The Hump festival made a stop in San Francisco at the Roxie Theater on 16th and Valencia. The showings sold out in all four days, and with reason. The popular amateur porn festival founded by Dan Savage, who runs Savage Love, a syndicated column of sex advice, is in its second year.
The core value of the screenings is to preserve the identity of its subjects as temporary porn stars. You can’t get these films on the Internet. The no cell phone ban is strictly enforced.
The origin of Hump! happened when Savage and his team jokingly put out a call for homemade porn clips to see if anyone would actually submit any. It turns out, a lot of people did. The second logical thing to do was to screen them to see if people would be willing to watch porn in a dark room side-by-side. And, yes, they will.
I figured the nice thing to do was to leave a seat between me and the next person, but it was sold out and decency was out the window the moment the lights went out in the packed auditorium.
The 18 erotic shorts collection had a wide range of sex(y) scenes. But, also hilarious ones. One short features a lesbian couple in bed having anal sex. In the aftermath, one of the women reaches out to kiss the other. What it ensues is a hilarious discussion of whether to kiss or not to kiss.
The festival is in its second year and has been steadily acquiring popularity mainly because it portrays a different kind of porn. It’s tales of sex are sweaty, sweet, queer, funny and crafty and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes.
My favorite clip was that of a penis conducting an ensemble of vaginas and butts to Beethoven’s Fifth. The clip opens with a stiff penis pulled by a string moving to the classical melody. A vagina blows a horn. The audience laughter mixes in with the music.
The catchy tune of Porn All The Time perhaps best describes this festival’s aftertaste. The short makes fun of the constant intake of this type of cellulose content, but also cheers up the smut viewer’s search for good pornography.
Although the clips might not be for everyone, there is much to see for those who like classy smut.
Glory Hole was the winner of the 2014 Best in Show Award. It tells the story of a gay couple who met more than 20 years ago in a gay club popular for its glory holes in San Francisco. The couple recounts their smoke-hot story and assures people that love is still out there.
Enough of the spoilers, keep an eye out for Hump! next year. Today is the last screening of Hump! in San Francisco and it is sold out. Perhaps you can get a ticket on Craigslist.