Last Sunday the winners of the 2022 CineKink Film Festival were announced and celebrated. After several days of screenings in a virtual edition of the festival that was started in 2003, the winners were made public. The festival movies could be streamed on-demand through PinkLabel.tv.
As in the years before, a selection from the festival’s programming will go on tour. The traveling version of the festival is slated to appear in various cities throughout the next year.
Lisa Vandever is co-founder and director of CineKink. She commented on this year’s festival: »I was pleasantly astounded at the quality of works that came in for this year’s festival. It seems that filmmakers really stepped up their game during the pandemic, and it certainly showed in our line-up. Congratulations and thanks are in order, not just to our award-winning filmmakers, but to all of them!«
The festival’s CineKink Artist Spotlight award, designed to recognize outstanding artistry over a body of work, was given to Charles Lum and Todd Verow. Their collaborative films, including this season’s Death Race, Lum’s video diary recounting the last year of his life, and My Almost First Time, have been featured at CineKink since the very start.
Audience Choice Awards for CineKink 2022 were presented to Raw! Uncut! Video! (directors Ryan White and Alex Clausen) for Best Documentary Feature, with Vivante (director Anoushka) winning for Best Narrative Feature.
The annual CineKink »Bring It!« award, determined by audience vote during a showcase of current adult cinema, went to Air, directed by Urvashi, a previous four-time winner of the award.
In the shorts competition, juried festival awards went to Blind Spots (Luis Schubert) tied with Sexual Distancing (Dimitris Asproloupus) for Best Dramatic Short, Bitch Please (Peter Fitzgerald) tied with Stephen & James: Best Girlfriends for Best Documentary Short, Red (Katia Koziara) for Best Comedy Short, Hold (Marit Östberg) for Best Experimental Short, and The Receiver (Salty Cheri) for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short.
Honorable Best Mention awards were presented to Leatherboy (Jack McGreal), Sovereign Sex (Dom Razberry and Daemon Derriere), and Virtual Love (Aria Li).
Determining the shorts awards, CineKink jurors this year included Thor Stockman, creator of The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous: S/M at The Movies, Viviane Tang, co-founder of The Pleasure Salon, and Bill Woods, a film festival programmer and curator of the New Filmmakers series at Anthology Film Archives.
A CineKink Select Award, determined by the festival director, was presented to the short film Sweat of His Cow (John Wildman and Alan Smithee).
These are the winners of this year’s CineKink awards:
CineKink 2022 Spotlight Artists
Charles Lum and Todd Verow
CineKink Choice: Audience Choice Awards
CineKink Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature
“Raw! Uncut! Video!” (d. Ryan White and Alex Clausen)
CineKink Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature
“Vivante” (d. Anoushka)
CineKink Best: Jury Award for Best Shorts
CineKink Best Dramatic Short
TIE: “Blind Spots” (d. Luis Schubert)
TIE: “Sexual Distancing” (d. Dimitris Asproloupos)
CineKink Best Comedy Short
“Red” (d. Katia Koziara)
CineKink Best Documentary Short
TIE: “Butch Please” (d. Peter Fitzgerald)
TIE: “Stephen & James: Best Girlfriends” (d. Dave Quantic)
CineKink Best Experimental Short
“Hold” (d. Marit Östberg)
CineKink Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short
“The Receiver” (d. Salty Cheri)
CineKink Honorable Best Mentions
“Leatherboy” (d. Bob Miller)
“Sovereign Sex” (d. Dom Razberry and Daemon Derriere)
“Virtual Love” (d. Santiago Dollero)
CineKink Select: Festival Director Award
“Sweat of His Cow” (d. John Stuart Wildman and Alan Smithee)
“Bring It!” Adult Industry Showcase Award
“Air” (d. Urvashi)
Additional information can be found here.