Still: Fuck-a-Fan by Muriel D'Ansembourg

Yes, the concept of ‘fuck a fan’ truly exists, although Alessa Savage, herself an online porn star and the heart and soul of Muriel d'Ansembourg’s short film, has never gone down that particular path herself. 

In the film Fuck-a-Fan* (Prod. Isabella Films, Sales: Audrey Clinet)), Dutch Thomas (played by popular Dutch actor Joes Brauers) is a broken man having broken up with his girlfriend. After scanning the web in his despair he  wins a contest to have sex with Londoner Chloe Cam, the hottest porn star on social media, an event that will be transmitted to the world. 

 When he arrives at Chloe’s studio after a long ferry and car journey he is exhausted and still emotionally drained from the break-up, and somewhat nervous about the role he has about to be assigned. So he asks for an extended moment of privacy with Chloe, during which they reach an unexpected level of intimacy…

 Director D'Ansembourg made the film while waiting for finance to come through on her similarly themed feature Truly Naked (NL prod: Isabella Films), currently in post-production and also starring Alessa Savage. “It was taking so long to get this feature off the ground,” the director remembers. “But I wasn't directing. And that was getting quite frustrating because I felt like if I'm going to make this feature, and I haven't been on set for so long, I don't know if I still know how to do this.” Hence her decision to make the interim short, for which she also decided to cast a genuine sex performer.

 “Alessa is a force of nature, and she really is also a person who, when she enters a space, you notice her,” D'Ansembourg says of actor Savage. “She has a real presence. And I think people will be blown away by her because she's going to show so many different sides within her role.”  But why the subject of porn in the first place? “For me, the porn world is just a backdrop. It's really about intimacy, connection, disconnection and vulnerability,” D'Ansembourg responds. “I tend to put my characters into a situation in which they want to connect. But due to circumstances and the setting that I, as the writer, put them into, of course it's tricky.”

 D'Ansembourg underlines how, for her, love and sex are “powerful ways of revealing character and exploring relationships in film,” especially within a sexual context whereby the contrast, or indeed the bond, between fantasy and reality is forefronted.

“The reality of our love lives is often full of snags, something that fantasy helps us leave behind. But it is precisely those snags that provide touching and dramatic moments that fascinate me as a filmmaker. This is especially interesting to explore in the porn setting where there seems to be less room for tenderness and connection, yet lots of room for fantasy.”

 The film will world premiere at Tribeca 2024. D'Ansembourg tells how, in a conversation with festival programmer Ben Thompson, he decried the lack of films about female sexuality, underlining how a film such as hers is a true rarity. “He said, ‘I've never seen a short like this, and I think it's so special. Yes, it is daring and it's quite daring that we're doing it, but I think it's really important,’” the director remembers the phone call during which she got the Tribeca nod. "You give the audience such an intimate and sensitive glimpse into a world so often defined by people’s preconceptions of it,” Thompson added.

 “I think what is beautiful about Fuck-a-Fan and what hopefully people will feel is that they are somewhere very close between these two people - you almost feel like you're not supposed to be there, but you're there nevertheless. And that feels like, if not a privilege, then something special, like, wow, I can't believe I get to see this, get this close and get to feel this. But I don't know. It will generate some very strong opinions. Some people will love it and others will totally hate it,” D’Ansembourg signs off.

Here you will find the complete overview of Dutch (co-)productions at this year's Tribeca.

*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund