User:Laurenszautsen/RELEASE

About

Release is a short fiction film focusing on the experiences of a young boy, Bo (18), entering a gay-sauna for the first time. The film is shot in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and has a duration of 20 minutes. The film contains multipile visits of Bo to the gay-sauna, covering a total time span of half a year.

In the film Bo learns the do’s and don’ts of cruising in a highly seksual space by simply doing and exploring. On the way he also makes new friends that help him gain more self-confidence. We see him transform from a shy introvert to a more daring person, willing to take risks and chase his own desires.

When he is visiting more often a desire to be reckless and try extremer forms of sex arise. An encounter with two men leads to an unpleasant experience in which there is some miscommunication about each other’s preferences. This is a hard lesson which makes him more mindful about his own boundaries. By the end he has found his place within the community and is ready to further explore his seksuality while also being alert.

The film was possible to make because of some funding from the Dutch Film Fund. First I mainly worked with images that were in my head that didn’t have a concrete storyline yet. Together with my producer we created a structure and a character development that would be true to the message that we wanted to convey. Based on this narrative roadmap I started writing the screenplay.

When the screenplay was finished we started casting. It was an intense process in which we used multiple ways of finding people that felt comfortable with being in this kind of film. I met people at parties, contacted them through instagram or invited them for an audition when they replied to our casting call. Eventually the cast consisted mainly of young non-actors that sometimes never appeared in a movie before. This required a special process with lots of rehearsals. During the production an intimacy coordinator was also involved to make sure everybody was feeling safe.

We shot the film in 5 days at a gay-sauna in Arnhem. I worked together with a crew of 20 people including a camera department, director’s assistants and make-up. Apart from them we had a group of extra’s that was mostly around the amount of 15.  

The idea of making a film that would take place in this kind of arena was already in my mind for quite some time. The images were already there and I even wrote some scenes.

The message behind the story popped up when I had an unpleasant experience myself. This specific situation made me think again about seksuality, the body, consent and the way we interact as queer and gay men in cruising-spaces.

I wanted to make a film that celebrated the act of cruising and free seksuality without ignoring the possible dangers that can also be present. In this regard I tried to tell a story that wasn’t judgemental, but honest about transforming situations that can make you a stronger human being in the end.