingston, 2005, USA, 22 minutes)

CineKink Best Documentary Short:
"Coming Out Spanko" (Tanya Bezreh, 2008, USA, 15 minutes)

CineKink Best Animated Short:
"Teat Beat of Sex" (Signe Baumane, 2007, USA, 4 minutes)

CineKink Best Experimental Short:
"Closer" (Aitor Echeverria, 2007, Spain, 7 minutes)
-tie-
"Salt" (Campbell Farquhar, 2006, New Zealand, 3 minutes)

Honorable Mention/Best Experimental Short:
"Crossing" (HP Comings, 2007, USA, 19 minutes)

CineKink Honorable Best Mentions:
"Office Mobius" (Seung Hyung Lee & Seungil Hwang, 2007, USA, 5 minutes)
"Something About Nadia" (Erika Lust, 2007, Spain, 21 minutes)
"Wash Me Clean" (Michael Immerman, 2008, USA, 30 minutes)

This year's jury included Thor Stockman, creator and presenter of the popular film clip program "S/M at the Movies," Viviane, ring-leader of the sex blog, "Viviane's Sex Carnival, and Bill Woods, a film festival programmer and curator of the New Filmmakers series at Anthology Film Archives.


SPECIAL FESTIVAL AWARD FOR ARTISTIC INNOVATION - "CineKink Select"
"Schwarzwald" (Richard Kimmel, 2007, USA, 59 minutes)


FESTIVAL AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY DEPICTION OF KINK & SEX IN MAINSTREAM FILM & TELEVISION - "CineKink Tribute"
Recognizing extraordinary depiction of kink and sex in mainstream film and television, the annual CineKink Tribute was presented to:

"Shortbus" (2006, USA, 106 minutes)
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Screenwriter: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Jay Brannan, Peter Stickles and Justin Bond.
Producers: Howard Gertler, John Cameron Mitchell and Tim Perell
Executive Producer: Wouter Barendrecht and Alexis Fish
Distributor: ThinkFilm

CineKink Tribute Honorable Mentions (aka The CineKink Nod):
"Lust, Caution" (Focus Features)
"The Oprah Winfrey Show - 237 Reasons to Have Sex"
"Zoo" (ThinkFilm)

Many thanks and congratulations to this year's CineKink award winners - and to all of our uber-talented filmmakers!

Activism, exploration and a girl-girl double-header!

Really, what else is there?

Up at CineKink tonight, first at 7 pm, from CineKink award-winner Scott Bloom ("Original Pride" Audience Choice, CineKink/2005), it's the New York premiere of CALL ME TROY, an inspirational and moving tribute to gay activist and spiritual leader, Reverend Troy Perry. Perhaps best known as the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church - the first church to recognize the spiritual needs of the gay community - Perry has long been on the front lines in leading the charge for equality and protections for all. And, a proud leatherman, he's also been an unwavering proponent for the God-given right to embrace and explore our sexuality - just exactly as we are.

More info and tickets!




Friday/9:15
At 9:15 PM, SUSAN FOR NOW is a first-person account of a woman reclaiming her sexual freedom after a ten-year period of self-imposed celibacy. Following the filmmaker's personal quest through the sex-positive community in Seattle and into the world of sadomasochism, the film also provides insights into the hearts and minds of articulate and sincere individuals from every walk of life, and how they practice BDSM in a consensual and responsible manner. Also playing is THE LEATHERMAN, in which Norwegian S/M activist Svein Skeid takes to the streets (and dungeons) of Oslo, and the world premiere of F/F, a visit to Folsom Street and beyond with three-time-CineKink alum, Charles Lum!

More info and tickets!



Friday/11:15
And at 11:15 PM, it's SEX MANNEQUIN and SUPERFREAK, a shape-shifting, body-swapping double-header of girl-girl adventures. First up, from Maria Beatty, a mannequin comes alive to the stroke and kiss of her mistress, ready to passionately serve - and to take - in a variety of kinky ways. And then, from Shine L. Houston, the lascivious spirit of a certain funk singer crashes a girl-girl party, inhabiting the bodies of its participants and creating much erotic mayhem.

More info and tickets!

Hey, kids, it's exploitation night!

We're just getting started - still plenty of time to jump on board – and tonight at CineKink it’s a hot double-bill of steamy exploitation!

First up on Thursday, at 7:00 pm, it's TRIPLE X SELECTS: THE BEST OF LEZSPLOITATION, an international feast of lesbian-exploitation highlights from the 1960s and '70s, presented in all of their notoriously twisted glory. Accented by music reflecting the era and featuring a wacked-out scientific commentary, a compilation of selections from over twenty films brings together and re-appropriates Swedish wildcats, Italian lesbionic nuns, frisky inmates in South American prisons, Euro vampires - and a vast assortment of other Sapphic grindhouse frolics. Plays with the kinky shorts PILLOW GIRL and HIGHWAY AMAZON, along with the world premiere of three-time-CineKink alum T. Arthur Cottam's DIRTY WORDS: THE LETTER C!

More info and tickets: right here!

Then, at 9 PM, it's VIVA, the sordid tale of a bored housewife who gets swept up in the sexual revolution, a highly stylized film that draws on classic exploitation cinema for its look, characters and story-line. Saturated to the hilt with vibrant color and exquisitely detailed in its depiction of the period and the genre, it follows the adventures of Barbi who, abandoned by her perfect Ken-doll husband, is dragged out on the town and into trouble by her "women's lib"-spouting girlfriend. An innocent in a sea of wolves, Barbi becomes "Viva" and quickly learns a lot more than she ever thought she wanted to know about the wild 1970s - nudists, swingers, hippies, orgies and lesbians - oh, my!

More info and tickets - and check out that trailer!

CineKink kicks off... Tuesday!

Put on your shiny finery and come help us kick off the fifth annual CineKink NYC in proper style!

A pansexual celebration of epic proportions, in addition to music, performances, free cocktails and a kinky fundraising raffle, our opening night gala will feature screenings of these special cinematic wonders:

SCHWARZWALD
A rich, modern tapestry combining elements of Druidic ritual with the passionate, leather-clad goings-on that transpire at NYC's annual Black Party, Schwarzwald follows the travails of the Black Prince as he is pursued through the woods and kidnapped by the nefarious underlings of the conniving Black Queen. Starring Buck Angel, the world famous female-to-male transsexual porn star, along with a cast of literal thousands, this is a sumptuous visual feast. And, featuring a continuous mix of music, truly the movie you can dance to! (Or not - remember, "whatever you're into!")











plus!
TEAM QUEEN
The best of New York burlesque in a gender-bending, fire-breathing, tassel-twirling, post-punk rock 'n roll prom!









and

A DOG'S TALE
Sensuous and layered, a black-and-white reverie on control and submission, longing and desire.









Featured performers for the evening include:

Dizzy Swank - putting the burly in burlesque !!!
JZ Bich – gender queer diva !!!
Ignacio Rivera – artist & activist !!!
Cherry Bomb – the queen of cream !!!
Jessica Delfino - ribald chanteuse !!!


Plus, a special raffle to benefit the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom!

Prizes include:
* An exclusive Schwarzald-edition ticket package to the Black Party!

* Complimentary weekend registration for Dark Odyssey's upcoming WinterFire!


Tuesday, February 26th - 8:00 pm

Location:
Taj, 48 West 21st Street, NYC

Admission:
$20 door/$15 advance; students/seniors $12, advance only.

More info & tickets are here!

The Sissies ride again!

Nearing the end of our count-down of CineKink trailers redux, we'd be most remiss to overlook these petticoated crowd-pleasers!



From CineKink NYC 2006, again our many thanks to on-screen phenoms - Sissy Carol, Sissy Stephanie and Sissy Terri - and to the editorial genius, Steve Ovenden, for bringing our tender creative visions into such vivid existence.

And perhaps at CineKink NYC 2008, a chance to see the Sissies again - but this time as celebrities in our midst?

Happy Valentine's Day, you hora!

As we continue to count down the trailers to CineKink NYC 2008, this entry, You, Hora!, is from "the wedding year" series of 2005. Also referred to by our sometimes better half as "the year you kinda just phoned in the trailers."

Hey, you try to plan a wedding and a film festival to fall within six weeks of each other!

Come together (or come apart)

Last night, as part of our Valentine's Ode to the Orgasm, we were supposed to screen Kirby Ferguson's climactic video, Come Together (or Come Apart). Unfortunately, due to technical circumstances that might have actually been within our control were we not also in the midst of yet another Mercury in retrograde, we were unable to do so.

So, as promised to those very intrepid souls who braved a blustery mix of rain and snow to pack the Pioneer Theater - and for the rest of you pussies who stayed home, all cozy and warm - here it is!



Kirby is, of course, a two-time CineKink alum, whose previous offerings with us include last festival's award-winning Do You Take It...? and the very popular Polly Wally in 2005.

A Valentine's ode... tonight!

Get out of the cold and heat up real quick with our Valentine's ode to the sweet miracles of the orgasm. Then just a brisk skip around the corner for a celebratory cocktail or two!

Tuesday, February 12 - 7 pm



ANNIE SPRINKLE'S AMAZING WORLD OF ORGASM
Annie Sprinkle reflects upon the incredibly diverse aspects of the orgasmic experience and introduces twenty-six "orgasm experts" who have, over the years, taught her some key piece of knowledge about the fascinating topic. (photo credit juliancash.com

Plus the climactic shorts!

COME TOGETHER (OR COME APART)
At long last, attention is paid to the plight of the sextoy-less.

MY PUSSY IS MAGIC
The lovely Jessica Delfino sings it on home!

BLONDE ISLAND: FUNK ME
Dr. Suzy presents an erotic look at the nature of sex and the folly of war, exploding into pop star Orgasmical's performance of "Funk Me."

and

ANNIE'S FAMOUS FIVE-MINUTE ORGASM
This excerpt from the feminist sex film classic, SLUTS AND GODDESSES, documents Annie's experience of a historic and mind-bending orgasm.

Joining us for the screening and a Q&A to follow will be directors Matt Davis and the ever-boisterous Dr. Suzy Block, along with the lovely songstress, Jessica Delfino.

All this, plus an afterparty at China 1!

More info and tickets are here!

Don't we deserve the truth?!?

In honor of Super Duper Tuesday, today's selection from the CineKink trailer archives dates back to those heady, hopeful days of 2004...



Vote early and vote often!

Counting down with the classics

As we count down the days until the premiere of CineKink NYC Trailer 2008, we thought we'd dip into the archives and share a few classics. Starting with the beginning...



Where'd that pudding-wrangler get to?!?

Are you ready?

More info - and much more - coming soon!

Here we are!

As you're hopefully well aware by now, CineKink NYC is getting set for its fifth annual appearance February 26-March 2, 2008, again bringing you a specially-curated program of films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality.

While we fine-tune and finesse the last details of the program line-up, to be announced next week, be sure to block out your calendar so you don't miss a single second of the CineKinky wonders!

Tuesday, February 26
8 pm - Kick-Off Gala & Opening Night Screening

2/27 - 7 pm/Screenings @ Anthology
2/28 - 7 pm/Screenings @ Anthology
2/29 - 7 pm/Screenings @ Anthology
3/1 - 1 pm/Screenings @ Anthology
3/2 - 1 pm/Screenings @ Pioneer(!)

Sunday, March 2
7 pm - Awards Celebration
9 pm - AfterGlow


Alright... back at it!

The Cabinet of Maria Beatty

Just a little taste of the delights in store for those of you joining us tonight!

An evening of elegant kink

Join us tomorrow for a New Year's double-header of works from Maria Beatty, each offering up the director's signature "erotic noir" style and depictions of a ride between pain and pleasure at the hands of a beautiful temptress. And then around the corner for a cocktail or two.

The Elegant Spanking







The Seven Deadly Sins








"Beatty makes porno into fetishistic film noir; imagine a kinky Louise Brooks, a sadistic Marlene Dietrich (who's the top?), and some nipple clamps and hot wax, and you're beginning to get the idea."
- Tristan Taormino, The Village Voice

Screening:
Tuesday, January 8 @ 7 pm
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 E. Third Street (@ Avenue A), NYC
212.591.0434

Cocktails:
China 1
50 Avenue B (@ 4th Street), NYC

More info and tickets are here!

Come out with The Wet Spots!

Tonight...

Come out with The Wet Spots!!

A fundraiser for CineKink NYC, join us whatever your kink (or not?) and celebrate National Coming Out Day in swank style with our favorite kinky cabaret duo!

Back for another command CineKink performance, the Wet Spots will again be treating us to such melodious musical marvels as "Bi-Curious George," "Piggy Pile" and "Labia Limbo," along with their internet music video smash hit, "Do You Take It?" and some brand-spanking-new material.

All that, plus cocktails, a very sexy raffle - and the pleasure of your company!

For more info, advance tickets and a peek at their music video...

Tonight...

CineKink @ Pioneer/Tuesday, October 9th @ 7 pm

Liberty in Restraint










"A fascinating programme that provides much insight into the nature of BDSM and the communities involved. Its style is frank and revelatory but also refreshingly non-judgemental."
Tony Mitchell - Skin Two #52

More info, tickets and a preview trailer are here!

Bite the Apple!

As part of New York Leather Weekend, CineKink presents a fundraiser for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom ....

Friday, October 5th – 9 pm

CineKink, "the really alternative film festival," presents a special screening of film and video shorts from New York directors for a celebration of kinky Gotham. Dark and gritty, sleek and sophisticated, seamy and ... well, come and take a bite for yourself!!

On My Knees
Directed by Kim Wood, 2003, USA, 13 minutes.
Culled from the secret diaries of Hannah Cullwick, a Victorian fetishist and “maid-of-all-work,” a life of unabashed deviance is traced.

DragonLily
Directed by Napoleon Lake, 2005, USA, 21 minutes. On a stroll around Greenwich Village, DragonLily discovers Steven Speliotis' book Asia Bondage and is transported to her own explicit fantasy world of intricate bondage.

The Black Glove
Directed by Maria Beatty, 1996, USA, 30 minutes.The flame of the candle that illuminates and torments, reveals the wondrous form of the willing slave, whose haunting, wide eyes and full, parted lips recall the classic silent screen goddesses.

Meat
Directed by Joe Gallant, 2005, USA, 7 minutes.
A meditation on love in the crosshairs, the post-mod tectonic power-shift so visible in contemporary relationships.

Plus, for the first-time ever altogether!
CineKink Trailer Redux
Directed by Lisa Vandever, 2003-06, USA, 10 minutes.Since its start in 2003, CineKink has featured various NYC scene illuminaries in the trailer that runs before each festival program. With titles including Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding, CineKink Veterans for Truth, You Horah! and Sissies Gone Wild! - who do you know?!?

For more info!

CineKink-at-a-Glance

We've had so much going on in our New York calendar lately, it's been hard for everyone (especially us!) to keep on top of where we are when. And October's looking especially hectic...

Friday, October 5th - 9 pm
CineKink's "Bite the Apple!" @ New York Leather Weekend

Saturday, October 6th - noon
CineKink scopes the scene at NYC's Poly Pride Day Picnic
(and, energy permitting, Poly Pride dance that evening)

Sunday, October 7th - 2 pm
CineKink @ New York Leather Weekend's Street Fair

Tuesday, October 9th - 7 pm
CineKink @ Pioneer - LIBERTY IN RESTRAINT

Thursday, October 11th - 8 pm
NEW! Save the date for a special CineKink appearance by The Wet Spots!
More info coming soon...

CineKink @ Midnight... tonight!

Back by popular demand after its recent sold-out screening, the Pioneer Theater and CineKink team up to bring you these special midnight encores - Friday and Saturday night - of Pornology New York.

Don't miss out this time!

Submit to CineKink!

CineKink is seeking films and videos, of any length and genre, that explore and celebrate the wide diversity of sexuality. We're looking to blur some boundaries and will be considering offerings drawn from both Hollywood and beyond, explicit or not, with works ranging from documentary to drama, camp comedy to hot porn - and everything in between.

Cutting across orientations, topics covered at CineKink have included — but are by no means limited to — BDSM, leather and fetish, swinging, non-monogamy and polyamory, roleplay and gender bending. Or, frankly, given the current moralistic climate, as long as it involves consenting adults, just about anything celebrating sex as a right of self expression. (Far be it from us to define “kink” — if you think your work might make sense in this context, please send it along!)

Scheduled for its fifth annual appearance February 26-March 2, 2008, the specially-curated CineKink NYC will also feature a short film competition, audience choice awards, presentations, parties and a gala kick-off, with a national screening tour to follow.

Film and video submissions have an early, discounted deadline of October 15, 2007 and a final deadline of November 15, 2007.

For more information and to download an entry form, go here!

Tuesday...

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - 7 pm

The Pioneer Theater and CineKink team up to present another evening of kinky movies, pizza and beer.



"Born in a Barn is a model documentary on the subject, a respectful study that pays homage to the subculture without sugarcoating or sensationalizing it."
- Gary Morris, Bright Lights Film Journal

"Anyone who harbors a private kink should see this film."
- Abby Ehmann, Eros Zine

BORN IN A BARN
(Audience Choice Award - Best Documentary/CineKink 2004)
An intimate and sometimes humorous look into the extraordinary erotic lives of four seemingly ordinary people. Delving deep into the world of ponyplay, the fast-growing fetish in which enthusiasts roleplay as human ponies and handlers, this documentary explores the complex motives that drive this particular passion and reveals how identity can be found in the pursuit of unconventional desire. (Directed by Elizabeth Elson, 2004, USA, 50 minutes.)

Plays with SHINE: CONFESSIONS OF A RUBBER FETISHIST, a funny, thought-provoking and unapologetic visit with Shine, who goes to work everyday, plays chess, likes to dress in rubber and craves being whipped by his friends. (Directed by Karine Baczynski, 2003, USA, 28 minutes; Best Documentary Short/CineKink 2003.)

Free pizza and beer reception follows for all ticket holders!

More info and tickets!

Pain, passion and the old grey lady.

Catching up with an article by ST VanAirsdale in today's New York Times entitled "Passion for Film Spurs New Festivals, but Grueling Work Keeps Them Going," we find ourselves staring off at the wall and nodding in mute agreement. Running a film festival is haaaard. (Though, we must admit, not nearly as hard as the mind numbingly week-upon-week "temp" data entry gig we once endured.)

An interesting overview of how the festival circuit has come to replace traditional distribution for many independent filmmakers, the article also touches upon the reward that - for us, anyway - helps propel us forward, the pleasure of connecting a work with its perfect audience.

For low-budget filmmakers New York festivals allow them to get their passion projects in front of committed moviegoers, all at an average cost of $40 per submission. Genre directors once banished to larger fests’ midnight-movie ghettos have flourishing outlets like the NYC Horror Film Festival or the sexually themed CineKink. Foreign-language works reach viewers at Polish, Cuban, Korean, Brazilian and other specialized series.

Coming up on our fifth go-round in February - slogging away, working so diligently these many years - we've often claimed that we "eat their mid-night movies for breakfast." It's delightful to have the old grey lady finally take notice.

Get your wonk on!

Tonight's the coming out party for Sex in the Public Square, a new blog/social networking site put together by Elizabeth Wood and Chris Hall.

A little more "about" them:
We believe that sexuality is a fundamental component of human life, and that it cannot be excluded from "polite conversation" without losing an important element of democratic participation. We are working to expand the space available for discussions of all aspects of sexuality, and to build communities where respect and inclusion are the norm. We also believe that talk about sex needn't always be "serious" in order to be "appropriate" and we welcome playful conversations that focus on the fun of sex as well as serious conversations that focus on things like policy, safety, and identity.

Taking place tonight and featuring readings by such perennial favorites as Rachel Kramer Bussel, Lux Nightmare, Audacia Ray - and perhaps even a CineKink morsel or two - more info on the launch is here.

CineKink's Tawdry Summer Tryst !!

It's our anniversary double-header - kinky movies followed by one wild after-party!

CineKink's Tawdry Summer Tryst - Part One!

Kinky movies @ Pioneer Theater
Tuesday, August 14th – 7 pm

Cozy up to a new best friend, sink back into air-conditioned comfort and heat up with CineKink's anniversary revisit to a few of our favorite hook-ups!

Sullivan's Last Call






Untitled First Porno





Haircut





Harigata: The Alien Dildo That Turned Women into Sex-Hungry Lesbos






Hitchcocked





Headshot





A&O Department: Supply Nurse






CineKink's Tawdry Summer Tryst - Part Two!

Kinky party @ China 1
Tuesday, August 14th – 9 pm

This month, in the true spirit of tawdry, we're skipping the free pizza and heading straight for the cocktails. Instead, it's down the block and around the corner to the dark, opulent environs of China 1, where you can cozy up with still more of your new (and/or old) best friends and help celebrate CineKink's anniversary in proper fashion!

First drink is two-for-one for all ticket holders from our 7 pm screening, but don't feel like you have to skip all of the fun, just because you missed out on the movies. Come and join the action anyway!

More info and tickets!

Four nights of great sex?!

If that's the case, looks like we actually have a bit of catching up to do. Somehow in our July torpor we missed the announcement that the documentary series, Indie Sex, began airing this week on IFC.

Fortunately, it's cable, so last night's missed episode will be back around shortly (and again and again). But we'll be watching closely to see if any of the footage the crew shot at last year's CineKink kick-off gala with the fabulous Wet Spots made it past network censors and into the final production.

And, if we're not lying somewhere on the cutting-room floor, would we be more likely considered the "Taboos" type - episode #2, airing tonight! - or a bit more an "Extremes" sort of girl?

Tune in and find out...

Sell-out!

Many thanks to everyone who came out for last night's sold-out screening of Pornology New York at Pioneer Theater - and our sympathies to those who ended up getting shut out in the cold!

Fortunately, Viviane's Sex Carnival was on the scene to snap a few photos. Below, Lenny Waller, former front-man of the infamous Hellfire Club and one of the documentary's key subjects, contemplates a celebratory stogie, while director Michele Capozzi and CineKink's Lisa Vandever are stunned merely to have survived the melee. (Visit Viviane's flickr for the rest of the images.)





It was a thrill to have such an enthusiastic crowd pack the theater for the documentary, a rare glimpse into the city's historic sexual underground. And with talks of another - midnight likely - screening in the works, more will have just that opportunity.

And one last thought for next time - advance online tickets!

Tonight...

CineKink @ Pioneer/Tuesday, July 31st – 7 pm

"Pornology New York reinvents a time when anybody could go to Plato's Retreat, the Hellfire, Mindshaft, The Vault, the Anvil, Le Trapeze and even Show World, to indulge in their dirtiest, wildest fantasies and fetishes."
- Stephanie Sellars, New York Press

More info and tickets are here!

Take me to Monkey Town!

Find us in Williamsburg on Thursday night, as CineKink’s Lisa Vandever joins writer/filmmaker/blogger extraordinaire, Lauren Wissot, in co-curating Kinky Camp, a bit of celluloid debauchery for Monkey Town’s “Midnight Movies” series.

Thursday, July 26th, midnight

Monkey Town
58 N. 3rd Street
(bet. Kent & Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Come out early for a little tapas and DJ set, then stick around for a late night of cinematic perversity. We'll be heating things up with a few of our campiest CineKink favorites. Then Lauren will take over with, well, shhhh.... it's a secret!

In lieu of a trivet...

Happy housewarming to Viviane's Sex Carnival, as they settle in to swanky, new digs at http://www.thesexcarnival.com !

Be sure to adjust your blogroll, then stop in and give them your best...