Corti 1
Venerdì 23 - Ore 16:30
A woman is fed up with getting dick pics. Things change when she finds a pair of glasses thanks to which she discovers that men are giant phalluses, and they are not happy about that. A cheeky homage to John Carpenter’s They Live, this is a nightmare between horror and comedy, centered around gender issues and a reflection on toxic masculinity.
Inspired by Picasso’s Vollard Suite, Chaerin Im creates around the masculinity of the Minotaur a dance that results in a struggle between the masculine and the feminine. A crescendo in which lines blur, boundaries disappear giving birth to a new sexuality.
Twenty-three artists from around the world show and investigate their mad love of the earth and nature through one-minute videos. The result is the manifesto for the Ecosex movement, curated by legendary performer and activist Annie Sprinkle and artist Beth Stephens.
Scientists at the Institute for Gender Normalization make a sensational discovery that will disrupt and uproot the basic science of heteronormativity. A kitschy and explosive mix of science fiction and grotesque comedy against heterocentrism.
In a spa, a woman under the spell of a massage surrenders to desire. A warm and moist journey inside a universe of softness and sensuality, to the conquest of the masseur.
Somewhere between 9 Songs and Scenes from a Marriage, Miguel Alfonso’s work combines the fragments of an intimate love story, immersed in the everyday, of a young couple.
Corti 2
Sabato 24 - Ore 16:30
“How can we disorganise what we have learnt? How can we abandon the urge to classify, preserving the right to identification?” The director’s voice guides the viewer through this and other inquiries in a dissertation of one’s desires and past, which is anything but aseptic.
Gwen is a young girl who just turned 11. Everything around her – from tv programs to her dog being in heat – seems to push her toward the discovery of her sexuality; everything but her parents, who transform this finding of pleasure into a tender nightmare and a vindication of freedom.
Can a dating app help someone in processing his grief? In Le feu au lac, Félix faces his mother’s sudden death. Here sex is depicted as a union of bodies, portrayed with rare sensitivity. This short film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
She loves him; he loves her, but also those slightly porn films. Everything is normal, but online videos become addictive for Enrico, spiraling him into depression and isolating him from his peers. An explicit confirmation which unmasks the concept of obscenity with simplicity and tenderness.
Pleasure does not follow reason. When Adèle has to face the loss of her parents, she esperiences an everlasting orgasm. A sharp, irresistible comedy that flirts with the grotesque.
Corti 3
Sabato 24 - Ore 16:30
In a forest at night a man is blindfolded and tied up by two women. Shibari becomes an act of complete trust and a way to interact with nature.
A young camera operator and a porn actress are shooting a rape scene. When a male actor goes too far, the act of watching and recording becomes a stance that implies responsibilities, turning himself more into an actor than a witness of this decadent system.
A journey inside the Dutch ballroom culture. For the four “Sex Sirens”, being part of this community implies a more conscious outlook regarding what they desire and their sensuality. A colourful documentary following them on this journey of self-exploration, giving the viewer a better understanding of what it means to be a Sex Siren and why these safe spaces are necessary today.
Empty movie theaters. Ubiquitous sexually explicit messages. Premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, Next Picture reflects on social interactions and on the relationship between images and texts within spaces, scenarios and dynamics in continuous transformation.
From masturbation to sexual fantasies about a bartender, from bondage to being attracted to an androgynous girl: Thea’s erotic thoughts follow one another seamlessly. Nevertheless, even inside her imagination, there are obstacles to overcome. A lyric, ironic and grotesque catalogue of sexual practices.
Corti XXX 1
Venerdì 23 - Ore 14:30
Inside a pornographic set, Jamal Phoenix and Billy Vega generate an alchemy that fluctuates between distance and intimacy, subjectivity and external glance. Produced by feuer.zeug, a project that aspires to enhance the debate on the portrayal of sexuality.
The altSHIFT duo brings its alternative porn to the 5th edition of the Fish&Chips Festival: in a remote cabin, a nun (Nat Portnoy) releases an ancient love demon that possesses her, unleashing her pleasure. It’s not just a battle between purity and depravity, but also a gradual ascent to God through the body.
It’s a hot summer afternoon. A young man sleeps naked on his bed when his fantasies come to life, darting directly on his bare skin; until the peak of pleasure.
This film is Julia Ritschel’s debut for her XConfessions saga inspired by Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf, the first English transgender novel. Sulema Vasquez meets her trans lover KAy Garnellen in a long, liberating embrace, moving away from the conservative society that surrounds her.
Nina’s voice narrates her first experiences and sensations with Shibari rope-playing. Together with James, she generates an intricate harmony that encourages you to surrender to the game of emotions.
Corti XXX 2
Venerdì 23 - Ore 14:30
Terrorismo Teatral Migrante is a Chilean collective led by Maria Basura and Jorge The Obscene which practices “pornovandalism” as a form of political fight. This film is a provocative and uncompromising denunciation of the Selk’nam people genocide.
The pleasure of performing, playing with one’s own body and testing its limits. Active for more than two decades in porn cinema, Brazilian director Alexandre Medeiros preserves a proudly dirty style and the bold, passionate look of every true amateur.
Who eats who? Cavities can also be receptive entities, reacting to and actively participating during penetration. The hole eats, the phallus is devoured, swallowed, consumed and savored.
Who said that women can’t play music? Girl Gang proves the opposite: making music is not so different from making love. A lesbo-rock porn film in which even asexuality finds its place. Produced by Erika Lust.
Enter a steamy summer hookup in the afterglow porn Cravings. Starring Mickey Mod and Maxine Holloway — and her beautiful baby bump — this film explores how pregnant people can be sexual beings and horny AF. Viewers get the opportunity to watch a pregnant woman who is confident with her new body, while experiencing pregnancy cravings for food and sex.
Corti XXX 3
Venerdì 23 - Ore 14:30
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!
Wash Me is an intimate and hopeful portrait of a woman re-discovering her body and desire after breast cancer, directed by Rebecca Stewart and starring performers Victoria Rose and Jonte. Based on the director’s own story, this is the first explicit film in history to raise awareness about sex and breast cancer.
In an abandoned wild garden, water and plants give life to the statue of a naked man. This rebirth brings him close to his ancestors and to the garden he created to explore his sexual desires, which was a haven of peace full of mystery and beauty. A metaphysical space of intimacy for personal fantasies and erotic desires. Into the wilderness he goes hunting to be hunted.
A Botticelli made flesh, two artist’s models in the studio sitting for a painting, laid out in the sun. Marble statues draped in sheets, wetness and warm summer air, gold, green grass on skin, the hum of insects.
Beauty for beauty’s sake,
touch for the pleasure of touching.
Pure sensation, a Sappho poem come to life.
In the last chapter of the GODASSES trilogy, Emre Busse and trans porn talent Jamal Phoenix try to redefine body’s desirability, questioning the hegemonic society’s normative restrictions and the viewers’ ideas.
Norbert gives himself to Jan Soldat’s camera, recounting with intimate satisfaction how and why he castrated himself. A classic “Soldatan” documentary in which identity (and physical) necessities challenge the viewer’s gaze.
Corti XXX 4
Venerdì 23 - Ore 14:30
A metaphysical trip of self-awareness, from the seven principles of Hermeticism to the seven keys to master our lives. (Inspired by true fuckts).
The menstrual cycle has four phases and abcde Flash has mastered them all. She’s learned to recognize each phase by their needs, weaknesses, and strengths. From the oh-so-draining ovulation (a period of rest) to the absolute mind-fuckery of the luteal phase (social interactions can wait), she arrives at the follicular and menstruation phases, where creativity easily flows (and anything goes!). Grace. is an ode to abcde Flash’s understanding of her menstrual cycle and herself. By accepting each phase for what it is, she’s transformed this never-ending experience of highs and lows into a most reliable routine: a cycle that, like clockwork, she knows she can count on.
“In my dreams, I fuck girls all day long”. This short film is about gender fluidity and desire. Mixing up fantasy and reality, this poetic story focuses on non-binary desire and on the way body and genitals can sometimes struggle to match to our identity and sexual needs. The main character would like to penetrate girls, but he can’t because he has a vulva. The use of a prosthetic penis turns out to be a less exciting experience compared to what he had imagined.
3some Collage attempts to improve the visibility of non-heteronormative people. The film offers an uncompromising depiction of sexuality and combines the different sexual orientations of participants in an unusual way. A gentle, intimate, and even funny story.
“The hole is not the entry nor the exit, it is the infinite interior, the space which cannot be Seen, only Felt.” Hole expert Ashely Paige (she/her) and expert hole Corey More (they/them) star in this visceral meditation on the gloriousness of holes. With inter-dimensional illustrations by Oona Taper and sound design by Paleo Pony aka Jonah Rosenberg, Hole Theory explores the cosmic unknowability of that which engulfs. “Holes are the original time travel. You’ll come out more yourself than you were when you entered: rearranged, holy, new. Holes make you whole.” Trust us. We know holes.
Shot in quarantine during the world pandemic, this explicit documentary invites you into Kali’s home in Barcelona and offers an intimate look on her life behind closed doors. Observe how she connects to herself both sexually and emotionally through daily rituals and immerse yourself in her world as she nourishes the most important erotic relationship she has, the one with herself. From self-pleasure to full moon celebration, this is an intimate portrait of Kali Sudhra.
Lungometraggi fuori concorso
Venerdì 23 - Ore 14:30
Sunday 25th September h. 11.30 @Cinema Massimo
The days look all the same to Rosalia and Matteo, two residents of the Carlo Alberto old people’s home in Turin, bound together by a feeling of mutual longing that calls for physical expression despite their aging bodies, the strict rules that regulate their life at the hospice, and the constant presence of nurses. An intimate documentary facing a topical issue, produced with a contribution from the Film Commission Torino Piemonte.
The film will be followed by “Vecchi innamorati: intimità e sessualità oltre gli stereotipi”, a conference on sexuality in the third and fourth age, attended by director Elisabetta Calamela, producer Francesca Riccardi, geriatric psychologist Cristina Villa, sexologist and psychotherapist Giovanna Verde and Elisa Sevino, founder of the concept store Lovever.
Sunday 25th September h. 14.00 @Cinema Massimo
Nineteen-year-old Linnéa arrives in Los Angeles from Sweden determined to become a top starlet of the international hardcore scene. An extremely tough apprenticeship awaits her, one that will make her realize what she really wants and what she is willing to endure to get it. A painful, mimetic, coming-of-age tale that depicts today’s porn production through some of the leading names of the American red-light industry. Presented at Cannes and Sundance.
The showing will be followed by a forum on the film with Turin performer Alyson Borromeo, who will tell us about her experience in the world of pornography.
OPENING – Thursday 22nd September h. 21.00 @Cinema Massimo – Sala Cabiria
Driven by her feminist ideals and dreaming of using her law degree to change society, the young and brilliant black lawyer Simone is specialized in the defense of ill-treated, raped, abused, and discriminated women. In her private life, after ending a past as a cam girl to pay for her studies, she experiences new erotic practices, alone and with different partners, feeling more and more attracted by the BDSM universe and the connection between violence and eros. Combining the notion of decoloniality with the debate around gender and race, the third feature film of Brazilian director Julia Murat, winner of the Pardo d’oro at the latest Locarno Film Festival, will be premiered in Italy at the Fish&Chips Film Festival.
Italian Premiere
Friday 23rd September h. 20.30 @Cinema Massimo
California, 1980s, the rise and fall of Palm Drive Video. Celebrating fetishes that had never been represented before, that legendary leather porn video company tried to respond to the devastating AIDS epidemic that was tragically affecting the American gay community, by showing – in a bare, sordid and unique style, somewhat between a candid camera and an (involuntary) avant-garde – how extreme sex practices are still possible in an age of social crisis.
Friday 23rd September h. 22.00 @Cinema Massimo
Lidia (Skye Blue) is a model who discovers that her husband (Markus Kage) is having an affair with his friend photographer Sandro (Drew Dixon). Her desire for vengeance soon turns into a carnal lust that finally also involves her best friend (Vanna Bardot) and Sandro’s partner (Sean Ford), in a whirlwind of sexual intercourses and swinging. A pungent comedy of errors, produced by Lust Cinema and set in the vacuous world of fashion, with an all-star cast directed by Bruce LaBruce.
The film will be introduced by Marco Petrilli.
Saturday 24th September h. 11.00 @Cinema Massimo
Sex workers and the big screen: a liaison marked by cultural misunderstandings, stereotypes and biases which has been lasting since the dawn of cinema. A universe described with dark hues, dominated by overwhelming, exploitation and despair… but what about those who live such a working condition by choice, what do they think about it? A metacinematic documentary that also tells us something about the society in which we live.
The screening will be followed by a meeting with sex worker Elettra Arazatah and film historian and lecturer Giulia Muggeo on the topic of the portrayal of sex work in the film industry.