Some people would celebrate turning 40 with a nice big party and dinner with family and friends. Some people keep celebrating their 39th birthday over and over again. Openly gay rapper Joshua (“Socalled”) Dolgin marked the milestone by shooting a porn film in his parents’ house.
The Canadian hip hop artist whose eclectic style has earned him nicknames like the “Yiddish James Brown and “Gandhi of hip hop,” recently sat down with Vice to discuss his pornographic arthouse endeavor, The Housesitter.
The one-hour movie stars porn performers River Wilson (whom Dolgin met on Grindr) and Valentin Braun. The film includes chess-playing, a plot about a neighbor who brings brownies over, dream sequence, and of course, unsimulated sexual intercourse on camera. It premieres at the Pop Montreal cultural festival later this month.
In a curious assertion, Dolgin says, “I don’t really like porn.”
"I don't need porn the way some people seem to. Some people really seem to need it. I don't jerk off to porn. A lot of porn is boring and repetitive. I do like to have porn playing at parties.”
Dolgin says he’s a “film snob” and he says The Housesitter is “not just any porn movie, but one that looks beautiful, in which the images have some integrity. I think people who make pornography have a responsibility.”
According to the interview, Dolgin spent some time with gay porn filmmaker Toby Ross for inspiration. Ross's oeuvre includes Cruisin’ 57 and Schoolmates.
"I wanted this to be different," says Dolgin. "I mean, there's lots of hot images on Twitter that you can find very easily. But there's no montage, no music, no artistry. It's just some guys in the act. I wanted to make an indie porn, in the spirit of Toby Ross.”
The Housesitter was shot on location in the Gatineau Hills, and Socalled did the music. The film was shot in the home of Dolgin’s parents while they were away on holiday. His folks weren’t aware of the shoot until after the fact. Dolgin says his parents are “super cool about everything,” though it’s still “sinking in” with his dad.
Dolgin recently turned 40. He says of The Housesitter:
“I don't think of this as a mid-life crisis movie, I see it as a mid-life celebration. I love sex and I love great photography and film, so this is a combination of the two.”
Watch the slightly NSFW trailer for The Housesitter, complete with an imitation MPAA rating banner, below.
[As an aside, if you are looking for an arthouse movie with some unsimulated gay sex, track down the 2016 French drama Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo. It’s well-written and the leads have amazing chemistry. It’s a good movie.]
What are your thoughts on The Housesitter? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
Looks delicious!! I love a
Looks delicious!! I love a great storyline in porn, which is very rare.