''Acts of Love'' is a 2021 documentary-

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

film by

Isidore Bethel Isidore Bethel is a French-American filmmaker whom ''Filmmaker'' named one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2020. The films he edits, directs, and produces use filmmaking to make sense of overwhelming experiences and touch on recurr ...

and

Francis Leplay Francis Leplay is a French actor and writer. An alumnus of France's National Academy of Dramatic Arts and Sciences Po, he began acting on television in episodes of the French detective series ''Julie Lescaut'' and'' Navarro''. His first film r ...

that premiered in

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

's Nightvision section, which focuses on future "cult classics."

Plot

When his relationship with an older man in Mexico starts to wane, Bethel, who performs as himself in the film, travels to Chicago. He chats with hundreds of men on dating apps and invites them to make a film with him. A dozen meet him for an interview, and four agree to write and perform in a fictional film that their original conversations inspired. Meanwhile, passages combining still images and

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

from Bethel recount memories about the former lover. Throughout, the filmmaker's mother phones him to critique and ridicule her son's unusual project. Describing his collaboration with Bethel in an interview with the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

Reforma REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, more commonly known as REFORMA, is an affiliate of the American Library Association formed in 1971 to promote library services to Lati ...

'', Leplay said, "The first thing I asked him was, 'how spontaneous were these auditions?' And far from being acted, they were quite natural. There wasn't a specific script, but that's how the story came about."

Production

The film received screenwriting and postproduction support from France's

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

region, Eurodoc, and the

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 20 ...

's work-in-progress lab.

Reception

''Filmmaker'' magazine included Bethel on its 2020 list of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in recognition of his work on ''Acts of Love''. Upon its premiere, the film received positive press from several

publications To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

and

blogs A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, including ''The Moveable Fest'', ''

Xtra Magazine ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', ''KinoCulture Montréal'', ''One Movie, Our Views'', and ''ForReel Movie News and Reviews''. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote that "this exciting, genre-bending film...stands out in its exploration of attraction, desire, sex and intimacy." ''Now'' characterized it as "a bold, brave look at intimacy, honesty and the power dynamics that exist both in interpersonal relationships and between artist and subject." ''Point of View Magazine'' noted that ''Acts of Love'' "is a thoughtful study of love and heartbreak, but ultimately a celebration of savouring the encounters that define us throughout our journeys." ''Now'', ''Yohomo'', and ''The Queer Review'' included the film on their lists of Hot Docs festival recommendations. The film received press throughout its festival run, including from '' Il manifesto'', '' Lifo'', ''

Cult MTL ''Cult MTL'' is an English language arts, culture and news website and monthly print publication, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its first print edition appeared on 7 September 2012. It was created only a few months after Montreal's last Engli ...

'', and WCPT.

Festivals

After its premiere, the film screened at several other festivals, including the

, Queer Lisboa,

RIDM The Montreal International Documentary Festival (french: Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montreal) is a Canadian documentary film festival, staged annually in Montreal, Quebec. In English, the festival now goes by the name Montreal I ...

, the Paris LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Transilvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

International Film Festivals. It received the Tacoma Film Festival's Best Documentary Feature Award and a Special Mention at Milan's Gender Border Film Festival, figured among Payal Kapadia's top-five films of 2021, and ranked #4 on

MovieWeb MovieWeb is an entertainment news website and video brand. Overview MovieWeb reports on entertainment news through their long-running website and related social media and video platforms. The site also maintains a searchable database of films. H ...

's list of Top 10 LGBTQ+ Movies of 2021.

Here TV Here TV is an American premium television network targeting LGBT audiences. Launched in 2002, Here TV is available nationwide on all major cable systems, fiber optics systems, and Internet TV providers as either a 24/7 premium subscription channe ...

released the film in the United States in 2022.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 14459796 2021 films 2021 documentary films 2021 LGBT-related films American LGBT-related documentary films Autobiographical documentary films Films shot in Chicago 2020s English-language films 2020s American films 2020s French films French LGBT-related documentary films