SAN FRANCISCO — Mainstream’s love affair with porn continues with Entertainment Weekly’s release today of the highly anticipated trailer from actor James Franco’s documentary on BDSM giant Kink.com.
The movie, directed by Franco’s go-to cinematographer Christina Voros is premiering at this week’s Sundance Film Festival.
Entertainment Weekly reported, “the movie completely revels in a world where ropes and bondage are joyful ways of expressing lust — and we’re talking way more ‘discipline’ than ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’
“It’s stuffed with footage of buff guys getting trussed up and a red-haired female porn director ordering porn actors to scream or be spanked. The mood is totally, unequivocally gleeful, and unabashedly NSFW.”
A synopsis of the documentary on the Kinkdoc.com promo site deftly describes the film. “Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet’s largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com’s directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, Kink.com upholds an ironclad set of values to foster an environment that is safe, sane, and consensual. They aim to demystify the BDSM lifestyle, and to serve as an example and an educational resource for the BDSM community.
“In 'Kink' we discover not only a fascinating and often misunderstood subculture, but also, in a career far from the mainstream, a group of intelligent, charismatic, and driven people who really, truly love what they do.”
Commenting on the making of the documentary, Franco told Entertainment Weekly, “I was surprised at how comfortable that [Kink Armory] environment was. The expectation is it would be a sleazy place. It’s because everybody who works there is on board. They’re all willing participants. Nobody’s being exploited. Everyone’s a willing participant. They gave me a tour and let me watch one of the videos being made. I thought, ‘This is fascinating and important and my preconceptions have been blown away.’ Just that day, I knew I wanted to make a documentary of that place.”
Other news from Kink’s San Francisco Armory headquarters includes CEO Peter Acworth’s Op-Ed piece that appeared in yesterday’s San Francisco Huffington Post focusing on “Why Kink Matters.”
Acworth lays out his impressive academic credentials (with an early eye on becoming a Wall Street bond guru), the impetus behind the founding of Kink.com and his personal and candid feelings about the BDSM lifestyle.
“As someone who has grown up with these feelings, I believe that the widespread availability of erotica depicting diverse sexual acts is a very good thing. Anyone with a fetish is likely to find content that appeals to them specifically and thus feel less isolation, shame or confusion. Such negative emotions about sexuality are not healthy for any of us,” Acworth wrote.
The executive solidly imparted Kink’s core mission to "to demystify and celebrate alternative sexualities."
Acworth also noted Franco’s documentary on the company and said that although some viewers may be offended by what Kink does — thinking it’s perverse or immoral — he hopes that most will understand why the creators do what they do and see Kink with “entirely new set of eyes.”
The NSFW trailer of the documentary can be seen here.
Screenings of the documentary at the Sundance Film Festival being on Jan. 19.
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