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BEAR WEEK DIARIES

BEAR WEEK DIARIES is a bold and intimate exploration of love, desire, and community set in the fabled LGBTQ+ haven that is Provincetown, Massachusetts. Part folk documentary, part boy-meets-boy scripted saga, the film twists conventional storytelling to present the Bear community in all its raw glory during the annual Bear Week celebration – where revelers from around the world converge to dance, flirt, and embrace bodies that challenge conventional beauty standards. Will love or heartache prevail?

BEAR WEEK DIARIES begins as fictional characters David and Ryan each arrive in Provincetown filled with anticipation for what Bear Week promises - massive dance floors, romantic moonlit piers, and carefree days on the dunes – but end up confronted with each other, and with deep personal revelations about what they really want. Their story is wrapped into a reflective history of Provincetown itself, told through the lens of local denizens including icons Varla Jean Merman and Christeene. The legendary DJ collective Horse Meat Disco adds a pulsating soundtrack to Provincetown’s endless nights. Italian filmmaker and Bear Week regular Antongiulio Panizzi drew on his deep connections with Provincetown locals and the Bear Week event to create a fresh hybrid story filled with passion and authenticity.

  • Antongiulio Panizzi
    Director
    My Way - The rise and fall of Silvio Berlusconi - The Girl in The Fountain with Monica Bellucci - Piano Lessons, the life and art of German Diez Nieto
  • Andrea Zauli
    Writer
  • Jonathan Yaskoff
    Producer
  • Fabrizio Masciovecchio
    Producer
  • Robert Fuller
    Key Cast
    "Ryan"
  • Jonathan Yaskoff
    Key Cast
    "David"
  • William Newcomb
    Key Cast
    "Andy"
  • CHRESTEEN
    Key Cast
    "herself"
  • Jeff Robertson
    Key Cast
    "Varla Jean Merman"
  • Mark Louque
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Severino Panzetta
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Nathan Butera
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Frank Vasello
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Francesco Vito Longo
    DOP
  • Horse Meat Disco
    MUSIC
  • Andrea Ciccarelli
    MUSIC
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    BEAR WEEK DIARIES
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 20, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy, United States, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital - Canon C 70
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Omovies LGBTQ+ Film Festival
    Napoli
    Italy
    Best Feature Film
  • Queer Expression Film Fest
    Online
    Best of the Fest
Director Biography - Antongiulio Panizzi

Antongiulio Panizzi is a documentary director, producer and writer based in Rome, Italy. He has traveled extensively throughout Italy and around the world to create projects that have been seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC World, Discovery, Sky Classica, and RAI.

As a director, Antonguilio created several award-winning feature documentaries, most recently the hybrid film “Bear Week Diaries”, as well as “The Girl In The Fountain” about Anita Ekberg, featuring Monica Bellucci, “Piano Lessons – The Life and Art of German Diez” (Amazon Prime/Sky Classica) with the support of American Liszt Society, and “My Way – The Rise And Fall Of Silvio Berlusconi” (Netflix/Amazon Prime).

Antongiulio’s extensive work in television includes travel and nature shows such as “Gaia”, the award-winning prime time show on RAI 3 that he directed. He also wrote and produced live and studio segments for cultural magazine and talk shows, as well as acclaimed reality and competition series including the Italian versions of “Top Chef”, “Chopped”, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, “Big Brother” and “Real Housewives…” and the Dutch relationship series “All You Need is Love”.

On the scripted side, Antongiulio has written several feature film scripts, and written and directed several critically acclaimed, award-winning short films including “Recycle”, with Babrie and Ken act in stop-motion. His mixed media theater piece, Horatio, premiered at New York’s HERE Theater. Before his career in film, he earned a degree in Architecture.

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Director Statement

Having attended Bear Week many times, I was drawn as a filmmaker to creatively explore my deep connections with the event and with Provincetown locals in a fresh way. My goal for the film was to fill it with as much passion and authenticity as the people and places included in it. Provincetown is an incredible place, mixing quaint New England charm with unapologetic queer celebration. But there’s a catch: it has also become an ultra-expensive vacation destination, and Bear Week has become a playground reserved for the mostly middle-aged men who can afford it. So the film became an exploration of how men of a certain age (like me!) relate to fun, connection, and identity, trying to keep up the youthful revelry while navigating the realities of aging, loneliness and shifting priorities.And I chose a scripted format folded into the documentary format in which I usually work, in order to present these ideas from all possible, and messy, angles.