We can thank the limitations of the past year as it relates to filmmaking for an increased output of small-scale features as directors weren’t able to bring together large crews safely. Although many full-fledged productions got put on hold, there seems to be a plethora of anthology films in which filmmakers shared their visions of the pandemic experience, from Homemade to Erēmīta (Anthologies) to the forthcoming Cannes premiere The Year of the Everlasting Storm. Now, another notable one has been announced that is taking a different approach.
The prolific Japanese master Sion Sono, Bacurau co-director Kleber Mendonça Filho, Evolution helmer Lucile Hadzihalilovic, The Wild Boys director Bertrand Mandico, and the duo of Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Let the Corpses Tan) have teamed together for a film that features five poetic visions of sexual ecstasy.
With the title of Shining Sex, Screen Daily reports it is part of the sales slate for Wild Bunch for the upcoming Cannes market. While not all details are revealed quite yet, they do note that storylines include “a young man who falls in love with a mermaid” and “lovers who abandon themselves to sensual pleasure in a dance hall in Brazil,” presumably the latter by Mendonça Filho.
Considering much of the world spent the last year-plus confined to their homes and not able to experience intimate human connection, an anthology about sexual pleasure may just be what the doctor ordered and hopefully we’ll see it premiere soon.
As we await more steamy details, check out our recent interviews with Sion Sono and Kleber Mendonça Filho, along with a trailer for Sono’s latest (anti-)erotic adventure.