EstroGenius on Film A One Night Only Virtual Screening of (W/HOLE) by AORTA Films

The EstroGenius Festival presents a one night only virtual screening of the award winning (W/HOLE) by AORTA Films in celebration of the EstroGenius Festival’s 20th Anniversary Presented by Frigid New York and Manhattan Theatre Source on Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 8pm.This screening is part of Estro on Film, a one-time, special event series created for these #stayhome times. Tickets for (W/HOLE) are $10 and can be purchased online at https://www.extrofromestro.org/event-info/w-hole-by-aorta-films. This event is for mature audiences only.
 
(W/HOLE) is an evening-length film created by queer/feminist porn collective AORTA films in collaboration with performance company the A.O. Movement Collective, exploring the incredible potency of queer hedonism, specifically how the authentic performativity of kink and queer porn can evolve trauma into orgasm, and grief into politically radical, transformative, body-based joy. This work aims to negotiate pornographic embodiment as an anti-oppressive, trans-inclusive feminist practice rooted in femme caretaking and risk, and contextualizes itself as a choreographic process. (W/HOLE) investigates the complexity of pleasure, exploring the so-called obscenity of bodies in their most tremendous capacity-their glorious, illicit humanity.
 
At turns lush, humorous, sincere, erotic, joyful, and intense, (W/HOLE) forsakes traditional expectations of “porn” to create an unexpectedly textured landscape of desire. Amidst ecstatic water balloon fights, opulent feasts devoured without utensils, narrations of pleasure, lewd hand gestures, densely scored orgies, improvisational performance, and intense kink dynamics, (W/HOLE) proposes a new type of pornography: a world of queer sex that is at once surreally lush and intensely real. The film celebrates queer pleasure as resistance, while inviting viewers of all identities towards their own human capacity for pleasure. (W/HOLE) premiered at the Invisible Dog Art Center and has won Best Film (Fiction) at the Vienna Porn Film Festival, Best Feature at the Hacker Porn Film Festival in Rome, additionally screening at the London Porn Film Festival (closing film), Athens Porn Film Festival (opening film), BRIEFS erotic short film competition, BU Festival, LADYFEST Maastricht, Los Angeles Underground Film Forum, SECS Fest, and the Berlin Porn Film Festival.
 
Runtime: 1:37:21
Created by AORTA films in collaboration with the A.O. Movement Collective
Starring Parts Authority, Trouble Clef, Special Guest, Papi Femme, Shay Knox, Erykah Ohms, The Shape, Evie Snax, Alice the Wolfe, and Ginny Woolf
Director: Mahx Capacity
Cinematography: Holyrad Studio
Editing and coloring: Lanee Bird
Directors of Photography: Lanee Bird and Saskia de Borchgrave
Original Score: Wet Henry
Costume Consultant: Papi Femme
Commissioned by The Invisible Dog Art Center
Executive Producer: The Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity
Residency Support from Snug Harbor Cultural Center Botanical Garden, Jillian Sweeney + Jeffry Cranor

About Estro on Film

Estro on Film is a one-time, special event as part of #stayhome and celebrates the EstroGenius Festival’s 20th Anniversary. Festival curators Maura Donohue and Melissa Riker have brought together various film works, including a short film series of dance films, plus the feature length (W/HOLE) by the multi-award winning collective, AORTA Films. This film is created by an extraordinary collective promoting sex-positive, queer, trans-inclusive adult art films. This curated event launches on Saturday April 4 at 8pm and is available to stream online through Sunday April 5, 2020 at 10:00am.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at https://www.extrofromestro.org/events.
 
EstroGenius has been sharing and celebrating the voices of womxn for twenty years. Now, on a virtual stage, with attention to safety and our artists and audiences, while we wait out social distancing, EstroGenius celebrates its 20th anniversary with a riotous collection of performances by women, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and trans dance-makers, playwrights, experimental performers, teens, musicians, burlesque performers, noise artists, filmmakers, dj’s and anyone else looking to break molds and crack gender codes. This “extro” online content from Estro will bring you the art and the artists, the inspirations and the tools over these quarantined weeks across the country.
 
EstroGenius was founded in 2000 at Manhattan Theatre Source by Fiona Jones as a short-play fest to support dynamic female characters while celebrating inclusivity and pushing gender parity in theatre.
 
Heading into the 20th year, at the helm of the festival are Melissa Riker (Kinesis Project dance theatre, Women in Motion) and Maura Nguyen Donohue. Guest curators include Vincent Marano and John C. Robinson (On the Boards, Emerald City Music).
 
Now, with a home at the Kraine Theatre on E. 4th Street and stepping into 20 years as the longest running festival of its kind, EstroGenius continues to expand an inclusive view of the diverse and creative community that is a womxn’s festival.
 
About (W/HOLE)

This film is created by an extraordinary collective promoting sex-positive, queer, trans-inclusive adult art films. EstroGenius supports the voices of artists and creators who can listen to womxn, trans people and people who understand how to celebrate womxn. (W/HOLE) is made by the dance community’s own, and has garnered a multiplicity of awards in it’s category.
For mature (18 and over,) consenting audiences only, this one-night featured film launches on Saturday April 4 at 8pm and is available to stream online through Sunday April 5, 2020 at 10:00am.

About the Festival
 
Manhattan Theatre Source’s EstroGenius Festival, an annual celebration of female-identifying, gnc, non-binary & trans voices, is one of New York City’s largest womxn’s arts festivals.
 
Founded by Fiona Jones in 2000, the festival debuted with a program of 10 short plays and music. Since then, it has grown into a multi-week event including short plays, solo shows, teen performances, visual art, and dance. In past years, we’ve also had stand-up comedy, live music, fundraisers for African girls’ education, and full-day networking events with panels and workshops.
 
Almost completely volunteer run, the EstroGenius Festival has provided thousands of artists the chance to shine; showcased award-winning playwrights Sheila Callaghan, Quiara Alegria Hudes, T.D. Mitchell and Melissa Maxwell; presented Bessie Award-winning choreographers Marta Renzi and Jennifer Nugent; and provided scholarships for girls to attend school in Niger, ranked the poorest country in the world by the United Nations.
 
We are committed to providing opportunities to marginalized artists – in a variety of disciplines – ranging from the emerging to the seasoned professional.
 
The New York Times raves that EstroGenius “lives up to its billing as a celebration of women’s work.”
 
Manhattan Theatre Source & EstroGenius would like to thank New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for their support.
 
 
For more information, visit estrogenius.org and now, for #stayhome: extrofromestro.org.