Best of NYC!

A lovely gift greeted our return from Berlin this week... the realization that we'd been selected by the Village Voice for their annual "Best of NYC" issue!



We're naturally very honored that the publication has distinguished us as being the city's Best Way to Watch Smutty Movies:

If you're wary of catching an Xtube virus and are looking for cleaner digs than whatever's left of Times Square's naughty picture joints, CineKink NYC is there for you. Each February, this festival provides the means for you to ditch the laptop and the privacy of your own home, and enjoy kinky film the way it's meant to be enjoyed—in the company of strangers, of course.

Of course! (Though if you'd like to bring a friend along, that's perfectly fine, too.)

Read along here for the rest of the accolades...

Where in the world...

...have we been hiding? For the past week, at least, it's been off to Germany, where we had the pleasure of attending the Pornfilmfestival Berlin!



A wonderful event with a familiar merging of independent cinema and sex-positivity, it felt quite a bit like old-home week, even if we were on unfamiliar terrain. We came across many new films and directors we'll hope to feature at the next edition of CineKink NYC. And, in a historic gathering--we finally have enough erotic/sex/porn film festivals to call a meeting!--chatted with other curators and presenters whom we'll look forward to collaborating with in the future.

In addition to presenting a program we'd specially curated for the festivities, CineKink's Kinky Bits, it was also a delight to catch up with CineKink alumni filmmakers Charles Lum, Jennifer Lyon Bell, Candida Royalle, Julie Simone and Sofia Varino, while finally getting to meet directors whose works we've featured, including Anna Span and Shine Louise Houston.

Alas, after their brilliant performance at the Pornfilmfestival Berlin party, we found ourselves too star-struck to finally say hello to the rest of the notorious Norwegian singing sensation, The Hungry Hearts, even though their piece In the Closet screened at CineKink NYC 2009.

We'll hope to resolve our shyness someday. Meanwhile, we'll continue to admire from afar. And play In Your Face (The International Lesbian Anthem), over and over and over again. (It's stuck in my head... might as well be in yours, too!)

Mumbleporn? Swanberg revolutionizes full frontal!

Recalling his shocked dismay upon learning of all the governmental regulations around filmic depictions of sex, we'd like to think that director Joe Swanberg's participation in our SXSW panel, The Porn Police: Know The Rules, may have finally inspired him to cover his, um, ass.

In any case, we're very intrigued by the revolutionary technology he's utilizing on his new movie, Birthday Suit, an amazing advance that allows him to create the illusion of graphic sexual content. "If anybody, for even a split second, realizes that it's a digital erection, then we have failed," says Joe.

Here's a behind-the-scenes report from the set:

Birthday Suit from Jason Lewis

It's not that complicated. Well, maybe kinda... but still.

More polyamory in the mainstream of late. First up, on Parks and Recreation, Leslie meets April's boyfriend... and April's boyfriend's boyfriend. He's gay for him, but straight for her and well, you know.


(Hat-tip Practical Polyamory)

And next, writer Jenny Block, author of Open: Love, Sex and Life, introduces the concept of polyamory to a less accepting (and real-life) audience. Wearing a brazen red dress, she appears at a Texas church--and holds her own--discussing the relationship she has with her husband and girlfriend on "Nightline Face-Off: Born to Cheat?"