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Do you like to watch? Of course, you do! So come see the Fourth Annual Independent Erotic Film Festival (IXFF), where aspiring filmmakers, art students, animators, and amateurs with videocams come together to show you what they’ve got. Everybody's favorite sex-positive shop Good Vibrations is sponsoring the festival along with Vibratex, the manufacturer of innovative toys for grown-ups. With five days of events and screenings climaxing with the IXFF Independent Erotic Film Competition on Thursday, September 17th, there’s plenty to see and do, and you get to judge which entry will win best erotic film of 2009.
The Good Vibrations Amateur Erotic Film Competition debuted at the historic Castro Theater in 2006. It had become so popular that by 2008 the competition became a full-fledged international film festival and one of the premiere venues in the world for the presentation of erotic films for all tastes. In 2008, Good Vibrations also expanded the event to include a special screening of the submitted films at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theater in the Boston Metro Area. For 2009, the erotic film festival hit the road this summer with special screenings in Southern California; Austin, TX; New Orleans, LA; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Cleveland, OH; and Provincetown, MA. Like us, erotic films can get around!
But what does ‘erotic’ mean? Well, the dictionary defines the word as “relating to or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement.” Hmmm. Given the infinite variations of human sexuality in this world, that leaves the door wide open to interpretation. In other words, if it turns you on, then it’s erotic. In the past, entries have spanned the spectrum of sex, ranging from arty narratives to comedy to soft-core sensuality to hard-core fucking. This year’s entries promise to edge, entice, titillate, inform, and perhaps even disturb viewers with their takes on sex, desire, and intimacy. But you’re ready for a challenge, aren’t you? We’re sure you can rise to the occasion.
To get you in the mood, there’s an entire slate of events scheduled for the week of the San Francisco film festival. As festival director Camilla Lombard points out, “IXFF has grown exponentially, and what had been a one night competition at the Castro Theatre has evolved into 5 nights of parties and screenings in San Francisco and 2 nights in Boston.” You can help get the party started on Saturday, September 12th, with the official IXFF ’09 Kick-off Party at that hot little Mission club El Rio, where the hottest salsa isn’t for the nacho chips. You can watch a special release screening of indie-porn princess Courtney Trouble’s new film, Speakeasy, and then get all hot and bothered by the queer burlesque troupe Diamond Daggers. On Sunday. September 13th, take a romantic stroll down memory lane with Oddball Films for a screening of once-scandalous Blue Movies at Amnesia. You can attend a special screening of BDSM: It’s Not What You Think! and participate in a Q&A with director Erin Palmquist on Tuesday, September 15th.
Now that your appetites have been sufficiently whetted with a little fun, a little history, and a little know-how, you’ll be ready for a special screening of that seminal porn film The Devil in Miss Jones, presented by its sexy starlet Georgina Spelvin, on Wednesday, September 16th, at San Francisco’s artiest of art houses, the Lumiere Theater. But don’t miss the sights and sounds of porn diva April Flores’ "Love Toy" art show and the special DVD release party for her film Glamazons at the Good Vibrations on Polk Street.
Since you’ve been sufficiently teased and titillated all week, you’re now ready for the big night. Join cult film legend and drag queen extraordinaire Peaches Christ and everybody’s favorite sexologist Dr. Carol Queen for the 2009 IXFF Erotic Film Competition at the Castro Theater on Thursday, September 17th. But you didn’t expect this to be any ordinary screening of short films, did you? Come dressed in your finest cocktail attire as the Castro Theater is transformed into a hip and swinging 60s-style cocktail party with live jazz and burlesque from San Francisco's Twilight Vixen Revue and cocktails from Down Under with Boomerang Vodka from Australia. Then it’ll be time to take your seats. Camilla Lombard says, “This is a fun way to celebrate the broad spectrum of human sexuality and see what the sexiest filmmakers from across the world think is hot in ten minutes or less.” With entries from Canada, Israel, England, and maybe even your rowdy, randy neighbors from across the hall, there’s plenty to see, hear, and experience. By the end, there won’t be a dry seat in the house.
But don’t expect to get off without giving a little in return. You and your fellow voyeurs have to vote for the best erotic film of the festival. C’mon, make some noise for the films that really… moved you. The very unscientific clap-o-meter (no, not that kind of ‘clap’) will register all of your moans, groans, cheers, spanks, slaps, and claps. The film with the biggest response gets the prize. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,500, not to mention a deep sense of release and satisfaction. What more could you want from a night at the movies—except maybe a cigarette when it’s all over? How about an after party at Trigger, the newest, hottest bar in the Castro, where you can 'discuss' the finer points of eroticism with your fellow filmgoers over a cocktail.
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