For some, the idea of sitting in a movie theater full of strangers watching porn might still register as taboo. For others, it’s a night out — part art show, part social experiment, part communal release.
That tension is exactly what has fueled the enduring popularity of Hump! Film Festival, the long-running, proudly sex-positive touring event founded in 2005 by author and queer activist Dan Savage. This spring, Hump! brings its mix of explicit short films, humor, kink, and DIY creativity to Fort Lauderdale, screening April 4 at the Savor Cinema.
Hump! is not a traditional porn showcase. Films are limited to five minutes, performers are unpaid by design, and the emphasis is on originality, consent, and imagination rather than glossy production or industry norms. Over the years, the festival has become something of a cult phenomenon — attracting couples, queer audiences, artists, the sex-curious, and longtime fans who see it less as pornography and more as participatory culture.
“It’s kind of weird to go to a film festival and watch porn with a bunch of strangers,” said filmmaker Stray Gunsmoke, whose work is featured in this year’s lineup. “But actually, it’s not that weird.”
Gunsmoke has attended Hump! in Portland, Oregon for the past five years, drawn to the way the festival reframes sex — often wrapping explicit acts in humor, narrative, animation, or camp. In many of the films, sex feels almost secondary to tone and point of view.
Their first submission is a lighthearted short about a gay couple seeking a third partner to explore double penetration. The three-minute film carries a deliberately blunt title: “2 Dicks, 1 Butt.”
Adult performer Corey Dawson appears in the film. No stranger to explicit content, Dawson has previously worked with studios including Boycrush and Broke Straight Boys and, like many performers today, maintains an OnlyFans account.
“There’s a certain level of vulnerability that goes into something like this,” Dawson said, adding that double penetration is physically demanding. “It’s not just about showing up.”
At just over three minutes, the film comes in well under the festival’s five-minute limit. Gunsmoke said the shoot was intentionally relaxed and minimally staged.
“We just went with the flow,” they said. “We wanted it to feel natural, not overly choreographed.”
That ethos reflects the broader Hump! aesthetic. Out of more than 240 submissions, only 24 films were selected for this spring’s tour. The lineup spans a wide range of styles and sensibilities — from campy send-ups of religious imagery to animated transgender dragons, from tender queer intimacy to lesbian pain play.
For many filmmakers, Hump! also represents a leap into unfamiliar territory.
“This is something I never really thought I’d do, but I’ve always been curious about,” Gunsmoke said. “I even created a pseudonym because I don’t know how this might affect the other work I do.”
That tension — between visibility and privacy, art and sex, liberation and risk — has long been part of Hump!’s appeal. Over two decades, the festival has carved out a space that resists shame while refusing commercial porn’s rigid formulas.
Hump! will screen in 45 cities across three countries this spring. Its Fort Lauderdale stop marks a rare chance for South Florida audiences to experience the festival’s particular blend of provocation, humor, and communal voyeurism — all in the dark, among strangers.
In a state where conversations about sex are increasingly policed, Hump!’s Fort Lauderdale stop feels quietly radical — a reminder that pleasure, imagination, and queer expression still belong in public.
