Private Project

Zebra

An exploration of the complex emotional and erotic landscapes navigated by two men, illustrating the multiple dimensions underlying their relations in an aggressive but loving dynamic, when individuality is lost and bodies merge into a totemic figure of animalistic sensuality and desire. The film is based on the poem by Ronald Aden Alexander.

  • Paul Detwiler
    Director
    Seoul to Soul, Johnny and Lyman: A Life Together, 24 hitchhikers
  • Paul Detwiler
    Writer
    24 hitchhikers
  • Paul Detwiler
    Producer
    Seoul to Soul, Johnny and Lyman: A Life Together, 24 hitchhikers
  • Loren Wilson
    Key Cast
  • Jimmy Ramsey
    Key Cast
  • Michael Burnell
    Key Cast
    "Narrator"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Cebra
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    erotic, sex, gay, sexuality, love, GLBT, poetry, african american, LGBT, experimental
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 15, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, German, Portuguese, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    HDV
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • San Diego FilmOut
    San DIego, CA
    United States
    July 15, 2015
    World Premiere
  • 26. Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg | International Queer Film Festival
    Hamburg
    Germany
    October 20, 2015
    European premiere
  • 15th West Coast Cinema
    Malibu, CA
    United States
    September 9, 2015
  • 23° Festival Mix​ ​Brasil de Cultura da Diversidade / 23rd Mix​ ​Brasil Festival of Diversity
    São Paulo
    Brazil
    November 11, 2015
    South American Premiere
  • 24th OUTrageous: Santa Barbara LGBT Film Festival
    Santa Barbara, CA
    United States
    November 14, 2015
  • Cinerotic Erotic Film Festival
    Detroit, MI
    United States
    February 13, 2016
  • 15th Festival CineHomo
    Valladolid
    Spain
    April 12, 2016
  • OutFest Peru
    Lima
    Peru
    June 19, 2016
  • Palm Springs ShortFest
    Palm Springs, CA
    United States
    June 23, 2016
  • Rio Festival De Genero y Sexualidade No Cinema
    Rio de Janeiro
    Brazil
    July 15, 2016
  • Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival
    Austin, TX
    United States
    September 10, 2016
    Texas Premiere
  • Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival
    Fresno, CA
    United States
    September 24, 2016
  • Festival Venezolano de Cine de la Diversidad
    Caracas
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    October 8, 2016
  • Homochrom Sex-Kurzfilme 2016
    Cologne and Dortmund
    Germany
    October 15, 2016
  • TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival
    Seattle, WA
    United States
    October 17, 2016
  • Festival Internacional de Cine Lésbico Gai Transexual de Madrid, Spain Nov. 1–13, 2016
    Madrid
    Spain
    November 5, 2016
  • Festival Internacional de Cine LGBT El Lugar Sin Limites
    Quito
    Ecuador
    November 17, 2016
  • BRIEFS Erotic Short Film Festival
    Oakland
    United States
    February 9, 2017
    Best Cinematography
  • VI Seminário Gênero, Cultura e Mudança
    Fortaleza
    Brazil
    May 1, 2017
  • MIX Mexico Festival de Diversidad Sexual en Cine y Video
    Mexico City
    Mexico
    May 24, 2017
Director Biography - Paul Detwiler

Paul Detwiler is a filmmaker and science educator interested in new media, documentaries, and creative collaboration with scientists, artists, and deep thinkers. His films reflect fluid, metaphorical spaces that explore the intersection of desire, lyricism, memory, and queer subcultures. As of May 2016, his GLBT-themed films have screened at 78 film festivals in 17 countries on 5 continents, winning 6 awards. He has traveled within Australia and Mexico to film natural history and underwater science videos for nonprofit conservation organizations. His mission is to create artistic and socially relevant film projects that entertain, inspire, and challenge audiences towards new understandings of our shared humanity.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The film explores the complex emotional and erotic landscapes navigated by two lovers, illustrating the multiple dimensions underlying their relations in an aggressive but loving dynamic, when individuality is lost and bodies merge into a totemic figure of animalistic sensuality and desire. The film is based on the poem by Ronald Aden Alexander.
As a filmmaker and artist, I am drawn to metaphorical spaces located in between black and white, reason and passion, dominant heteronormativity and queer fluidity. In this film, I sought to capture the liminal space where the emotional and erotic collide—where aggressive and animalistic energy and desire is celebrated alongside sensuality, desire, and pleasure.  In paying homage to the visual history of George Platt Lynes, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Marlon Riggs, and in recognizing the discursive power-dynamics inherent in race, age, and gay vs queer sexual practices, I nonetheless wanted to hold the contradictory ways that bodies are both distinct and melded together, and where subject-object-other is unbounded and unhinged in the orgasmic.   
After the hearing the poem read by the author in 2013, I was compelled to bring his words to the screen, both for the poem’s visually interesting metaphoric motif, as well as for its importance in representing the expressions of love and bonding between men of differing age and race. In the end, this film reflects the experience of those whose lives are represented neither in porn nor in perfunctory sex, but in the nuanced space embodied by intimacy, sensual pleasure, and love.

FILMOGRAPHY:
The Use of Pleasure, 2016 (in preproduction)
Zebra, 2015
A Tennessee Meditation, 2014
24 hitchhikers, 2013
Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together, 2010
Screened internationally at 31 film festivals and received 6 awards:
Reeling 29: Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, Nov. 4–13, 2010 Second Place, Audience Award for Short Film
Out Film: The Kentucky LGBT International Film Festival, Covington, KY, June 4, 2011 Audience Choice Award, Short Film & Special Jury Prize (Humanity Award) for Inspiring Hope and Education
Palm Springs International Shortfest, Palm Springs, California, June 21–27, 2011 Audience Favorite Documentary Short
Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival, Providence, Aug. 9–14, 2011 Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short
Cleveland International Film Festival, Cleveland, OH March 22–April 1, 2011 Honorable Mention, Best Short Film Award
Seoul to Soul, 2007
Distributed by Frameline.org, the largest US distributor of LGBT educational media. http://cart.frameline.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=T685

DVDs to accompany college science textbooks (Kendall Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, IA)
Discovering the Living Ocean, 2009
General Biology Laboratory Activities, 2008
Fundamentals of Microbiology, 2008
Let’s Learn about Fish in the Sea of Cortez (DVD and Educator’s Guide). 2006
Coastal Ecosystems of North America: La Jolla Tidepools. 2005
The Natural and Cultural History of the Dingo in Australia. 2003
Susan Yim: Profile of a Quadriplegic Surfer. 2003