The evening's event is presented in collaboration with Film Forum, New York's leading nonprofit cinema for independent film premieres and repertory programming.
"Women talk about relationships; men talk about computers. What does it take to get a dozen regular guys, ages 32-70, from various backgrounds (a doctor, engineer, human resources consultant, probation officer, cook) to reveal their emotions? Desert Wind takes them on a trek in the Tunisian desert, where a psychologist encourages them to talk about everything from what they like and don't like about their bodies to their recollections of childhood and marriage traumas. Against the dramatic, ascetic beauty of golden sand dunes and brilliant skies, these men reveal secrets even they didn't know they had. Today's "reality shows" aren't the least bit real - they're all about carefully calculated exhibitionism. To make Desert Wind, director Francois Kohler established a strong bond with Swiss psychotherapist Alexis Burger and these participants. It's funny and sad, surprisingly moving, and a lot more compelling than a typical guy's night out." - Karen Cooper, Film Forum
"As the rigors of the trek become more grueling, the revelations grow more intimate. In the funniest scene, the men take turns stripping naked and talking about their bodies.... Desert Wind manages to take us to a seldom-visited place: the hidden corners of the straight male mind." - Dana Stevens, The New York Times
"Led by a Swiss psychotherapist, the men confront their emotions and explode our beer-and-football notions of male bonding...their newfound openness with each other and themselves makes for funny, moving and riveting viewing." - Steve Gartland, The L Magazine
Discussants:
Francis Baudry is a Training and Supervising Analyst at The New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He has written on film—Mr. Klein, The Dead, and Girl with the Pearl Earring—and on James Joyce, William Faulkner, and Gustave Flaubert.
Arlene Heyman is a psychiatrist in private practice, and a member of The New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.
Francis Levy is a short story writer, critic, humorist and poet. His work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, The New Republic, The Village Voice and The East Hampton Star. He recently completed a novel entitled Savage Kiss. He is Co-Director of The Philoctetes Center.
Desert Wind is presented courtesy of XL Productions and the National Film Board of Canada (NLF).
This program is free and open to the public.