(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 Saturday. We also have previews of FRIDAY and SUNDAY, as well as a look at the FESTIVAL EVENTS AROUND TOWN. Each day features several films running simultaneously.
2:15pm Secretary
Drama/Comedy; Rated R; 104M, 2002.
A powerful and unique love story that toys with our expectations of love, sexuality and intimacy.
Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman with a history of severe emotional problems, is released into the care of her overbearing parents following a stay at a mental institution. She finds work as a secretary for a rigid and demanding attorney, E. Edward Grey (James Spader), and starts dating the kind but dull Peter (Jeremy Davies). However, Lee soon realizes she's turned on by Grey's stern demeanor, and begins a sadomasochistic relationship with him.
3:00pm 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.
3:30pm Belladonna of Sadness
Drama/Animation; Rated NR; 93M, 1973.
Belladonna of Sadness is a mad, swirling, psychedelic light-show of medieval tarot-card imagery with horned demons, haunted forests and La Belle Dame Sans Merci, equal parts J.R.R. Tolkien and gorgeous, explicit Gustav Klimt-influenced eroticism. The last film in the adult-themed Animerama trilogy produced by the godfather of Japanese anime & manga, Osamu Tezuka and directed by his long time collaborator Eiichi Yamamoto (Astro Boy and Kimba The White Lion), Belladonna unfolds as a series of spectacular still watercolor paintings that bleed and twist together. An innocent young woman, Jeanne (voiced by Aiko Nagayama) is violently raped by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself (voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai) who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.
4:30pm 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.
5:15pm Taxi-Zum-Klo
Comedy; Rated NR; 92M, German, 1980.
This very frank German film is a study of the life of gay elementary school teacher Frank Ripploh. The teacher's multitude of sexual adventures are thoroughly and explicitly detailed. Those willing to tough it out will be in for a remarkable experience, laced with wit, humor, and poignancy.
‘Taxi Zum Klo' is a true story, full of humour, tenderness, passion, longing, sex, erotica and pain. A story that is as colorful and varied, as common and exciting as the life and scene in which it portrays: the gay and leather community of 1970's Berlin. ‘Taxi Zum Klo' is authentic and honest, a film that does not have to take anything into consideration.
6:30pm Getting Go: The Go Doc Project
Drama; Rated NR; 100M, 2013.
A young man (Tanner Cohen) who's obsessed with a hunky go-go dancer (Matthew Camp) decides to make a film about New York City's nightlife so that he can meet the object of his affection. A shy but smitten college boy pursues a NY go-go boy through the pretext of making a documentary film about him, with the guys knowing each other only as "Doc" and "Go."
Post Film Discussion on Saturday August 6th with Producer Tom Gustafson & Writer/Director Corey Krueckeberg. Moderated by Kim Powers.
6:45pm Crash
Drama; Rated NC-17; 100M, 1997.
The immediate subject matter of Crash is the strange lure of the auto collision, provoking as it does the human fascination with death and the tendency to eroticize danger. Most motorists will slow down to stare at the scene of a collision; they may feel their pulses quickening and become exquisitely aware of the fragility of their own bodies. The characters of Crash carry this awareness a step further, cherishing and nurturing it. For them, a car collision is a sexual turn-on, and a jolting life-force they come to crave.
7:30pm Deseo
Drama/Comedy; Rated NR; 97M, Mexico, 2013.
Humorous succession of erotic encounters weaved into a daisy chain of delightful sensuality. DESEO is a modern-day adaptation of Reigen (La Ronde), the controversial stage-play by the celebrated XIX century Austrian playwright, Arthur Schnitzler. Eight short stories tell of seduction and illicit encounters between lovers in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of a Mexican city.
9:00pm 9 1/2 Weeks
Drama; Rated R; 120M, 1986.
A Man. A Woman. And an attraction that became an obsession. Mickey Rourke (Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man) and Kim Basinger (Batman) take you on an erotic odyssey in this steamy story of a love affair that breaks every sexual taboo. Director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) creates "the most sexualized relationship seen in years" (Vanity Fair) in a lushly photographed rendition of secret fantasies and desires that come vividly to life on screen. Set against the high-tech backdrop of Manhattan, 9 1/2 Weeks is the length of the affair between Elizabeth, a beautiful art dealer, and John, the man who becomes her lover and changes irrevocably the course of her life. After a tantalizing initial encounter, John charts the course of their sensual journey together in a deadly serious game of sexual dominance, unlocking the door to hidden dreams, pain and ecstasy. With a scrip co-written by The Red Shoe Diaries' Zalman King, his wife Patricia Knop and Sarah Kernochan and with a puling soundtrack featuring Grace Jones, Eurhythmics, Joe Cocker and Bryan Ferry, 9 1/2 Weeks is a passionate and provocative look at love and obsession that is moving, thrilling and sometimes shocking.
9:40pm Black & White & Sex
Drama; Rated NR; 92M, Australia, 2012.
Producer John Winter (Rabbit-Proof Fence) makes his directorial debut with this unconventional film-within-a-film about a sex worker (played by eight different actresses) who reveals disarming truths about the oldest profession.
Prostitute. Hooker. Sex Worker. Whore. Candid and seductive, Angie is determined to set the record straight about sex. As she reveals herself, layer-by-layer, she also exposes the man who is interviewing her. Sometimes provocative and confronting, sometimes tender, poignant and sexy, Black & White & Sex takes you behind the scenes and into Angies very special world. There's a question here for every man and an answer for every woman. Anyone who pays is welcome – but leave your expectations at the door sex is never black and white.
10:00pm The Porno Jim Show -- a live event.
Porno Jim is a radio show on Radio Free Brooklyn hosted by Jim Graham. He has been performing live talks since 2002. Expect an engaging talk and interactive presentation on his observations of the line between "erotic" and "pornography".
For more information on the festival, visit www.aperoticfilmfestival.com
