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Alpha Kings

From a rented mansion in suburbian Texas, a group of young men sell a hyperbolic, alpha male version of themselves on the internet.

  • Enrique Pedráza-Botero
    Director
  • Faye Tsakas
    Director
  • Enrique Pedráza-Botero
    Producer
  • Faye Tsakas
    Producer
  • Stefan Weinberger
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Short, Online, social media, economy
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Stanford University
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
    Rotterdam
    Netherlands
    January 25, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • True/False Film Festival
    Missouri
    United States
    March 3, 2023
    U.S. Premiere
    Official Selection
  • IndieLisboa International Film Festival
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    May 1, 2023
    International Competition
  • Athens International Film and Video Festival
    Ohio
    United States
    April 10, 2023
    Short Documentary Competition
  • Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg
    Hamburg
    Germany
  • Winnipeg Underground Film Festival
    Winnipeg
    Canada
  • DC/DOX
    Washington D.C.
    United States
  • Rooftop Films
    New York
    United States
Distribution Information
  • The New Yorker
    Distributor
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
Director Biography - Enrique Pedráza-Botero, Faye Tsakas

Enrique Pedráza Botero

Enrique is a visual artist and filmmaker from Bogotá, Colombia. He served as Manager of Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program for five years, running creative labs (Edit and Story Lab, Music and Sound Design Lab, Art of Editing Lab) and international programs, as well as contributing to awarding $1-2 million/year in unrestricted grants to documentary filmmakers globally. He has worked with other arts organizations such as Film Independent and Ambulante Documentary Film Festival and has served in numerous selection committees for nonprofit institutions and media funds in the U.S. and Latin America. Enrique holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Television from the New York Film Academy.

His work focuses on identity, memory and the complexity of home, aiming to break conventions of masculinity and sexuality. He's interested in the evolution of the documentary form at the intersection of socially-conscious work and the art of filmmaking.

Faye Tsakas

Faye previously served as VP of Development & Production at Passage Pictures and as Director of Acquisitions & Production for independent Film Distribution company FilmRise. In both roles, Faye worked to bring new and unique voices to screen and to support underrepresented artists. She championed the release of several award winning documentary and narrative films, including Desiree Akhavan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner The Miseducation of Cameron Post. She participated as an industry executive for several years in a row in the IFP Project Forum, the Hot Docs Project Forum, and the Sheffield Doc Fest project MeetMarket, and served on the jury of the Bushwick Film Festival in 2019.

Faye's directing work explores the presentation of American culture in the context of rapid globalization and capitalism; she is drawn to observations of youth culture, labor, excess, disparity, and absurdity. Her films have screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam, True/False Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Vimeo Staff Picks, Nowness, and Paper Magazine, among other outlets.

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Director Statement

At a time where the top twenty percent of Americans own eighty percent of the country’s wealth, and the country recovers economically and socially from a global pandemic, what does the future hold for generation Z? With student loan debt reaching $1.6 trillion dollars, and no clear path towards traditional career trajectories, how does an accelerated, hyper-capitalistic digital era impact the next generation? How does the culture of commodified celebrification through social media impact our country’s youth?

Through a rigorous research process, we looked at and the growing number of profiles on Twitter and OnlyFans aimed at monetizing content through erotic interactions between creators and their followers. We discovered a group of young male “Masters” in the world of online Financial Domination, or “Findom,” who have recently come to rely on their internet pseudonym accounts for their livelihood.

Alpha Kings is born from an interest in exploring sex work in the digital sphere. We were intrigued at the idea that men seek to worship other men virtually, based on virile physical traits and a desire for verbal dominance - a highly traditional, almost archaic model of masculinity. Social media influencer culture, fandom, and the democratization of digital currencies on the internet has paved the way for the existence of this niche subculture – one rooted in an intense desire for a “superior man.” In a society consumed by self-documentation and driven by capitalist thinking, wealth and power seem to be paramount to our online identities. Within this context, reaching sexual ecstasy by throwing it all away exists as the ultimate dystopian fetish.

Through an observational approach and a focus on stillness, the film embraces internet aesthetics and constructs an idiosyncratic visual language, presenting a privileged look at this line of work while provoking questions about the psychology at play.