STOCKHOLM — LELO today secured a place at the 68th Cannes Film Festival for the worldwide premiere of the luxury sex toy brand's first short, “Beyond the Wave.”
Set for next month in Cannes, France, the renowned festival is best known for screening the best of unknown releases as well as major releases.
“Beyond the Wave”may be the first film ever produced by a sex toy company, but it does not feature any sex toys or any of LELO’s luxury intimate accessories.
The film stars Casper van Dien (“Starship Troopers,” “Sleepy Hollow”), Emilie Ohana (“Paris, Je t’aime”) and introduces newcomer Zhu Wei Ling. It was directed by Goran Gajic (“Babylon 5,” “Oz”).
“Beyond the Wave” offers a narrative “with an open structure explores the male-female relationship, meditates on perspectives, love and solitude as central to human existence,” said Steve Thomson, head of marketing.
“Every day we see the world become more individualistic and fragmented,” he said. “This movie is a creative intervention, designed to do what LELO does best: bring people together. That’s what’s at the heart of what we do and at the heart of the film too, and it does that in a way that goes way beyond what people expect from a pleasure brand like ours.”
“Beyond the Wave” has been entered as a drama and will screen at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Court.
Gajic, the film’s director, said: “Cannes is an ideal film festival for a movie with structure, sophistication, nuance and a message, as we tried to convey in [the movie].”
“I hope the other film festivals will be able to recognize its value as well,” he said.
The movie is accompanied by an interactive experience, called PlayTogether, that can only be watched with a partner — a world first, Thomson noted.
Thomson said that PlayTogether takes people on a "journey into the world of the movie" and requires two viewers sitting beside each other. They sync-up their phones and make choices about the video displayed across both their screens to determine what scene they’ll see next, he said.
“Our goal with ‘Beyond the Wave’ is to encourage couples to connect both with the story, and through the act of watching the movie itself. That’s also the thinking behind PlayTogether. It’s meant as a fun way for people to get a sneak peak at the movie.”
The official trailer, with bonus behind-the-scenes footage and interviews as well as the cast and LELO team, can be viewed on the official movie site, BeyondTheWaveMovie.com. It also can be viewed on LELO’s website LELO.com.
