Kinbaku

If all pictures became current, in that they pass by and in doing so, are connectable with one another, whether elegantly or obscenely, through translation or association—how would it be possible to fasten down a picture? Hito Steyerl’s light-hearted picture translations are about fastening things in an elegant-obscene way: In Tokyo she is looking for a photo series that she posed for in 1987 as a “rope bondage” model. While making inquiries with experts and authorities in the bondage arts (which are mainly marketed online nowadays), she found what she was looking for in a magazine archive. The cinematic tension is extremely high just now says the translator while Steyerl looks through photos of herself from her days as a film student.

Jyowa is a made-up word created by Yukimura Sensei which merges the characters for “rope” and for “speaking or communicating”, hence it can be translated as “communicating through ropes” or “rope stories”. This project was started in Tokyo in 2011 as a documentary film, yet it ended up becoming more of an aesthetic experience that takes the viewer into the unique universe of five of Japan’s top rope artists (by order of appearance): Naka Akira, Yukimura Haruki, Nawashi Kanna, Urado Hiroshi and Hajime Kinoko. In each of the the five chapters we can see two people taking a journey into a deep and profound level of communication in which rope takes a very special place.

A documentary exploring the multiple facets of sexuality, the film took over five years of preparation and two years' filming. From the United States to Japan, via Brazil, Raphaël Sibilla delves into the world of the staging and fulfilment of fantasies, from the most straightforward – swinging soirées and SM bars – to the most extreme, fetishism and scarification. Although the notion of sexual pleasure is always present, the filmmaker gradually enlarges upon his subject and moves away from the simple, raw representation of sexual practices. He raises more general issues, without ever being judgemental, about his interviewees’ relationship to their bodies, seeking to understand the secret motivations and aspirations of men and women who are sometimes ready to go as far as mutilation to experience more intense pleasure.

This feature documentary 'The Pleasure of Rope' explores Kinbaku, the art of Japanese rope bondage. Director Bob Bentley goes backstage at events and also explores the secret erotic world of rope. For many, tying and being tied is obsessively compulsive. Intimate disclosures reveal rare insights in narratives that are surprising and at times disturbing.

Documentary about the art of Japanese bondage.

Bondage film released by S&M Sniper.