A new compilation of erotic short films by contemporary artists uses adult images to reveal the diverse attitudes by which we represent ourselves sexually. Destricted, which recently showed at the Cannes Film Festival in France, showcases seven of the world’s most provocative filmmakers: Mathew Bareny, Larry Clark, Richard Prince, Sam Taylor-Wood, Marina Amrbovic, Marco Brambilla and Gasper Noe in an explicit exploration of art and adult.
Destricted explores the intersection of art and pornography by highlighting controversial issues about the representation of sexuality in art. A few of the standout shorts in the film are Brambilla's piece Sync, a three-minute short made up of thousands of micro-second samples from sex scenes in both adult and mainstream films. Controversial photographer Prince’s House Call follows that with a 12-minute re-photographing of images from a vintage adult title in which a hunky doctor and his female patient have fun with a thermometer.
Destricted’s most notable moment, however, comes from Larry Clark (best known for his controversial film, Kids) and his 38-minute offering, Impaled. In the short piece, Clark takes a typical teenage slacker and screen tests her for a porn shoot up against a series of shapely, more experienced actresses.
Although it has received some mixed reviews, as well as garnered some understandable controversy, Destricted was among Artforum magazine's 'Best of 2005,’ an official selection for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and the 45th International Critics' Week at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Though the movie was passed over by American companies at Sundance (at that time only UK distribution was secured), IFC Entertainment bought the rights at Cannes following a recent screening. According to Screen Daily, IFC plans to give the film a simultaneous home-and-theater release.
