Dan Savage, the Savage Love columnist and editorial director of the Seattle alternative newsweekly The Stranger, invariably singles out the same film when asked what’s new at his 14th annual Hump! Film Festival.
It’s a five-minute musical comedy set in the bathroom of a gay leather bar.
“I promise you, you’ve never seen anything like it—on Netflix, on the networks, on HBO,” Savage told the Coachella Valley Independent’s Jimmy Boegle in January. “It’s the sort of thing you could only see at Hump!”
Which means Troughman, the 2019 Hump! award winner for Best Humor, can only be seen regionally at the Art Theatre in Long Beach, where the festival’s 21 short porn films run Wednesday night.
Savage has said 2005’s first Hump was, ahem, mounted as a joke, but here we are 14 years later with another lusty collection. The criteria for inclusion in the fest remains the same: Each film must clock in at five minutes or fewer and be made by people of all sexual persuasions who are not porn stars but want to be for one weekend.
That has produced festivals filled with content that is intended to be hot and sexy and creative and kinky—with viewers serving as the ultimate judges on whether the first-time Fellinis (or Seymore Buttses) achieve their intended results. Hump! organizers promise a “carefully curated program” featuring “a cornucopia of body types, shapes, ages, colors, sexualities, genders, kinks and fetishes—all united by a shared spirit of sex-positivity.”
What follows is the 14th annual Hump lineup, with the organizers’ own film descriptions (and, where applicable, awards indicated).
Paint Party. This gang buys a few gallons of paint. With apologies to their landlord.
Bloom. As two lovers stream through each other’s bodies and consciousnesses, orgasmic hallucinations bloom through their synchronized minds.
Campground. A horny Boy Scout goes on a nighttime hike in the woods. Inspired by the gay erotic film Pink Narcissus.
Jump Start My Love. This kinky couple connects for a midday power boost. Sometimes, it’s watching home movies together that leaves you the most satisfied!
Unicorn. This couple has a different way of looking at love and sex, elegantly conveyed through our shared human experience.
My Cathartic Release. Take a peek into one woman’s masochistic journey to find a sweet, sweet release.
(Best Kink winner.)
Task Master. An obedient sub takes the term “dirty boy” to a whole new level. Chatting online can get messy.
Spin. Your favorite middle-school game has turned into a big basement bang fest. You can almost hear the parents yelling, “What’s going on down there?”
The Punishment. In this stylish BDSM film, a couple returns home after a night on the town to explore the arts of dominance and submission. This female lead takes control of her kink by initiating her punishment by being a brat and misbehaving.
Porn Yesterday. A look at how terrible adults were at hiding porn and how good we were at finding it. (Jury Award winner.)
Whatever Floats Your Goat. It’s never a dull day in the dairy room, but when a strange new breed of goat shows up this morning, our milkmaid will have to work extra hard to get that milk! (Best Humor runner up.)
Please. Consent is sexy. Here’s the proof. A deep exploration of rough sex. (Best Sex runner up.)
Troughman. A man tries to build up the courage to ask another man to piss on him in the Leather Stallion restroom trough. (Best Humor winner.)
Luminous Lust. A real-life couple boldly brings the audience into the most intimate parts of their lives, sharing with the camera how the couple fell in love, what about each partner turns them on, and how they first met.
Home for Lunch. Coming home from work for lunch, a boyfriend finds something even more delicious to fill up on.
The Wheel of Fortune. Five strangers are bound by flesh and metal. Only their release can set them free. (Best Kink runner up.)
Extreme Wild Fuck . . . “Extreme Wild Fuck With Petite GF—Amateur Couple Mountain Top Fuck Fest.” When you set out for a hike, you never know what you’ll “come” across on top of the mountain. (Best Sex winner.)
Insomniacs. Hotel. Night. While everyone is asleep, the cursed creep is out, as hungry as ever. Infrared cameras, outdoor exhibition and sloppy hole.
Optic Perve. Put on your spectacles, open your lids, and lend us your gaze. You’ll want to ogle this cornea-copia of optical illusions and private eyes!
All of Us. Exploration of the multidimensional story of two lovers’ sexual and emotional relationship, expressing their passions for pain and pleasure in sweet soliloquies.
Around the World in 80 Lays. A young couple stuck in a sexual rut decides to explore Planet Earth AND BEYOND! Sometimes the greatest sexual journeys require frequent-flyer miles. (Best in Show winner.)
Hump! Film Festival at Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 438-5435; humpfilmfest.com. Wed., 8 p.m. $20-$24.49.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.