CineKink NYC returns for its fifth annual appearance on Tuesday, February 26th, bringing with it a specially-curated program of films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality. In addition to screenings, plans for the festival also include a short film competition, presentations, audience choice awards, a fund-raising gala kick-off and a concluding afterglow party.
Billing itself as "the really alternative film festival," the event will run February 26-March 2, 2008. Presented by CineKink, an organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television, works presented at CineKink NYC will range from documentary to drama, mildly spicy to quite explicit - and everything in between.
"It seems our programming theme for this year was 'No mercy!'" says Lisa Vandever, CineKink's co-founder and director. "It's exciting to see sex-positive filmmaking really starting to come into its own. But it's going to be a true festival marathon. Even expanding our screenings into an additional day, we had so many fantastic works entered into the festival for 2008, we've really had to pack them into every possibly available moment."
The kink-filled festivities begin Tuesday, February 26th, at 8 PM, with a fundraising kick-off gala and opening night screening to be held at Taj Lounge (48 W. 21st Street, NYC), a pansexual celebration that, in addition to music, performances and a silent auction, features a trio of works by New York-based directors - 'Schwarzwald,' 'Team Queen' and 'A Dog's Tale.'
The festival then moves to Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue, NYC), Wednesday, February 27 through Saturday, March 1, with several different film and video programs scheduled for each day. Regular screenings conclude on Sunday, March 2, with the addition of a jump to Pioneer Theater (155 E. Third Street, NYC) for a final round of CineKink NYC matinees.
Among the headliners, first up, on Wednesday, February 27 at 7 PM, is the festival's CineKink Tribute screening of SHORTBUS, honoring the ground-breaking film for its "extraordinary depiction of kink in mainstream film and television." Then, at 9:30 PM, a program titled 'New York Stories,' surveys adult entertainment offerings from New York-based directors Tony DiMarco, Venus Hottentot, Michael Lucas, Radley Metzger, Porno Jim, Audacia Ray and Candida Royalle.
On Thursday, February 28 at 7 PM is '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, followed at 9 PM by 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.
On Friday, February 29 at 7 PM, it's 'Call Me Troy,' an inspirational and moving tribute to gay activist and spiritual leader, Reverend Troy Perry. 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. And at 11:15 PM, it's 'Sex Mannequin' and 'Superfreak,' a shape-shifting, body-swapping double-header of girl-girl adventures.
Kicking off Saturday, March 1 at 1 PM, 'Lust, Animation!' is a colorful collection of naughty bits - some animated, all with lust burning hot in their hearts. At 3 PM, 'Chick Flicks' presents works by women directors that incorporate explicit sex into their stories of hook-ups and romance. At 5 PM, during 'Women Behind the Lens,' a panel of female directors will discuss their roles within the adult entertainment industry and the individual approach each takes in depicting sexuality on screen. At 7 PM, it's 'Mix, Match & Mingle,' a round-up of shorts that look at the delights - and some dilemmas - of moving beyond monogamy, followed by 'Give & Take' at 9 PM, a kinky collection of works that probe, prod and play with the dynamics of sexual power and release, control and submission. And, rounding out the day's screening schedule at 11 PM, 'The Three Trials' is a dark, fairy-tale fantasy set against a backdrop of sexual fetishes.
Festival screenings move to Pioneer Theater on Sunday, March 2 at 1 PM with the New York premiere of 'Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn,' featuring the best (and worst) clips from dozens of the 150+ films that Annie Sprinkle made from 1973 onwards. At 3 PM, 'Sunday How-To Sex-O-Rama' is a selection of excerpts taken from top-notch educational and how-to offerings. Concluding the festival's regular screenings at 5 PM, the US premiere of 'Silken Sleeves' sensuously presents four seasons of domination and submission as rendered by bondage expert and artisan, Midori.
CineKink NYC concludes the evening of Sunday, March 2, at 7 PM with an Awards Celebration, including encore screenings of jury-selected best shorts from the week and presentation of the annual festival awards, to be followed at 8:30 PM by an Afterglow Party, one last chance to mingle with like-minded festival-goers and enjoy a few additional screenings, this time in a relaxed party setting. The locations for both events will be announced at a later date.
For more information and advance tickets, visit http://www.cinekink.com.
Chatelin Bruno 
