It may be cold outside, but things are getting hot at the Bijou Art Cinemas, located at 493 E. 13th Ave. Short films from the Erotic Tales film festival will be playing at the theater through Jan. 30.
Sponsored by the UO Cultural Forum, the sensual series was created and produced by Regina Ziegler. Ziegler and her German production company have been working on Erotic Tales for the past 10 years.
Each of the 24 titillating movies playing in Eugene share a common theme of eroticism. Directors from all over the globe do their best to express sensuality and erotica in 30-minute films.
Cultural Forum Film and Video Coordinator Ksenya Samarsky said the films allude to erotica, rather than directly represent it.
“The way it’s presented in these films is really imaginative,” Samarsky said. “The series deals with the erotic in a way that isn’t trashy. It’s a lot of fun.”
The movies are being shown in sets of three, and each set plays for two to three days. The current set contains “Sambolico,” which focuses on a meeting between a Finnish orchestral conductor and a woman en flight to Rio de Janeiro. A film from the Netherlands, called “The Waiting Room,” is also on the menu. It explores lustful happenings in a crowded train station. The third film is the German short, “The Elephant Never Forgets,” which follows the tale of a traveling circus, a countess and an elephant trainer.
The stories range from that of a bride-to-be who, on the morning of her wedding, wakes up in a strange hotel room, handcuffed to a naked stranger, to the oddly-titled, “Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please?” (prospective viewers can use their imaginations, but this one involves a Christmas dinner).
Each film provides its own definition of eroticism.
“I like the variety,” Samarsky said. “Each representation is different.”
The filmmakers avoid the overtly sexual. Instead of portraying blatant pornography, they find less obvious ways to visually represent erotica. Each film picks up on a different aspect of sensuality.
Tickets for Erotic Tales are available at the door or at the Cultural Forum, located in the EMU. The cost is $3 for students and $4 for the general public.
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