First look: Erotic LGBTQ+ thriller, Birder
New LGBTQ+ erotic-thriller Birder, set in a sex-positive queer campground, is headed our way!
Following its world premiere at OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival last month, Birder is now making the fall festival circuit, including Atlanta’s Out on Film, Seattle Queer Film Festival, DC’s Reel Affirmations, and more.
Synopsis: A bird watcher, Kristian Brooks, invades a nude queer campground on a remote lake in New Hampshire. He wears whatever cover he needs to ensnare the locals in his dark fetish in this nightmarish erotic thriller. Consent has never been more deadly.
Nate Dushku (Mapplethorpe) makes his directorial debut with Birder, starring Michael Emery (Blue Bloods, Shameless) Uki Pavlovic (The Highlands Inn), David J. Cork (Gun Hill, Run the World), Jes Davis (Virgin of the Candles, Orange is the New Black) Cody Sloan (Selah and the Spades), and newcomer burlesque star Delilah DuBois.
Dushku says: “Queer horror is often lived, and in Birder we dip our toes into the darkest truths. The film is a sardonic and disturbing look at what a monster sees when they look in the mirror; an exploration of the consent dynamics of dom/sub space and a metaphor for the traumas the queer community endures at the hands of social entities lacking empathy.”
he continues: “Birder brings us to the edge of the abyss as our protagonist’s odyssey takes him through a joyful sex-positive community.”
Behind the scenes
Shot in 12 days on a SAG-AFTRA ultra low budget, the predominantly queer cast and crew overcame the threat of Covid and unexpected torrential rains.
Director/producer Dushku, writer/producer Amnon Lourie, and executive producer Crissy Brookshire came together to make a film that pushes the limits of queer sexual intimacy on screen and tells a compelling story about what it means to be queer, sex positive, and vulnerable.
The production hired leading intimacy coordinator Brooke Haney (Harlem) and Chelsea Pace (A Strange Loop on Broadway), creating the best possible environment for this challenging set.
“We knew we were going to be asking our actors to bare it all” says Nate Dushku “so an intimacy coordinator was our first hire.” All scenes involving nudity, sexual intimacy, and kink were carefully choreographed and executed within SAG-AFTRA guidelines. The scope of preparation involved conversations and agreements with the actors before filming regarding their level of comfort with everything from camera angles to each instance of partial/full nudity and skin-to-skin contact.
Festival Screenings
Out on Film: Friday, September 29th at 9:30pm ET at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema (Atlanta)
San Antonio Q Fest: Saturday, October 7th at 11:00pm CT at Woodlawn Pointe (San Antonio)
Seattle Queer Film Festival: Saturday, October 14th at 8:45pm PT at Northwest Film Forum 1 (Seattle)
Reel Affirmations International Film Festival: Friday, October 20th at 11:00pm ET at Eaton DC (Washington DC)
Seattle Erotic Cinema Society Fest: Friday, November 10th at 7:00pm at Grand Illusion Cinema (Seattle)
– More to be announced
