(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Downtown Asbury Park will be the site of the first annual Asbury Park Erotic Film Festival this weekend (August 5-7). Erotic films from around the world throughout the decades will be screened at the Showroom (707 Cookman Avenue) while a variety of events will take place throughout the downtown centered on the theme "A Celebration of the Senses." The festival is presented by the Showroom Cinema and Parlor Gallery.
Here's a look at what is happening on Friday. We also have previews of SATURDAY and SUNDAY, as well as a look at the FESTIVAL EVENTS AROUND TOWN. Each day features several films running simultaneously.
The festival opens at 6:30pm with an Erotic Art Exhibit and opening reception at Pat Schiavino's ART 629 Gallery for a reception, light refreshments and Jenn Hampton's curated Erotic Art Exhibit. The festival then begins at The Show Room (about a half block away from the gallery).
8:00 Belle de Jour
Drama; Rated R; 106M, 1967.
Belle de Jour dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre (Jean Sorel). When her lovestruck friend Henri (Michel Piccoli) mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais (Genevieve Page), Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients (Pierre Clementi) grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
Post-Film Discussion with Alex Biese of the Asbury Park Press and Chad Anderson, Director of Communications Department of Brookdale College on Friday, August 5th.
8:30pm The Kiss
Drama; Rated NR; 88M, French, 2015.
In the latest film by legendary French Director Ovidie, a young Parisian woman named Clair is in a 10-year relationship that has become more of a routine. Her routine gets interrupted when she witnesses an American woman, Jolene, getting mugged. Offering to help the American, Claire helps her get situated in a hotel. As a thank you, Jolene gives Claire a kiss; a kiss which becomes burned into Claire s mind. She can t shake the feelings Jolene s kiss sparked, and Claire wants to explore them further. Jolene and her friends take a trip to the countryside with Claire, where the thought of infidelity is far from everyone s mind. However, it is not long before new and exhilarating sensual experiences overtake this new group of friends. Ovidie proves again that she is the master of French erotica, and that no one does it better.
8:45 Pleasure or Pain
Drama; Rated NR; 99M, South Korea, 2013.
A wealthy real estate developer takes a young woman from an everyday mundane life and shows her a world of decadence and debauchery that pushes her sexual limits to the brink.
For more information on the festival, visit www.aperoticfilmfestival.com
