
DIRECTOR OF DOOM aka Joseph Delaney’s video for the track Bite from Naked’s Killed By Roses record is included in the London Fetish Film Festival 2023 Day 1 programme
London Fetish Film Festival 2023
Full 2-day schedule & highlights
DECEMBER COVER STORY: London Fetish Film Festival 2023 takes place on the Friday and Saturday just before Christmas at its usual Hen & Chickens Theatre venue in Islington. Set to screen around 40 films across its two evenings, the event includes several world premières and numerous gems from all corners of kink. This Fetishistas preview provides full listings for the two days and includes a selection of programme highlights.
TOP BANNER: A welcome late addition to LFFF ’23, Norma Place, starring Danielle Power (shown) and Master K, began as a scene in forthcoming John Willie documentary feature Beyond Bizarre, but also evolved into a short film in its own right. Image: Michael Helms
Introduction to our LFFF 2023 preview by Tony Mitchell
In my four decades documenting kink creativity, I’ve always considered fetish on film — in its various guises from short-form videos to documentaries to major cinematic features — to be a vital element of our culture, reflecting it back to us but also exposing it to a wider audience.
When the first London Fetish Film Festival was announced in 2019, I offered to support what I considered a significant debut, and The Fetishistas became the event’s first media partner. Fast-forward to 2023 and we are once again providing pre- and post-event coverage of the festival content curated by Venus Raven, Tainted Saint and their team.
Since its inception, London Fetish Film Festival’s contribution to reflecting our culture, encouraging new talent and showcasing new work, has grown every year. It deserves to become a major festival player and I’m delighted to be providing editorial coverage again in 2023.
Thus, on the following pages you will find our Fetishistas preview of this year’s programme, which takes place at the LFFF’s regular venue, The Hen & Chickens Theatre on Islington’s Highbury Corner.
This year’s two-day event aims to screen around 40 films, exploring themes of fetish, kink, BDSM and erotic art across the evenings of Friday December 22 and Saturday 23.
LFFF 2023 features many returning filmmakers including Lily Rinae (Japan), Morgana Mayer (Italy), Marc Blackie (UK), Matthias Von Braun (UK), abcde Flash (Switzerland), Swen Brandy aka Carnivore (Germany), Donald C Shorter Jr (USA), João Dall’Stella (USA) and Lorris Accaries (UK) .
Day 1 is split into two segments: Kink Art and Documentary, together offering about 2hr 45min of onscreen material. Day 2 currently looks set to run to roughly three hours divided into three segments — Inside Fetish, Kink Narratives and Fun Fetish. STOP PRESS: The LFFF Awards originally listed as taking place on Day 2 is now planned as a separate event for January 2024.
The 2023 programme embraces a wide range of creative endeavour from all sectors of the kink community, so anyone who opts for a one-day (£13) or two-day (£23) pass and aims to catch every screening their pass permits will likely be exposed to some content they might not naturally be inclined to seek out!
But even if every individual contribution doesn’t float your boat, chances are that the variety on offer will not only expose you to films that very obviously are up your strasse, but also produce some revelations that you’ll find unexpectedly rewarding.
I feel I can promise this even though I was not personally involved in the choice of films. The timetable for producing this preview precluded advanced viewing of all but a couple of this year’s festival entries, so our descriptions of the films are based almost entirely on what the festival organisers received from the filmmakers and passed on to us.
One last thing before we come to the actual programme listings. I can assure you the festival organisers realise that the close proximity of this year’s festival dates to Christmas will not be ideal for everyone who might like to attend. But for reasons beyond their control, December 22 and 23 ended up being the only feasible dates for this year’s event. We do, however, expect the LFFF to revert to its familiar November slot in 2024.
LFFF 2023 PROGRAMME DAY 1: FRIDAY DECEMBER 22
SATURNALIA: UNBINDING FETISH FASHION, a 2023 film by Raegan Rubin, is a highlight of the Documentary segment of Friday 22’s LFFF 2023 Day 1 programme
The 2023 edition of London Fetish Film Festival opens at 7:30pm on Friday Dec 22 with, at time of writing, a Day 1 programme of 19 films divided into two segments: Kink Art and Documentary.
Kink Art kicks off the evening with a selection of nine short films with durations between 3:00 and 4:20. The segment’s total run-time is approximately 33 minutes.
The following Documentary segment is
devoted to five longer works that total a bit more than 130 minutes run-time, so you’ll be pleased to know there’ll be a short interval. This section includes Raegan Rubin’s 2023 work Saturnalia (the longest item at 52:47).
Among other documentary treats on Day 1 are Tomek Rustecki’s Polish Kink (2023, 27:00) and Donald C Shorter Jr’s Boys (2023, 27:36). Incidentally, Boys is the first of the 2023 London Fetish Film Festival’s four world premières — see separate panel below.
JUST SAY IT (2022), is a short film from UK director Miha in the Kink Art segment below
Friday December 22 programme: Kink Art
8 films — total screen time: 33min
VERSET ZERO – CINERES (2020, UK), 3:44 min, Dir: Lorris Accaries
From the album Karygma, with Chloe Anna Marie, Leah Kelly
and Syban. Costumes by Syban and make-up by Maya Lewis.
I AM THE BRUTE (2023, UK), 3:05 min, Dir: Bonnie Bakeneko (image above)
WTCHSONG (2022, Germany), 4:20 min, Dir: Lina Bembe
A music video for Maika Küster’s Wtchsong. A story about the power fluidity of queer desire, Wtchsong explores Jasko‘s inner world, its fluctuations and the multiple representations created around her object of desire. Wtchsong unwinds among introspective emotions of longing and proximity, but also around the need for clarity when consumed by fantasy.
IMPENETRABLE (2023, UK), 3:48 min, Dir: Matthias Von Braun
Dark surreal short by Matthias Von Braun featuring Arthur Griffiths, Lilith Newson.
BITE – NAKED (2019, UK), 4 min, Dir: Joseph Delaney/Director of Doom
Naked’s official music video (image above main headline) for Bite from the record Killed By Roses. “Pleasures of the present come with chains.” Breaking free from the imposed system of beliefs, superficial wealth, the misery of having to conform and one’s own psyche, Bite is an invitation to escape into the underworld. Domination, compliance, desire and self-punishment all get blurred; and the only maker of hell is nobody else than oneself.
JUST SAY IT (2022, UK), 3:24 min, Dir: Miha
“I wanted to create a cold, dark world and how
I sometimes see myself in it,” explains Just Say It’s writer/director Miha. “It could get lonely, dull, and repetitive. We could get lost chasing the wrong things, and wrong relationships. We could be walking on the verge of mental breakdowns. My path to making this video happen was extremely challenging and I wanted to give up so many times. I think with this work (see segment header image above) I have captured that chapter of my life, given it closure, and I am ready for the next one.”
Additional production credits: Camera, edit, colour: William J Pope; Make-up: Toshiro Gohma; Custom latex: Dayne Henderson; Headpiece: Loki Dolor; Starring: Ashley Reece.
HEY, BABY – THEATRE (2023, UK), 3 min, Dir Kassandra Powell
Creative director: @dalekcreativ; Director of photography: Conor Chalk; Stylist: Afonso Albano; Make-up: Sophie Yeff; Hair: Mikat Black; Choreography: Dale K; Dancers: Kareen Brown; David G; Manon Servage; Petrelle; Marquez; Kirsten Oelofse-Berry; Shea O’Connell; John McLean; Rachel McKellow; Cornelia Burman; Lucy Ridings; Yos Clark.
SWAGZILLA – TAYCE (2023, UK), 4 min, Dir. Kassandra Powell
Producer: Nycollas Abre; Make-up: Iliana Mavroeidakou; Hair: Pedro Allexandre; Cast make-up: Cassandra Scalia; Costume designer: Derek Anthony Purcell; Costume designer: Cameron Hancock; Art director: Alan Scott; Choreography: Dale k; Dancers: Matthew Miller, Lauren Kay, Jack Whitehead, Becky Wong, Michael De Angelo, Emma Ross (image above).
POLISH KINK (2023): Tomek Rustecki’s documentary asks “Is pain a hard drug?” and other questions
Friday December 22 programme: Documentary
5 films – total screen time: 2hr 12min plus short interval
SHINY QUEER (2023, UK) 04:53min, Dir: Paul Glyn
SATURNALIA: UNBINDING FETISH FASHION (2023, UK), 52:47 min, Dir: Raegan Rubin
Saturnalia: Unbinding Fetish Fashion (image above; see also Day 1 programme header image) is an intimate film celebrating the eclectic desires and fashions of London’s fetish community. While acknowledging fashion’s history of fetish appropriation, it spotlights fetishists who are preserving a legacy of kink innovation and acceptance.
Led by fashion journalist Raegan Rubin, viewers ricochet into a hedonistic saturnalia where clubgoers smoulder in latex and enact BDSM impact scenes. They follow the explosion of fetish culture in fashion from 1980s clubs to its future in digital and post-human subcultures.
Viewers will hear from the subversive Goth DJ and artist Parma Ham, legendary fashion photographer Nick Knight, dominatrix Mistress Eden, fashion commentator Caryn Franklin, fashion designers Ingrid Kraftchenko and Liza Keane, iconic subculture photographer Derek Ridgers, Skin Two magazine founder Tim Woodward, fetish artist Miss Meatface and many more.
From 1950s magazines and ’80s subcultures to otherworldly catwalks and the metaverse, Saturnalia is a tale of sublime physicality, artistic survival and LGBTQ+ solidarity.
POLISH KINK (2023, Poland), 27 min, Dir: Tomek Rustecki
Is pain a hard drug? Does a man who submits to a woman retain his masculinity? How many fetishes are there and where is the limit of sexual imagination? A subculture mainly associated with beatings, humiliation, aggression, licentiousness and all kinds of deviations may be more complex than it seems.
Four experts in female domination and four submissives feature in this documentary film (see Documentary segment header image above) about Polish femdom and the three paired elements — Bondage and Discipline (B&D), Domination and Submission (D&S), and Sadism and Masochism (S&M) — that combine to form the popular initialism BDSM.
BOYS (2023, United States), 27:36 min, Dir: Donald C. Shorter Jr
Donal C Shorter Jr’s film Boys receives its World Première on Day 1 of the 2023 London Fetish Film Festival. Read what the director says about his aims for the movie in the dedicated World Première panel below.
HUNGER (2022, Chile), 19:54, Dir. Andrés Valenzuela
This documentary (image above) portrays Melisa Nina, sex-worker, erotic performer and twerk instructor from Argentina. During an erotic photo session, Melisa tells us about her life in Chile, her work at the Erotic Art Festival, and her personal relationship with food and her own body.
World Première: BOYS (2023, USA, 27:36)
Directed by Donald C Shorter Jr
Boys (2023) is a short documentary that features leather boys giving personal accounts of how this form of identity has led to a spiritual awakening and radical self acceptance. Says producer/director/editor/cinematographer Donald C Shorter Jr: “I wanted to show that we can have a sense of pride in who we are as submissives despite what society says a man should be.” The boys featured in the film are Coleman, Donald, Mikey and Nick, along with Edward Joseph, Lthr Pipe Daddy, Darqwolf and Ty David Lerman.