What's a Little Nudity?

I have been following all the various discussions and comments about the nudity in These Girls with some interest. So far I have stayed out of the online discussions - happy to observe from afar, no matter how misguided or (in a few cases) sleazy the comments have been. However I've gotten a few direct questions and feel that I should throw some thoughts of my own out there. The first thing is that as a filmmaker I don't have any control over what happens to my film once it leaves the post production lab. How people react to it, or choose to interpret it, or these days how they choose to chop it up and (re)present it are out of my hands. The fact that people are doing anything with my film is a compliment (stay tuned for my next post on piracy).

*The following contains mild spoilers*
There certainly has been quite a buzz and reaction to David's nudity - both positive and negative. Some have gone as far as suggesting that David was manipulated into going as far as he did. This is an excellent rumor and maybe one which I should go along with (I could play the role of the cynical puppet master). Unfortunately, for me, the truth is less dramatic. David was very much in control of the situation – he is, after all, a very experienced and intelligent actor. The ‘jewelry box’ was his idea (I wish it was mine). In the context of the film I still think the nudity is pretty innocent stuff and I know that David wanted to have fun with the role. He knew it would be funny and he had the smarts and the guts to play it funny (with a little edge). I know there are ‘still frame’ images out there that appear to be very revealing but that’s not the movie – in the context of the film the scene is funny and a tease.

Hablas Español?

In a continuing bid for world domination These Girls will be having special screenings in both Valencia and Madrid in mid- July (11-14). These screenings are through the The Film Circuit - (a distribution project run by the Toronto International Film Festival Group) and their international program. So if you are in Spain in July drop by. The cool thing is, I will be there, which means I will be in Spain. Ahhh, so making these films does have a benefit or two.

Yukon Film Festival

Looks like I lied when I claimed that the North American festival run of These Girls was over. It will be playing at the Yukon International Film Festival in Whitehorse (June 21st -25th). The lovely and talented Holly Lewis will be attending and appearing on a panel about acting as well.