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Waxie Moon

After a day spent at the rooftop topless pool, yes, life out here in the desert is that rough, we excitedly piled into a cab and made out way to the Onyx Theatre, located in the Commercial Center, for the first day of screenings.

Lisa Vandever & Dr. Carol Queen arrive at Cinekink Las Vegas

Yesterday’s schedule was Waxie Moon, Bring It, and My Sexuality: A Sensory Experience. The best thing about an alternative film festival, besides the rather obvious – seeing amazingly fresh films that explore viewpoints outside the “norm” – is the ability to interact with the artists directly involved in making these works. Seeing a film and then hearing the back story -what ran through the actor’s mind, why the director filmed a scene in that manner, what led producers with no formal training to start making films – really helps you to look at what you’ve just seen greater understanding, bringing a new depth to the experience. If you have an insatiable intellectual curiosity, alternative film festivals are for you. So come on, Las Vegas, get your butts and brains down to the Onyx today because we have another day of amazing programming for you.

That said, I now have to gush about Waxie Moon. We first met Marc Kenison, in glorious Waxie regalia, glitter, lashes and a vintage suite everyone coveted, at the Erotic Heritage Museum for the wine & chocolate gala. But hearing him and director Wes Hurley talk about the film was truly one of the highlights of the day. Instead of talking about it, I’ll leave you with a Youtube clip of one of the many outstanding performances in the film.

After the film, Marc told us how he was uncomfortable that day, the stones made walking in high heels a challenge, the water was frigid and a random dog was tagging along making him nuts. And yet, once he saw the completed piece, how much he felt indebted to Wes for understanding the character even more than he himself did. Watch. And then search out Waxie’s other videos on Youtube and should you have the opportunity to see Waxie Moon, seize it.

Cinekink panel discussion at Onyx Theatre

A panel discussion, with Lisa Vandever, Jessica King, Julie Keck and Dr. Carol Queen, moderated by UNLV’s Dr. Lynn Comella, followed My Sexuality: A Sensory Experience, where we learned that this wonderful film which explored the sexual side of five very diverse women was a student project. Astonishing. Carol, by pointing out that the self esteem building experiences these women went through all focused on very traditional images of femininity, got me wondering what it would look like and what the women’s reactions would have been if in addition to learning pole dance and getting fitted for corsets, they’d been asked to butch it up.

And so begins another day. Albeit one that started two hours earlier then I would have liked. My Mac apparently prefers East Coast time and I jolted awake thinking it was 9:30 AM not the 6:30 it actually was. When she came back carrying our Starbucks venti bolds to discover my little timing error, Diva was not at all amused.

Today’s programming begins at 1PM and includes Yes, Mistress, a film shorts program that asks (and sometimes answers!) the question: “How may I be of service?” Swingers, S&M Judge and Best of Cinekink, a special screening of shorts deemed the year’s best. The jury-selected awards were determined during the latest run of CineKink NYC.

(Cross-posted on Tied Up Events)