Shortbus
Encyclopedia
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama
film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell
. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City
. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn
artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by various underground NYC gatherings that took place in the early 2000's. According to Mitchell, the film attempts to "employ sex in new cinematic ways", and it includes a variety of explicit scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation.
It was released in North America
on October 13, 2006, distributed by THINKFilm
, after premiering in May at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
, and it played in over 25 countries, winning multiple awards at the Athens, Zurich
, and Gijon
film festivals
. Howard Gertler and Tim Perell received an Independent Spirit Award as Producers of the Year. The film was released to DVD
in North America on March 13, 2007. The DVD features a comprehensive documentary, "Gifted and Challenged: the Making of Shortbus" (Director/producer M. Sean Kaminsky), the vérité
-style "How to Shoot Sex: A Docu-Primer", deleted scene
s (including a dropped subplot about a character who is the Bush twins' personal assistant), as well as a filmmaker/cast audio commentary
.
and revolves around Sofia Lin (Sook-Yin Lee
), who is married to the handsome but dimwitted Rob (Raphael Barker). She works as a couples counselor
/sex therapist
although she has never achieved an orgasm
. She comes into contact with a couple: former child star
Jamie (PJ DeBoy
) and former prostitute
James (Paul Dawson
), the film's other protagonist. At the outset, James suggests to his boyfriend that they open up their relationship to sex with others. During their first consultation, Sofia snaps, slaps Jamie, and apologetically reveals her "pre-orgasmic" status. The couple suggests she attend a weekly social/artistic/sexual salon in Brooklyn called "Shortbus," which is hosted by drag
performance art
ist Justin Bond
(playing vself). Sofia slowly opens up to new experiences; this includes a friendship with a dominatrix
who goes by the name Severin
played by Lindsay Beamish. (Severin was the name of the masochist protagonist of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
's Venus in Furs
.) Sofia's inability to achieve orgasm begins to cause conflict with her husband Rob. Rob begins attending Shortbus with Sofia.
James and Jamie meet a young ex-model and aspiring singer named Ceth ' onMouseout='HidePop("43569")' href="/topics/Jay_Brannan">Jay Brannan
) and the three begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, James and Jamie's life is being closely watched by their across-the-street stalker
neighbor, Caleb (Peter Stickles
). Caleb fears the inclusion of Ceth in James and Jamie's relationship might break them up and thus destroy his ability to live vicariously through them, so he attends Shortbus, where he confronts Ceth. Sofia begins to go daily to a spa with a sensory deprivation
tank to meet with Severin, and the two begin to have intense conversations. Severin begins to help Sofia loosen up sexually; Sofia helps Severin achieve a deeper human connection than she had experienced before. One evening at Shortbus, Severin discusses with Sofia the idea of giving up sex work to pursue her dream of being an artist. The two then have an unplanned sexual experience, and once again Sofia is left unsatisfied. Throughout the film, James is seen making a film about himself and his relationship. It turns out to be a suicide note
. He attempts to take his own life and is rescued by Caleb, who calls for help, but is too embarrassed to wait with James for the help to arrive. He writes his phone number and email address on James' face while he is unconscious. When James wakes in the hospital, he calls Caleb. James goes to Caleb's home to be consoled, but does not contact Jamie or Ceth, neither of whom can understand why he wouldn't call them or come home.
There follows an interlocking trio of scenes showing connections between the characters' emotional problems and their sexual lives.
The film ends with a song by Justin Bond at Shortbus during the blackout. Sofia arrives and finds Rob with Severin and after acknowledging him sits down by herself. James and Jamie also arrive followed by Ceth and Caleb. Justin's song starts on a wistful note, but as it progresses it becomes more energetic and positive thanks to the arrival of the Hungry March Band
. This is mirrored in the actions and emotions of the actors. Jamie and James make out on the floor, and Ceth and Caleb start to hit it off. Rob seems to find a friend, and Severin progresses from nervous anxiety to happy elation upon the arrival of the band. Sofia engages in a threesome
with a couple she has seen several times before and who appear to meet her prerequisite of "just beginning to experiment sexually" (Nick and Leah, played by Jan Hilmer and Shanti Carson
), and finally achieves an orgasm, and the blackout
affecting New York ends, as does the film.
Hedwig players
Several members of the cast previously worked with Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, including:
Cameos
". In response, Mitchell says that the dictionary defines porn as "material created and viewed for the primary purpose of sexual arousal," and argues that the sex in Shortbus is often purposefully "de-eroticized" to "remove the cloud of arousal to reveal emotions and ideas that might have been obscured by it".
Sook-Yin Lee
was nearly fired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, for which she hosts a radio program, Definitely Not the Opera
, because of her participation in several unsimulated sex scenes in the film. Ultimately, she retained her job as the CBC relented in the face of support for Lee from the public, as well as from celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola
, Michael Stipe
, Moby
, Julianne Moore
and Yoko Ono
.
The Korea Media Rating Board
banned the film from public screenings in South Korea
in 2007 for its sex scenes and gay content, although it still screened at film festivals not subject to the Board's authority. Sponge ENT, the film's South Korean distributor, filed suit and in 2009, the Supreme Court of South Korea
ordered the ban lifted.
workshops with the cast. The audition website elicited half a million hits and 500 audition tape submissions. 40 people were called in for improv auditions and nine actors were cast, all before there was any story in mind. Mitchell wrote the screenplay from the raw material generated by the workshops and rehearsals.
Much of the sex in this movie is unsimulated. Mitchell says:
As indicated in the DVD special features, Lee and Shanti Carson each suggested they be filmed having real orgasms rather than fake them, specifically for the final scene involving Lee and the orgy sequence involving Carson. Mitchell
also participated in the latter scene, performing oral sex
on a woman for the first time "as a gesture of solidarity".
The panoramic cityscape interspersed through the film was completely computer-generated
and designed by John Bair
.
nickname (Mitchell was influenced by annual Radical Faerie counter-cultural gatherings in Tennessee
and New Orleans). Others influences include the Lusty Loft Parties that took place at a Brooklyn art collective called DUMBA
(where the film's salon was actually shot), and the weekly CineSalon film gathering, both of which were organized, in part, by Stephen Kent Jusick who plays Creamy in the film. The still-running underground Rubulad party was also an inspiration.
The character of Tobias — the elderly man who claims to be an ex-Mayor of New York City
— played by Alan Mandell, alludes to Mayor Ed Koch
, who has long been the subject of rumors about his sexual orientation
.
involving a vibrating egg with the brand name, In the Realm of the Senses
. This is a wink to the explicit 1976 Nagisa Oshima
film of the same name in which a man urges his lover to insert a hard-boiled egg in her vagina
and "lay it".
Justin Bond's line: "As my dear, departed friend Lotus Weinstock used to say, 'I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity'" refers to a stand-up line from real-life comedian Lotus Weinstock, a Los Angeles
-based performer who was Lenny Bruce
's last girlfriend. Mitchell was friendly with Weinstock and her daughter, singer-songwriter Lili Haydn
, before Weinstock died in 1997.
The film playing in the first Shortbus salon scene is, in effect, an elaborate "erotic" joke. It's entitled "Saverio" and was directed by Mitchell as a tribute to a 70's-era short film called "Calma". The score song is "Kids" by John LaMonica which appears on the film soundtrack. (Link to full version of "Saverio": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_6JckEWDsQ)
's record label, Team Love
. Mitchell directed the music video for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" (which featured Shortbus cast members Bitch, Daniela Sea
, and Ray Rivas). The soundtrack was released in Europe on V2
with the Anita O'Day
song replaced by "What Matters To Me" by Tiebreaker (John LaMonica). In Europe, the film found its largest audiences in France and Italy. (The Italian poster featured a hidden bomb in an artist's rendition of the Sex-Not-Bombs Room.)
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by various underground NYC gatherings that took place in the early 2000's. According to Mitchell, the film attempts to "employ sex in new cinematic ways", and it includes a variety of explicit scenes containing non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation.
It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on October 13, 2006, distributed by THINKFilm
THINKFilm
THINKFilm is a privately held production and distribution company founded in September 2001. It has been a division of David Bergstein’s Capitol Films since 2006. Bergstein also serves as the company’s chairman...
, after premiering in May at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, and it played in over 25 countries, winning multiple awards at the Athens, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, and Gijon
Gijón
Gijón , officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history...
film festivals
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
. Howard Gertler and Tim Perell received an Independent Spirit Award as Producers of the Year. The film was released to DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in North America on March 13, 2007. The DVD features a comprehensive documentary, "Gifted and Challenged: the Making of Shortbus" (Director/producer M. Sean Kaminsky), the vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
-style "How to Shoot Sex: A Docu-Primer", deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s (including a dropped subplot about a character who is the Bush twins' personal assistant), as well as a filmmaker/cast audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
.
Plot
The film is set in contemporary New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and revolves around Sofia Lin (Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...
), who is married to the handsome but dimwitted Rob (Raphael Barker). She works as a couples counselor
Relationship counseling
Relationship counseling is the process of counseling the parties of a relationship in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress...
/sex therapist
Sex therapy
Sex therapy is the treatment of sexual dysfunction, such as non-consummation, premature ejaculation , erectile dysfunction, low libido, unwanted sexual fetishes, sexual addiction, painful sex, or a lack of sexual confidence, assisting people who are recovering from sexual assault, problems commonly...
although she has never achieved an orgasm
Anorgasmia
Anorgasmia, or Coughlan's syndrome, is a type of sexual dysfunction in which a person cannot achieve orgasm, even with adequate stimulation. In males the condition is often related to delayed ejaculation . Anorgasmia can often cause sexual frustration...
. She comes into contact with a couple: former child star
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
Jamie (PJ DeBoy
PJ DeBoy
PJ DeBoy is an American actor born in Baltimore, Maryland. He started his career in New York where he performed with Miss Coco Peru and Kiki and Herb. DeBoy moved to Toronto in 1998...
) and former prostitute
Male prostitution
Male prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual acts for money. Compared to female sex workers, male sex workers have been far less studied by researchers, and while studies suggest that there are differences between the ways these two groups look at their work, more research is needed.Male...
James (Paul Dawson
Paul Dawson (actor)
Paul Dawson is an actor and writer perhaps best known for playing the secretly suicidal former prostitute James, one of the principal characters in Shortbus, a 2006 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell.-Shortbus:...
), the film's other protagonist. At the outset, James suggests to his boyfriend that they open up their relationship to sex with others. During their first consultation, Sofia snaps, slaps Jamie, and apologetically reveals her "pre-orgasmic" status. The couple suggests she attend a weekly social/artistic/sexual salon in Brooklyn called "Shortbus," which is hosted by drag
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist Justin Bond
Justin Bond
Justin Vivian Bond , formerly simply Justin Bond, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, occasional actor and Radical Faerie. Described as a "fixture of the New York avant-garde", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb from the...
(playing vself). Sofia slowly opens up to new experiences; this includes a friendship with a dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
who goes by the name Severin
Severin
Severin, Séverin or Severinus may refer to:* Severin -Places:* Caraş-Severin County, a county in Romania* Severin County, a defunct county in Romania that was merged into the present Caraş-Severin County...
played by Lindsay Beamish. (Severin was the name of the masochist protagonist of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch was an Austrian writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term masochism is derived from his name....
's Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs
Venus in Furs is a novella by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the best known of his works. The novel was part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called Legacy of Cain. Venus in Furs was part of Love, the first volume of the series...
.) Sofia's inability to achieve orgasm begins to cause conflict with her husband Rob. Rob begins attending Shortbus with Sofia.
James and Jamie meet a young ex-model and aspiring singer named Ceth ' onMouseout='HidePop("43569")' href="/topics/Jay_Brannan">Jay Brannan
Jay Brannan
Jay Brannan is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He was born in Texas and briefly studied in Ohio, but moved to California to become an actor. Brannan appeared in the 2006 movie Shortbus, which included one of his songs in its soundtrack, and began to build a fan base by performing on...
) and the three begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, James and Jamie's life is being closely watched by their across-the-street stalker
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
neighbor, Caleb (Peter Stickles
Peter Stickles
Peter Stickles is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the voyeuristic Caleb in the John Cameron Mitchell film Shortbus and as Damian, leader of a gay vampire cult, in the here! original series The Lair.-Career:...
). Caleb fears the inclusion of Ceth in James and Jamie's relationship might break them up and thus destroy his ability to live vicariously through them, so he attends Shortbus, where he confronts Ceth. Sofia begins to go daily to a spa with a sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
tank to meet with Severin, and the two begin to have intense conversations. Severin begins to help Sofia loosen up sexually; Sofia helps Severin achieve a deeper human connection than she had experienced before. One evening at Shortbus, Severin discusses with Sofia the idea of giving up sex work to pursue her dream of being an artist. The two then have an unplanned sexual experience, and once again Sofia is left unsatisfied. Throughout the film, James is seen making a film about himself and his relationship. It turns out to be a suicide note
Suicide note
A suicide note or death note is a message that states the author has died by suicide, and left to be discovered and read in anticipation of suicide....
. He attempts to take his own life and is rescued by Caleb, who calls for help, but is too embarrassed to wait with James for the help to arrive. He writes his phone number and email address on James' face while he is unconscious. When James wakes in the hospital, he calls Caleb. James goes to Caleb's home to be consoled, but does not contact Jamie or Ceth, neither of whom can understand why he wouldn't call them or come home.
There follows an interlocking trio of scenes showing connections between the characters' emotional problems and their sexual lives.
- At Caleb's house, he and James have sex, and James allows Caleb to penetrate him, something he has never allowed anyone to do before. Afterward, in a dramatic revelation, James is seen in the window of Caleb's apartment by Jamie, who realizes in that moment that James is alive and okay.
- Rob and Severin have a paid encounter where Rob asks to be beaten, something he couldn't ask Sofia to do. As this progresses, Severin loses control and Rob tries to comfort her.
- Sofia seems to have a dream of struggling through an overgrown, wild forested area to a gentle seashore where she tries to achieve orgasm again. On failing, she screams, and in the real world the lights go off across the city, seemingly caused by the simultaneous and collective frustration of the characters.
The film ends with a song by Justin Bond at Shortbus during the blackout. Sofia arrives and finds Rob with Severin and after acknowledging him sits down by herself. James and Jamie also arrive followed by Ceth and Caleb. Justin's song starts on a wistful note, but as it progresses it becomes more energetic and positive thanks to the arrival of the Hungry March Band
Hungry March Band
The Hungry March Band is a brass band with approximately 15 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from an intimate quintet to a giant entourage of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, hula hoopers, and second-liners...
. This is mirrored in the actions and emotions of the actors. Jamie and James make out on the floor, and Ceth and Caleb start to hit it off. Rob seems to find a friend, and Severin progresses from nervous anxiety to happy elation upon the arrival of the band. Sofia engages in a threesome
Threesome
A threesome is a group of three engaged in the same activity. In relation to a sexual activity a threesome refer to the activity involving three people of any gender or sexual orientation...
with a couple she has seen several times before and who appear to meet her prerequisite of "just beginning to experiment sexually" (Nick and Leah, played by Jan Hilmer and Shanti Carson
Shanti Carson
Shanti Carson is an American actress and fire eater, living in New York. She appears as "Leah" in the film Shortbus by John Cameron Mitchell and is one of the actors who performs unsimulated sex scenes in the film...
), and finally achieves an orgasm, and the blackout
Northeast Blackout of 2003
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m....
affecting New York ends, as does the film.
Cast
- Sook-Yin LeeSook-Yin LeeSook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...
as Sofia - Paul DawsonPaul Dawson (actor)Paul Dawson is an actor and writer perhaps best known for playing the secretly suicidal former prostitute James, one of the principal characters in Shortbus, a 2006 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell.-Shortbus:...
as James - Lindsay Beamish as Severin
- PJ DeBoyPJ DeBoyPJ DeBoy is an American actor born in Baltimore, Maryland. He started his career in New York where he performed with Miss Coco Peru and Kiki and Herb. DeBoy moved to Toronto in 1998...
as Jamie - Raphael Barker as Rob
- Peter SticklesPeter SticklesPeter Stickles is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the voyeuristic Caleb in the John Cameron Mitchell film Shortbus and as Damian, leader of a gay vampire cult, in the here! original series The Lair.-Career:...
as Caleb - Jay BrannanJay BrannanJay Brannan is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He was born in Texas and briefly studied in Ohio, but moved to California to become an actor. Brannan appeared in the 2006 movie Shortbus, which included one of his songs in its soundtrack, and began to build a fan base by performing on...
as Ceth - Alan Mandell as Mayor Tobias
- Jan Hilmer and Shanti CarsonShanti CarsonShanti Carson is an American actress and fire eater, living in New York. She appears as "Leah" in the film Shortbus by John Cameron Mitchell and is one of the actors who performs unsimulated sex scenes in the film...
as Nick and Leah - Justin BondJustin BondJustin Vivian Bond , formerly simply Justin Bond, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, occasional actor and Radical Faerie. Described as a "fixture of the New York avant-garde", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb from the...
as self / Mistress of Shortbus - Miriam ShorMiriam ShorMiriam Shor is an American film, stage, and television actress.-Early life:Shor was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is Jewish on her father's side, and speaks fluent Yiddish as well as Italian. Her parents divorced when she was 7, and she alternated between living in Turin, Italy , and...
as Cheryl - Gentleman RegGentleman RegReg Vermue is a Canadian indie rock singer from Guelph, Ontario. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he records as Gentleman Reg. His musical style has been compared to Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Smiths and Cat Power...
as The Albino - John Cameron MitchellJohn Cameron MitchellJohn Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
as a "sextra" (extra in a sex scene) - Daniela SeaDaniela SeaDaniela Sea is an American filmmaker musician, performance artist, former circus juggler, and actress. She is most widely known for her role as Max/Moira on Showtime's The L Word.-History:...
as "Little Prince", a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
Radical Faerie - The Hungry March BandHungry March BandThe Hungry March Band is a brass band with approximately 15 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from an intimate quintet to a giant entourage of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, hula hoopers, and second-liners...
as Themselves
Hedwig players
Several members of the cast previously worked with Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, including:
- Sook-Yin LeeSook-Yin LeeSook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...
previously played Kwang-Yi, the electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
ist in Hedwig's original band in Junction City, KansasJunction City, KansasJunction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,353. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby...
. - Sofia's therapy client, Cheryl, is played by Miriam ShorMiriam ShorMiriam Shor is an American film, stage, and television actress.-Early life:Shor was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is Jewish on her father's side, and speaks fluent Yiddish as well as Italian. Her parents divorced when she was 7, and she alternated between living in Turin, Italy , and...
, who portrayed Yitzhak, Hedwig's back-up singer/lover. - Alan Mandell, who played the Mayor of New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, appeared as a restaurant customer who receives a "car wash" from Hedwig. Mandell met Mitchell when they performed together wearing radiation burn makeup in a 1987 Los Angeles stage production about ChernobylChernobylChernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
. Mandell was a great friend and collaborator of playwright Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
and was directed by him in Waiting for GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
and EndgameEndgameIn chess and chess-like games, the endgame is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board....
. They met after Mandell co-founded the San Quentin Prison Drama Workshop in the mid-60s which produced works of Beckett, among other playwrights. Mandell introduced Mitchell to Beckett in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1988, the year before Beckett died. - PJ DeBoyPJ DeBoyPJ DeBoy is an American actor born in Baltimore, Maryland. He started his career in New York where he performed with Miss Coco Peru and Kiki and Herb. DeBoy moved to Toronto in 1998...
appeared as the Hedhead with dreads in the scene where Hedwig recounts her Tommy Gnosis stories atop a big pile of tires. - Mitchell himself is featured in two shots in the Sex-Not-Bombs Room: the first, kissing a dark-haired man; and the second, performing cunnilingusCunnilingusCunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...
on a woman sitting on a couch.
Cameos
- Jonathan CaouetteJonathan CaouetteJonathan Caouette is an American film director, writer, editor and actor. Caouette is the director and editor of Tarnation , an autobiographical documentary, and director of All Tomorrow's Parties about a cult music festival.-Films:...
, director of Tarnation, as the man who steals some "blondies" off a plate in the Sex-Not-Bombs Room. Mitchell met him when Caouette auditioned for Shortbus and subsequently became executive producer of Tarnation. - Mary Beth PeilMary Beth PeilMary Beth Peil is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Born in Davenport, Iowa in 1940, Peil trained as an opera singer at Northwestern University under Lotte Lehmann. There she became a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority...
, best known as Evelyn "Grams" Ryan on Dawson's CreekDawson's CreekDawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
, as the woman with her hand down the storm drain (Severin takes a PolaroidInstant filmInstant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
of her). - Singer-songwriter Reginald Vermue (aka Gentleman RegGentleman RegReg Vermue is a Canadian indie rock singer from Guelph, Ontario. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he records as Gentleman Reg. His musical style has been compared to Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Smiths and Cat Power...
) has a song on the soundtrack and appears as "The Albino" - Tristan TaorminoTristan TaorminoTristan Taormino is a feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, and pornographic film director . She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with her Bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1993...
, a sex columnist and porn film director/occasional actress, is one of the participants in the orgy sequence. - Comedian Bradford ScobieBradford ScobieBradford Scobie is a New York City performance artist and comedian who performs a wide array of one-man musical comedy routines in the guise of Doctor Donut and other absurd characters.-Doctor Donut:...
(Doctor Donut) - Singer-songwriter Jasper James, who also appears on the soundtrack, has a cameoCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as the woman being eaten out by Mitchell (on the couch next to Rob). - Comedian/bon vivant Murray HillMurray HillMurray Hill may refer to one of the following places:* Murray Hill, Kentucky, a small city in Kentucky* Murray Hill, Manhattan, a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
(on the swing) - AcrobatAcrobaticsAcrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
-comedians The Wau Wau Sisters (on the trapeze) - Miss Exotic World 2004 Dirty MartiniDirty Martini (burlesque)Dirty Martini is a New York City-based Burlesque dancer, pin-up model and dance teacher.She is best-known for her over-the-top performance acts, which mostly incorporate various classic burlesque styles such as the fan dance, balloon strip tease, the Dance of Several Veils, and shadow stripping,...
(doing the strip tease) - BurlesqueBurlesqueBurlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
star The World-Famous *Bob* (sitting with the Mayor in the Truth-Or-Dare Room) - Ray Rivas, like his character Shabbos goy, is known for his blood-inclusive brand of extreme performance artExtreme performance artSince the beginning of the Dadaism in the Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich in 1916, many artists have experimented with extreme performance art as a critique of contemporary consumer culture. Some have used bodily fluids such as blood, faeces and urine. Other times they perform self mutilation. In the...
which he performed at DUMBADumbaDUMBA was a collective living space and anarchist, queer, all-ages community center and venue in Brooklyn, New York.DUMBA became a radical cultural nexus point around which the Queercore movement flourished and an independent film scene developed...
. - Bitch, of the bands Bitch and AnimalBitch and AnimalBitch and Animal, a duo consisting of musicians Bitch and Animal Prufrock, were a queercore band that performed from 1995 to 2004. Bitch and Animal have kept their birth names out of publication for both political and artistic reasons...
and "Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion," plays herself. - Daniela SeaDaniela SeaDaniela Sea is an American filmmaker musician, performance artist, former circus juggler, and actress. She is most widely known for her role as Max/Moira on Showtime's The L Word.-History:...
, queercoreQueercoreQueercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
musician and former circus juggler of Cypher in the SnowCypher in the SnowCypher in the Snow were an all women queercore band from San Francisco.One of the band's first appearances was at the Dirtybird Queercore Festival in San Francisco in 1996. This historic festival also featured Tribe 8, Sta-Prest, Behead the Prophet, No Lord Shall Live, The Need and many others...
and cast member of The L WordThe L WordThe L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, also plays herself as Little Prince, her Radical Faerie nickname. - JD SamsonJD SamsonJD Samson is the stage name of Jocelyn Samson, a member of the feminist electropunk band Le Tigre. Samson grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike, Ohio and attended Orange High School. She came out as a lesbian at age 15...
of the band Le TigreLe TigreLe Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
(who actually played their first show in DUMBADumbaDUMBA was a collective living space and anarchist, queer, all-ages community center and venue in Brooklyn, New York.DUMBA became a radical cultural nexus point around which the Queercore movement flourished and an independent film scene developed...
) appears in the "Bitch's Bedroom" scene. - Justin Tranter lead singer of the band Semi Precious Weapons is a spectator in Shortbus.
Public reaction
Some have branded the film "pornographicPornography
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,...
". In response, Mitchell says that the dictionary defines porn as "material created and viewed for the primary purpose of sexual arousal," and argues that the sex in Shortbus is often purposefully "de-eroticized" to "remove the cloud of arousal to reveal emotions and ideas that might have been obscured by it".
Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...
was nearly fired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, for which she hosts a radio program, Definitely Not the Opera
Definitely Not the Opera
Definitely Not the Opera is a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture. The program is broadcast on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. . An abridged version of each weekly program is available for download as a weekly podcast...
, because of her participation in several unsimulated sex scenes in the film. Ultimately, she retained her job as the CBC relented in the face of support for Lee from the public, as well as from celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
.
The Korea Media Rating Board
Korea Media Rating Board
The Korea Media Rating Board ' is a ratings organization in South Korea. They rate movies, videos, stage performances, and phonogrames. The current chairperson is Kyung-Soon Lee...
banned the film from public screenings in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
in 2007 for its sex scenes and gay content, although it still screened at film festivals not subject to the Board's authority. Sponge ENT, the film's South Korean distributor, filed suit and in 2009, the Supreme Court of South Korea
Supreme Court of South Korea
The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest court in South Korea. It is located in Seoul.Articles 101-110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea establish the Supreme Court and enumerates its powers and responsibilities.-Composition:...
ordered the ban lifted.
Production
The film's characters and story were created collaboratively over 2.5 years through improvisationImprovisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
workshops with the cast. The audition website elicited half a million hits and 500 audition tape submissions. 40 people were called in for improv auditions and nine actors were cast, all before there was any story in mind. Mitchell wrote the screenplay from the raw material generated by the workshops and rehearsals.
Much of the sex in this movie is unsimulated. Mitchell says:
As indicated in the DVD special features, Lee and Shanti Carson each suggested they be filmed having real orgasms rather than fake them, specifically for the final scene involving Lee and the orgy sequence involving Carson. Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
also participated in the latter scene, performing oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on a woman for the first time "as a gesture of solidarity".
The panoramic cityscape interspersed through the film was completely computer-generated
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
and designed by John Bair
John Bair
John D. Bair is an American actor and stand-up comic.Born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and raised in Rowayton, Connecticut, Bair is the youngest of four sons of Robert and Barbara Bair. John D. Bair studied at Stella Adler Conservatory in New York City...
.
Inspiration
The characters all converge on a weekly underground gathering or salon called Shortbus, inspired by the short yellow school buses for "challenged" students. The Shortbus salon was loosely based on a series of New York social/artistic/sexual gatherings. One was the monthly "Shortbus Sweaty Teenage Dance Party" organized by Mitchell (2002) as "DJ Dear Tic", his Radical FaerieRadical Faeries
The Radical Faeries are a loosely-affiliated, worldwide network and counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. The Radical Faerie movement started in the United States among gay men during the 1970s sexual and counterculture...
nickname (Mitchell was influenced by annual Radical Faerie counter-cultural gatherings in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and New Orleans). Others influences include the Lusty Loft Parties that took place at a Brooklyn art collective called DUMBA
Dumba
DUMBA was a collective living space and anarchist, queer, all-ages community center and venue in Brooklyn, New York.DUMBA became a radical cultural nexus point around which the Queercore movement flourished and an independent film scene developed...
(where the film's salon was actually shot), and the weekly CineSalon film gathering, both of which were organized, in part, by Stephen Kent Jusick who plays Creamy in the film. The still-running underground Rubulad party was also an inspiration.
The character of Tobias — the elderly man who claims to be an ex-Mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
— played by Alan Mandell, alludes to Mayor Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
, who has long been the subject of rumors about his sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
.
Jokes
There is a plot devicePlot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
involving a vibrating egg with the brand name, In the Realm of the Senses
In the Realm of the Senses
is a 1976 Franco-Japanese romantic drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima. It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of an incident from 1930s Japan, that of Sada Abe...
. This is a wink to the explicit 1976 Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
film of the same name in which a man urges his lover to insert a hard-boiled egg in her vagina
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
and "lay it".
Justin Bond's line: "As my dear, departed friend Lotus Weinstock used to say, 'I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity'" refers to a stand-up line from real-life comedian Lotus Weinstock, a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based performer who was Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
's last girlfriend. Mitchell was friendly with Weinstock and her daughter, singer-songwriter Lili Haydn
Lili Haydn
Lili Haydn is a violinist, vocalist, composer, guitarist, and actress. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Haydn was fifteen, she had played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.After graduating from...
, before Weinstock died in 1997.
The film playing in the first Shortbus salon scene is, in effect, an elaborate "erotic" joke. It's entitled "Saverio" and was directed by Mitchell as a tribute to a 70's-era short film called "Calma". The score song is "Kids" by John LaMonica which appears on the film soundtrack. (Link to full version of "Saverio": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_6JckEWDsQ)
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on Conor OberstConor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
's record label, Team Love
Team Love
Team Love is a New York City-based independent record label founded by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel in 2003. It has released albums by musicians including Tilly and the Wall, Jenny Lewis, David Dondero, Craig Wedren, Capgun Coup, Gruff Rhys, The Shortbus Movie Soundtrack, McCarthy Trenching, El...
. Mitchell directed the music video for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" (which featured Shortbus cast members Bitch, Daniela Sea
Daniela Sea
Daniela Sea is an American filmmaker musician, performance artist, former circus juggler, and actress. She is most widely known for her role as Max/Moira on Showtime's The L Word.-History:...
, and Ray Rivas). The soundtrack was released in Europe on V2
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
with the Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
song replaced by "What Matters To Me" by Tiebreaker (John LaMonica). In Europe, the film found its largest audiences in France and Italy. (The Italian poster featured a hidden bomb in an artist's rendition of the Sex-Not-Bombs Room.)
- Scott MatthewScott MatthewScott Matthew is a vocalist and lyricist born in Queensland, Australia. He currently resides and performs as an independent artist in New York City....
– "Upside Down" - Azure RayAzure RayAzure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...
– "If You Fall" - Yo La TengoYo La TengoYo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
– "Wizard’s Sleeve" - Animal CollectiveAnimal CollectiveAnimal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...
– "Winter’s Love" - Scott MatthewScott MatthewScott Matthew is a vocalist and lyricist born in Queensland, Australia. He currently resides and performs as an independent artist in New York City....
– "Surgery" - Lee & Leblanc (with Sook-Yin LeeSook-Yin LeeSook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...
) – "Beautiful" - Gentleman RegGentleman RegReg Vermue is a Canadian indie rock singer from Guelph, Ontario. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he records as Gentleman Reg. His musical style has been compared to Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Smiths and Cat Power...
– "It’s Not Safe" - John LaMonica – "Kids"
- Scott Matthew – "Language"
- Jay BrannanJay BrannanJay Brannan is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He was born in Texas and briefly studied in Ohio, but moved to California to become an actor. Brannan appeared in the 2006 movie Shortbus, which included one of his songs in its soundtrack, and began to build a fan base by performing on...
– "Soda Shop" - Anita O'DayAnita O'DayAnita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
– "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My BabyIs You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" is a 1944 Louis Jordan song, released as the B-side of single with "G.I. Jive". "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" reached #1 on the US folk/country charts. The Louis Jordan recording also peaked at number two for three weeks on the pop chart and peaked at...
" - The ArkThe Ark (band)The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Jepsson Mikael , and Lasse Ljungberg, when Ola Salo and Leari were only fourteen years old. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member...
– "Kolla Kolla (NationalteaternNationalteaternNationalteatern is a Swedish progg rock group from the 1970s that featured leftist political lyrics. It was originally a traveling theater ensemble with many members, most notably Ulf Dageby, Anders Melander, Totta Näslund, Nikke Ström, Hans Mosesson and Pale Olofsson.-History:Initially formed as a...
Tribute Version)" - Jasper James and the Jetset – "This House"
- The ArkThe Ark (band)The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Jepsson Mikael , and Lasse Ljungberg, when Ola Salo and Leari were only fourteen years old. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member...
– "This Piece of Poetry Is Meant To Do Harm" - The Hidden CamerasThe Hidden CamerasThe Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music"...
– "Boys of Melody" - Scott Matthew – "Little Bird"
- Justin BondJustin BondJustin Vivian Bond , formerly simply Justin Bond, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, occasional actor and Radical Faerie. Described as a "fixture of the New York avant-garde", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb from the...
and the Hungry March BandHungry March BandThe Hungry March Band is a brass band with approximately 15 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from an intimate quintet to a giant entourage of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, hula hoopers, and second-liners...
– "In the End (Long Film Version)" - Scott Matthew – "In the End (Acoustic)"
See also
- Hedwig and the Angry InchHedwig and the Angry Inch (film)Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film based on the stage musical of the same title about a fictional rock band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The film was adapted and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who also portrayed the title role...
, Mitchell's first film (2001) - Rabbit HoleRabbit Hole (film)Rabbit Hole is a 2010 drama film starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, and Dianne Wiest, and directed by John Cameron Mitchell; the screenplay is an adaptation by David Lindsay-Abaire of his 2005 play of the same name. Kidman produced the project via her company, Blossom Films. The film premiered...
, Mitchell's latest film (2010) - Unsimulated sex in filmUnsimulated sex in filmUnsimulated sex in mainstream cinema was at one time restricted by law and self-imposed industry standards such as the Motion Picture Production Code. Films showing explicit sexual activity were confined to privately distributed underground films, such as stag films or "porn loops"...
External links
- Shortbus at Fortissimo FilmsFortissimo FilmsFortissimo Films is a multi-national film production, sales and distribution company. The company has been behind such East Asian films as Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, the Thai films Tears of the Black Tiger and Last Life in the Universe, as well as such independent films as Pleasure...