The HUMP! annual film festival in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, and Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, initiated in 2005, showcases home-movie erotica

Erotica

Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

, amateur sex cinema, and locally produced pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

. Films are rated by the audience, and awards are given. The films are then destroyed before the live audience at the final showing of the festival, by the master of ceremonies, Dan Savage

Dan Savage

Daniel Keenan "Dan" Savage is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives, as in...

.

HUMP encourages filmmakers to produce entries specifically for HUMP itself, however, the recognition has become so significant that several films which had premiered at HUMP! have been re-released and achieved significant commercial success, most notably among them the gay feature "Lawnboy" and Gloria Brame's

Gloria Brame

Gloria Glickstein Brame is a U.S. writer and sex therapist based in Athens, Georgia. A member of the American College of Sexologists, and certified clinical sexologist, Brame earned a PHD and MPH in Human Sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality , and an M.A. in English...

 short mockumentary

Mockumentary

A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

, "How To Get A Leg Up In Porn." In 2007 the short film which won "best hardcore" was produced by Two Big Meanies and starred Ms. Leather Washington State, Miss Candy, titled "Lauren Likes Candy." Some HUMP films are entered from out of state, for instance 2010's Twincest was produced by the Atlanta group Le Sexoflex. However, most are produced by anonymous locals. For instance, 2010's Best in Show "Hi I'm Pon" was produced by anonymous artists at Capitol Hill's 419 Boylston

419 Boylston

419 is a residence and collaborative project space in the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Its members have been both artists, computational scientists, and entrepreneurs...

.

In popular culture

At the 25th Sundance Film Festival, the independent film Humpday

Humpday

Humpday is a 2009 American comedy film starring Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore; and directed, produced, and written by Lynn Shelton. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance film festival. International distribution rights have been purchased by Magnolia Pictures for a mid-six figure sum...

featured characters creating a submission for the HUMP! film festival. The story of two straight men making a gay erotic film for the HUMP! opened to strongly positive reviews.

External links

• HUMP!: The Stranger's annual film festival.