Lines between reality and fantasy blur through a series of erotic, sensual, provocative images crafted by Ben Galster in his visceral celebration of homosexuality and intimacy Ecstasy Homosexuality for British musician The Irrepressibles. Galster, previously featured on DN with his immersive one-shot music video Kugelsicher, wanted to celebrate the hard fought for freedoms within the gay community and punctuates the visually arresting reverie accompanying Jamie McDermott’s lyrics with vintage footage from the foundational LGBT flashpoint of the Stonewall Riots. Ecstasy Homosexuality is a feast for the senses, between the carefully selected exquisite actors, art pieces, photographs from queer artists, and a majestic setting where everyone was allowed the freedom and space to feel comfortable enough with each other to capture the delicate and elegant eroticism. Galster urges audiences to consider the film as a mouthpiece for the shared universal desire for love and acceptance and encourages us to embrace those often dreamlike fantasies which (if we’re lucky enough) could very much become a reality. Galster joined us again and opened up about the voyeuristic intention behind his storytelling, creating that crucial safe collaborative space on set and throughout the shoot, and the worry that increasing censorship is only serving as a new and terrifying form of homophobia.
[A heads up, there are some NSFW images in here.]
What did the brief from The Irrepressibles look like?
It was very open and I am very grateful for the creative freedom he gave us. He is a very inspiring person who is eager to make every album and his videos into a unique artistic project. His idea was that homosexual sex and the liberation it represents has led to a lot of great art and achievements for all human beings. He asked for a brave and visually artistic interpretation of the song and wanted to incorporate some archive footage related to the Stonewall Riots. I immediately wanted to tap into this rich history and bridge it to contemporary artists, artists who are part of the Container Love family, a queer platform we run in Berlin.
How did you form the narrative and establish the best way to incorporate those archival pieces of footage?
I wanted to make a film that tells a story, a celebration of queer life and freedom in all the different kinds of love it can include, without being judgemental. I immediately thought of two of my all-time favourite queer films, François Ozon’s La Petite Mort and Regarde la Mer. The latter includes a cruising scene in a forest, which gave me the initial idea to build the story around a bunch of friends going on a weekend trip together. Our main character is Karma and the story is told from his perspective. I consciously kept the border between reality and fantasy blurred and we never know if what we see is really happening or is only Karma’s imagination. The different characters in the film have a back story with their own wants and needs that feed into the main narrative of the film, which gives the story a richness and prevents it from being flat. Something that can easily happen in music videos.
Was it a challenge to source the right pieces of archival footage which fitted into your story?
The Stonewall Riots marked the first hour of the LGBT movement that went on to become the LGBTQ+ movement as we know it today. In America, this was the first time LGBT people came out to protest for their rights, and the first time trans people and people of color joined in, a significant change to the classic, predominantly white gay movement.
These clips serve not only as the framework for the music video but as a philosophical backdrop too.
Finding the right kind of footage proved to be a real challenge, as we didn’t want to use just any footage. Eventually, we managed to track down and license material recorded from the 1st commemorative demonstration in the 1970s, featuring some influential activists such as Sylvia Rivera. These clips serve not only as the framework for the music video but as a philosophical backdrop too. It’s a reminder that we have our liberties today because people took to the streets to fight for them.
We all have dreams of sex and love in which we are freed from societal norms and restrictions, regardless of sexual orientation, what we imagine is often more explicit and interesting than the reality because in our minds we are truly free.
Why did you decide to blur that line between fantasy and reality, leaving the audience to decide on what they are seeing?
The fact that we never know if what we see is really happening or is only Karma’s imagination adds another layer to the narrative, making it more dramatic and the climax of the story stronger, but also more accessible. We all have dreams of sex and love in which we are freed from societal norms and restrictions, regardless of sexual orientation, what we imagine is often more explicit and interesting than the reality because in our minds we are truly free. Voyeurism and the desire for love is the underlying theme of the music video. Every time there is a touch in the film, we intercut still images of real intimacy and sexual encounters. We’re always there watching, but what we see is what we let ourselves imagine.
The stills are explicit and real, but the film itself isn’t. It’s really about projecting our own sexuality onto what may or may not be there. I believe that accepting sexuality is something universal that connects all of us, and anyone can use it to express themselves. The video ends with Karma masturbating on the bed which is the same shot as when he lies down in his room earlier leaving the viewer guessing whether all has just been imagined.
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The truly beautiful actors in the film make it what it is, how did you make sure they had the right chemistry and build that cohesion?
I wanted interesting characters that look as if they have jumped out of a Pasolini film. You really want to create a homogenous group of people that is believable. It was a real challenge to direct because of the amount of nudity and intimacy involved. Creating the right chemistry among actors is essential to bringing a film to life, especially when the story relies heavily on the connections between characters. Ensembles are like a puzzle and we auditioned a lot of people more than once. In the end, there isn’t really a formula to go by and you really must trust your instincts.
Beyond that, we developed back stories and bios with the actors for each character with their own wants and needs. The actors were fantastic and I could not have wished for a better cast. Accepting sexuality as a universal language that connects us all can lead to a more natural way of living. Sex is a natural need. It’s up there with eating and drinking and sleeping. In a sense, the ways we live out our sexuality can be a very telling, very honest way of expressing ourselves. Standing up for each other in the fight for queer rights and liberties is now more important than ever.
What was your approach to shooting the intimate scenes and ensuring your actors were comfortable and able to be free in their performances?
The sex scenes in the film are a metaphor for freedom and liberation, not just a display of sex and nudity. This requires the intimacy on screen to feel honest and real. It really is about trust and creating a safe space for the actors, and the pre-production laid the foundation for that. We all met together for a chemistry check and went through the script in great detail, talked about what each scene means as well as what is actually being seen on screen. We also had an intimacy coordinator who ensured the well-being of the actors during the production. I think it’s important that as a director you spend as much time as possible with the cast to build up trust and understanding. I would drive them to the location, and we would eat together with the entire crew and sit around the bonfire after the shoot.
You also have to think carefully about the other crew members on the shoot as they are an important part of the dynamics on set. The sets were closed as we call it, meaning that only the people necessary were there during the actual shooting of the scenes. When I wrote the script, I realized that I needed a location that allowed the cast to be physically free and therefore would ideally be a place where you have no other people around. We found this remote manor house with over 12 rooms in the countryside, a forest and a lake nearby and stayed there for the entire duration of the three day shoot. It created a fantastic bond between all of us.
Proud queer films act as a form of defiance and a means to preserve and celebrate queer culture and history. They can inspire activism, empower individuals within the community, and create a sense of solidarity.
Can you go into detail about the editing process and weaving together the still photography, narrative film and archival footage so seamlessly?
The narrative of the film was edited first. Karma, recovering from a recent break up joins his best friend on a weekend getaway, where he unexpectedly finds new love amidst the vibrant company of Ricci and his friends. I wanted to make a film that tells an engaging story and is a celebration of queer life. After we laid down the story, we started to carefully dismantle it and moved into a more abstract and surreal direction, adding the archive footage and the photography and artwork. I love dense work that has many layers and rewards the audience by watching it more than once. We spent a lot of time in pre-production collecting the photography and artwork from renowned queer artists, which was then ordered thematically, after colours, style and locations to match the film. Once we knew what was going in, we had to licence everything. The artwork was then organized and match-cut by the editor Samuel Marr who did a fantastic job. There are over 200 stills in the film, which become more explicit as the film progresses, reflecting the emotional state and arousal of our main protagonist.
Why is it important to you to be making proud queer films, particularly in this terrifying moment in time where rights and freedoms are being erased?
Proud queer films act as a form of defiance and a means to preserve and celebrate queer culture and history. They can inspire activism, empower individuals within the community, and create a sense of solidarity. Moreover document and reflect the current socio-political climate, ensuring that the struggles and triumphs of queer people are not forgotten, even in the face of adversity. Ultimately it’s not just about entertainment; it’s about advocacy, representation, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice.
What do you think of the increasing censorship in films and TV and online media and how do you think this affects art and pieces of work such as Ecstasy Homosexuality?
Censorship has a massive impact on works like this by limiting the ability to challenge societal norms, address taboo subjects, and present marginalized voices authentically. You really have to fight to actually get the work seen and noticed. Through censoring such content, the essential narratives around identity, love, and freedom are watered down and are preventing progress towards a greater acceptance and equality. The homophobia in the media often manifests through unfair censorship of LGBTQ+ content, limiting visibility and the representation that it needs. We had a censored version on YouTube with an age restriction and the video was taken down after a few hours without notice. The dispute is still ongoing.
What are you working on next?
I am currently in the very early stages of developing my first feature film, which will be co-produced by Blink.
