Shortbus
Saturday, March 19 / 3:15pm / Ottawa Art Gallery
Shortbus / Q&A with Sook-Yin Lee
A special screening of the 15th anniversary 4K restoration.
See Sook-Yin Lee’s musical performance at Pique. Free admission with your Shortbus ticket.
Feature presentation \
sex \ New York City \ more sex
Set in a post-9/11 New York dreamscape, John Cameron Mitchell’s raunchy, sweet, and sexy dramedy about keeping alive in dangerous times has just been re-released for its 25th anniversary, and we are proud to give it its Ottawa re-premiere at IFFO. Here’s what Rolling Stone wrote when it came out (in many senses of that phrase) in 2006:
“Before you write off Shortbus as the Jackass of porn, you should know that the movie is the id child of John Cameron Mitchell, the formidably talented creator, director and star of 2001’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The sex is real in Shortbus, requiring the actors to give their all, but the film’s concerns go way beyond exhibitionism. In examining the confluence of flesh and spirit, Mitchell and the actors — they helped him write the script — want to show what sex really says about us, good and bad. Shortbus is a New York underground salon, where orgies and sex talk redefine carnal knowledge. It’s a place where Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee), a sex therapist who’s never reached orgasm with her husband, Rob (Raphael Barker), can discuss her problem with Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a dominatrix. Then there’s James (Paul Dawson) and Jamie (PJ DeBoy), who bring in a third guy, Ceth (Jay Brannan), to spice up their five-year relationship. And I haven’t mentioned Caleb (Peter Stickles), the voyeur who photographs James from the apartment across the street.” Peter Travers (Rolling Stone)
- Tom McSorley
Guest \
This program is co-presented by Pique.