CineKink news

CineKink Gears Up for Sixth Annual Kinky Film Festival, Seeks Tribute Nominations

(New York, NY; January 8, 2009) Scheduled for February 24-March 1, 2009, the sixth annual CineKink NYC will feature 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, audience choice awards, presentations, parties and a gala kick-off fundraiser, all to be followed by a national showcase tour.

Billing itself as "the really alternative film festival," the event is presented by CineKink, an organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television. With offerings drawn from both Hollywood and beyond, works presented at CineKink NYC will range from documentary to drama, camp comedy to hot porn, slightly spicy to quite explicit--and everything in between. Directors featured since CineKink's inception have included both filmmaking up-and-comers and such notorious veterans as Annie Sprinkle, Radley Metzger and John Cameron Mitchell.

"It's been exciting to see sex-positive filmmaking really come into its own during the time we've been running the festival," said Lisa Vandever, Co-Founder and Director of CineKink. "When we first started, we definitely had to beat the bushes to find suitable works.  Now we have the privilege of selecting from a slew of offerings to put together the best possible kinky showcase."

Last year's festival saw Audience Choice Award honors given to "Call Me Troy" (Scott Bloom) for Best Documentary Feature, to "Viva" (Anna Biller) for Best Narrative Feature and to "Silken Sleeves" (Maria Beatty) for Best Experimental Feature.  An Honorable Mention also went to the compilation documentary "Triple X Selects: The Best of Lezsploitation" (Michelle Johnson) and the CineKink Select, a special award for artistic innovation, was presented to "Schwarzwald" (Richard Kimmel).

In the shorts competition, juried festival awards went to "Who's the Top?" (Jennie Livingston) for Best Narrative Short, "Coming Out Spanko" (Tanya Bezreh) for Best Documentary Short, "Teat Beat of Sex" (Signe Baumane) for Best Animated Short and, tied for the Best Experimental Short award, "Crossing" (HP Comings) and "Salt" (Campbell Farquhar).  Honorable Best Mention awards went to "Office Mobius" (Seung Hyung Lee/Seungil Hwang), "Something About Nadia" (Erika Lust) and "Wash Me Clean" (Michael Immerman).

And the CineKink Tribute, recognizing extraordinary depiction of kink and sex-positivity in mainstream film and television, was given to the film "Shortbus" (ThinkFilm/John Cameron Mitchell) for its "frank, funny and human look at the inextricable role sexuality plays in our day-to-day lives and the many flavors it can exhibit." Honorable mentions for the CineKink Tribute went to the movie "Lust, Caution" (Focus Features), the documentary release "Zoo" (ThinkFilm) and to the syndicated series, "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

While CineKink has closed its recent call for festival entries, the organization is currently accepting nominations for the next annual CineKink Tribute, which will be announced during the festival and is open to film and television works released for distribution in 2008.

The festival line-up and schedule for CineKink NYC will be announced at the end of January.