SAN FRANCISCO — Pink and White Productions has announced the debut of “The Spaces Between” on the company's VOD platform, PinkLabel.TV. The title features and is produced by Nikki Darling and Andre Shakti.
The 10-minute scene juxtaposes sex with day-to-day moments from a queer interracial couple's relationship, forcing viewers to consider white privilege and microaggressions.
Premiering at Dan Savage’s HUMP! Film Fest, “The Spaces Between” struck a chord with festival audiences.
Though a lot of porn depicts racial stereotypes and racialized fantasy, not many films approach race from a realistic, sociopolitical perspective, producing mixed reactions, Shakti explained.
“To be honest, the feedback we've gotten is almost exactly the feedback I expected us to get.” Shakti said. “There have been lots of people saying that it resonates with them and expressing gratitude for its inclusion, lots of [white] people being bewildered and confused, and at least one film festival has tried to avoid screening it for fear that it was too ‘controversial’.... So, yeah, I'm pretty happy with that.”
Darling added, “Though it has mostly received support, we definitely had to fight censorship to show our film. Race and representation are a subject of discomfort for people, but I want to make them uncomfortable because it forces them to confront feelings and ignorance about race and privilege. Making people talk opens up dialogue and room for understanding; that has and will always be my goal in the films that I want to produce.”
The pair hopes that “The Spaces Between” will illustrate the struggles that POC partners of white people endure on a regular basis and present them in a way that both speaks to the adult industry and to those who patronize it and consume its products. Shakti said, “We wanted to conceptualize this short film to fill a void by offering a kind of porn that flaunts its politics.”
As Pink and White Productions Founding Director Shine Louise Houston explained, “There's a lot of room and need to create adult content that's real, that's respectful and powerful. Porn is the perfect place to become political. It's a place where money, sex, media and ethics converge.”
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