If you thought 10 Naked Boys Singing! was fun, wait until you see 11 naked men dancing—including a former CockyBoys and Timtales performer! This new film is part of DOC NYC, and you can catch a virtual screening now through November 19th.
In BARE, 11 naked men audition, rehearse and perform for the premiere of Belgian choreographer Thierry Smits’s new contemporary dance piece Anima Ardens (Burning Soul). Mixing intimate rehearsal footage with extensive and breathtaking dance sequences, BARE follows the choreographer and his team as they work to explore difficult, often taboo subjects through nudity and dance. In this bold exploration of artistic conflict, gender and sexuality, the one constant is the conceit that “the body is the last bastion of personal freedom.” Check out the trailer:
Tickets for a virtual screening are $12, and once you click to watch or stream the film, you will have 48 hours to view it. The online screening runs through November 19th, and included with the screening ticket is an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with director Aleksandr M. Vinogradov along with Smits and performer Valentin Braun, which immediately follows the film.
Porn fans might remember Braun from his work with CockyBoys, which included an appearance in the hot group scene from Bruce LaBruce’s acclaimed hit Flea Pit, and his hot scenes with Cory Kane and and Ken Summers (see all three scenes on NakedSword!).
Braun also shot with Tim Kruger for Timtales in 2018, and has been in gay erotic short films by Noel Alejandro.
“Making a documentary about the making of a nude dance performance has been quite a job in itself already, because there are so many clichés connected with this genre,” noted Vinogradov. “It was important for me to document with this film the original working method of Thierry and his unique choreography. But it was even more important to reveal his relationship with the dancers, their reactions to new challenges through the process, and their transformation by the end of the creation.
“Additionally, with this project I want to express that nudity is not trivial. In a society that tends towards absolute control and prudishness, artists must react. That is why Thierry Smits said about his performance that ‘This is my attempt to prove that using nude male dancers will make them look more human, and it strengthens the identification process.’”
DOC NYC is America’s largest documentary festival, and this year is celebrating its 11th edition from November 11-19 online. It is available to viewers throughout the United States. The 2020 festival showcases 107 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and dozens of events. Get tickets to see BARE here!
Watched this last night, and honestly it is more about seeing the beauty of naked men as opposed to an interesting and informative journey. The documentary doesn’t really create characters of any kind, have a deeper storyline, and seems to lack direction in a way. The dance piece itself is rarely discussed or ultimately seen as an end project. Would have been interesting to have a bit more of a narrative. The men are really beautiful though, and there are some moments of charming queer bonding.