Archive of films Humpday / Humpday

USA
2009, 93 min

Section: Open Eyes
Year: 2009

Two old friends, Ben and Andrew, meet up once again – for the shooting of a porn film about male friends having sex. This American independent movie, about the search for (not only sexual) identity, deeply explores its protagonists’ emotional confusion, and how they gradually abandon their heterosexual existence for the new experience of homosexual flirtation.

Synopsis

Ben and Andrew meet up again after years. While Ben has settled down, happily married to his wife Anna, Andrew has retained his youthful spontaneity and love of adventure. The differences between them come out the moment that Ben decides to help Andrew shoot a film for a porn festival. But how far can Ben go with shooting a boundary-breaking film about sex between friends? Thanks in part to the excellent handheld camera, this American independent movie, about the search for (not only sexual) identity, comes off as immediate and authentic as Andrew’s spur-of-the-moment ideas. Offbeat Andrew functions here as a catalyst for Ben and Anna’s ostensibly trouble-free marriage, which is far from the idyll it initially seemed. The movie deeply explores its protagonists’ emotional confusion, and how they gradually abandon their heterosexual existence for the new experience of homosexual flirtation.

About the director

Lynn Shelton came to filmmaking after acting in theater in Seattle and New York, and graduating in photography from New York’s School of Visual Arts. For a decade she shot experimental and documentary films (The Clouds That Touch Us Out of Clear Skies, The Fruits of Our Labors) and worked as an editor before shooting her first feature We Go Way Back. The movie enjoyed its premiere at the 2006 Slamdance festival where it picked up the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature and the Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography. The director’s second feature, My Effortless Brilliance, premiered in the competition at SXSW 2008, and Shelton was awarded the accolade "Someone to Watch” at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. Humpday, her third feature, took the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance festival and was screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the Cannes IFF 2009.

Contacts

Magnolia Pictures
49 West 27th Street, 7th Floor, 10001, New York
United States of America
Tel: +1 212 924 6701
Fax: +1 212 924 6742
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.magpictures.com

+ 1

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Open Eyes

Director:	Lynn Shelton
Screenplay:	Lynn Shelton
Dir. of Photography:	Benjamin Kasulke
Music:	Vinny Smith
Editor:	Nat Sanders
Producer:	Lynn Shelton
Cast:	Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard
Contact:	Magnolia Pictures

www:	www.humpdayishere.com