Just yesterday I wrote an item about the upcoming home entertainment release of filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu’s feature 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 by Samuel 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.