CineKink Awards 'Shortbus' For Its Sex-Positive Penetration into Quasi-Mainstream Culture

| 11 Nov 2014 | 01:55

    The short bus might not have been a bastion of positive sexuality and kink back in grade school – hopefully it wasn’t, anyway – but [Shortbus], the 2006 film written and directed by James Cameron Mitchell, won the top prize this year from CineKink for its “extraordinary depiction of kink and sex-positivity mainstream.”

    [ CineKink], which celebrates television and movies that positively depict sexuality and kink, finished off its fifth annual film festival last Sunday.  The week-long festival featured parties and screenings of titles such as Something About Nadia, Susan For Now and Call Me Troy.

    Mitchell’s film puts several characters, a sex therapist who can’t orgasm, a gay couple contemplating opening their relationship and a dominatrix, together in meetings dubbed shortbus – for their inclusion of “the gifted and challenged.”

    The audience awards went to [Call Me Troy], for best documentary and [Viva](http://imdb.com/title/tt0393956/) for best narrative. [Who’s the Top?](http://imdb.com/title/tt0454982/) won for best juried narrative short; [Coming out Spanko ](http://cinekink.bside.com/?_view=_filmdetails&filmId=48080976)for best documentary short; and “Closer” and “Salt” tied for best experimental short.

    If you missed out on last week’s showings, don’t worry.  The screening tour is coming soon (and Shortbus is on DVD).