I always say that Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors for a reason - because everyone has different tastes.
Your taste buds will be challenged this weekend with the screening of two of the shorts from "Fourplay," playing part of a Queer shorts collection called "Other Cities Eros Show" at the ATA Gallery on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8:30pm.
The director Kyle Henry and one of the stars Paul Soileau will be on hand as well as cross dressing sex worker Chloe.
"Fourplay" shorts take place in different US cities. My favorite from the collection, "San Francisco" is one of the films being shown Saturday.
Before "The Sessions" came out with Helen Hunt as a sexual therapist, we had the trans actor Soileau playing a sympathetic and empathetic sex worker who services an invalid man who has lot use of most of his body but still has desires and needs.
I talked to Soileau about his wonderful work in the film and he has been humbled by the praise he's received since the film has been playing the gay film festival circuit for the last year. "It's was a great experience," Soileau says, and he likes playing a character "with a lot of passion and heart."
He has been touched by all of the reviews and comments he has received but wasn't totally surprised as "its relatable to many people in a lot of ways."
Soileau has perfected his drag art portraying a character named Christeene in performance arts venues for about four years. In fact, one of Soileau's dancers is one of the writers of "Fourplay" who happens to be the partner of director Henry.
Apparently, it's a small gay world in Austin, Texas where Soileau, writer Carlos Trevino and director Henry are all from.
While released as original as a collection of four shorts, this week's programming includes only "San Francisco" and "Tampa."
"Tampa" has appeal but it seems more for a gay audience, having to do with the sexual escapades that occur in a men's bathroom full of horny guys.
Henry says he knows this isn't to everyone's liking but he enjoyed pushing the envelope. He feels that showing the perverse side of some cultures might have been the factor to get REM frontman Michael Stipe on board as Executive Producer.
According to Henry, Stipe seems to look for worthwhile projects across varies mediums to help develop content and programming that may not have received a green light from any other source simply due to their offbeat topic or nature.
"Michael has been very encouraging," he says, even though they have never met face-to-face. "It's like he's Charlie and I am one of the angels," Henry laughs, thinking of conversations they've had on speaker phone.
Henry says he really liked working on the this film as it "covers the full spectrum of sexual expression" - one dealing with heart and compassion and one really blows normal out of the water with its abundance of nudity and climaxes. The blatant sex definitely keeps the film from getting even an R rating and makes a straight audience more uncomfortable as they are likely "more suppressed" than the gay audience.
Yet, Henry says, "The biggest laughs they get from the movie are all in the Tampa segment and mostly from straight audiences. Maybe it's due to the film crossing the boundaries or being of a taboo nature."
But whether you find the movie to be your taste or not, "Fourplay" will definitely be talked about.
Get full details at: http://frameline.org/now-showing/events/fourplay-other-cinemas-eros-show or at www.othercinema.com. TIckets at the door and are only $7.
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