Just yesterday I wrote an item about the upcoming home entertainment release of filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu’sfeature film alaskaLand, and before you ask, yes, she is currently in pre-production her next feature, which will go into production next year.

But she still has been making films. She just recently finished a short film, A Long Walk, based on a short story bySamuel Autman, which will hit the film festival circuit next year. However there’s another short she already completed a few months ago entitled Bottom, and it is rather unexpected to say the least.

It’s an intense, sexually-charged short which she herself has said might “not be appropriate for some,”  but you all know me by now. I just love stuff like that. I like it when someone goes against the grain and does something challenging.

I’m not saying that you have to like it, and I’m sure there will be those who won’t, but I would rather have someone hate something intensely after watching it, than to leave a film with a blasé “Well yeah that was O.K. I guess” feeling.

After seeing it myself, I had to ask Ms. Chukwu why she decided to make this film since I wanted to know, and you will too after you watch it, since it is quite unlike her feature alaskaLand.

She told me that Bottom “represents a major shift I encountered last year, soon after completing my first feature film…This shift was inspired by my exposure to several artistic heroes of mine, whose works challenged me to go deeper inside of myself and to confront some of the “ugliness” of humanity to have a truly beautiful, creative experience.“

She further said the film “is a visual manifestation of several artist awakenings I had during this period last year: 1) You can say more by not saying or showing anything 2) Composition and framing is an extension of the storytelling 3) Pain is the springboard for a myriad of human actions and behaviors 4) Go darker, go uglier 5) I can make a damn good movie with  very little.”

And she finally added that she “wanted to  explore the very political space of the bedroom. We bring so much emotional and psychological baggage to this space and to our relationships. I wanted to slowly unthread an encounter between two people, whose pain is at very forefront of their actions, but is never articulated between the two. This is what we do as human beings – we often mask our own pain and  then it ends being manifested in other ways.“

Because of the Bottom’s content and with Ms. Chukwu’s permission, instead of actually posting the film here, if you want to watch it, go here: BOTTOM.

Please feel free to give your thoughts, pro or con.

 

>via: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-chinonye-chukwus-provocative-and-challenging-short-film-bottom-nsfw