Overview
Erotica fans Australia-wide are celebrating the return of World Movies Channel's adults only program, Summer of Sin. Starting in December, it's a 62-night festival of all things intimate, with a sexually charged film screening at 9.30pm every single night until January 31. Before you ask, yes, Christmas Day's included. 2011 Spanish film The Sex of the Angels has that one covered. Moreover, New Year's Day will see a coital marathon kicking off at midnight, with 24 hours of films played back-to-back.
In December 2012, the initiative saw a 49 percent increase in the channel's audience. This year, the formula that proved so irresistible to so many is being reapplied — a combination of classics and new international films, never-before-seen in Australia. In the words of the organisers, "We've scoured the darkest and dirtiest corners of the cinematic world for a line-up of the sexiest premiere films." Pretty much every fantasy or fetish gets a look-in, from swingers' parties to alien abduction.
Here's our top 5.
Young and Wild (Chile, 2012)
When: Friday, 13 December 2013 (Australian television premiere) & Wednesday, 15 January 2014
This playful, raunchy, stylish film centres on 17-year-old Daniela (Alicia Rodriguez), who can't stop thinking about sex. Raised in a strict, wealthy, religious family, she expresses herself through her blog, Young and Wild, where she records her most outrageous desires and experiences.
Call Girl (Sweden, 2012)
When: Wednesday, 18 December 2013 (Australian television premiere)
Inspired by true events involving Swedish politicians and prostitutes, this crime film is one of the more serious items on the Summer of Sin menu. A teenage girl's entry into prostitution exposes widespread hypocrisy at governmental level.
Intimacy (France, 2000)
When: Thursday, 26 December 2013 (Australian television premiere) & Saturday 18 January
Every Wednesday afternoon, Jay (Mark Rylance), a failed-musician-turned-bar-tender, meets a woman (Kerry Fox) for brief, rough, wordless sex. One day he follows her home and discovers more than he bargained for.
Kiss Me (With Every Heartbeat) (Sweden, 2011)
When: Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Mia has always lived a straight life, and is about to enter an engagement with her partner, Tim, when she falls in love with her stepmother's gay daughter, Frida. An irrepressible mutual attraction develops between the two women, leading to a sensual affair.
Elles (France, 2011)
When: Friday, 31 January 2014 (Australian television premiere)
Obsessive, middle-aged, unhappily married journalist, Anne (Juliette Binoche), receives an assignment that carries her into the risky yet seductive world of Parisian student prostitution. She gets to know two independent young women whose erotic adventures carry them into dangerous and unpredictable territory. Read our review here.