MUMBLECORE DOES THE HUMP!: INTERVIEW WITH LYNN SHELTON AND MARK DUPLASS
If you haven’t heard about “Humpday,” that’s about to change. It’s been the critical darling at nearly every festival it’s graced all over the world. And it starts in limited theatrical release this weekend. I reckon it won’t be long before writer/director Lynn Shelton is a household name. That’s because “Humpday” is more than just a film about two straight dudes trying to convince themselves to have sex with each other for a porn festival. It also covers very relatable yet infrequently explored concepts like liberal homophobia, the perpetual bohemian, and insecurities about settling into urban adulthood, all through an improvised narrative structure. The result is a natural, occasionally moving, and completely hilarious comedy that gives Apatow
and Co. a run for their money.
“Humpday” was inspired by a real amateur porn festival that is hosted by alternative weekly paper, The Stranger, in Lynn Shelton’s hometown of Seattle, WA. Stranger editor Dan Savage recently challenged Lynn to create a Hump! film herself for this year’s competition and she accepted. So if you live in Seattle and manage to score a ticket to this always sold-out event, it’s possible that the next Lynn Shelton film you see may be a bit on the blue side. Fortunately for the Hump! artists, they destroy all of the films after the last screening, allowing actors to be porn stars for one night only. So if you can’t make it to the fest this year, you’ll just have to watch “Humpday” and leave it up to your imagination…
I talked with Lynn and “Humpday” star, Mark Duplass, about the process of creating such a unique film and whether or not we might see some alternate endings on the DVD release. Continue reading
Effed by the Wind 