Now celebrating its 16th year, the sex-positive film festival CineKink brings to town comedy, drama, documentary, and experimental films ranging from mildly kinky to explicitly sexual and focusing on a wide variety of sexualities and identities. Founded in 2003, with roots in New York City, the annual festival tours to Oakland, Toronto, Portland, and Chicago. Lisa Vandever, one of the cofounders—and a former Rogers Park resident—says she “stumbled into the whole thing” after moving to NYC and becoming involved in the BDSM community. Vandever was working in independent film development when she joined a local support group called the Eulenspiegel Society. “As part of an outreach effort to bring in new members, I helped launch a predecessor festival focused solely on S/M,” she says. “That evolved into CineKink as my own explorations expanded into other alternative sexualities. We’ve certainly broadened the focus over the years, with ‘kink’ being a very expansive umbrella term.”
The documentary will open the festival on Friday, November 22, at 7:30 PM, screening along with the short film Impact. Saturday will open with Sweet Spot, a collection of short films, and closes with the Best of CineKink, a selection of this year’s award-winning shorts.
11/22-11/23: Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 6:30 and 9 PM, Leather Archives and Museum, 6418 N. Greenview, cinekink.com, $12, $9 in advance, $7 museum or CineKink members; all three screenings $25 (advance only). 18+
