S&M Judge takes Cinekink Audience Choice Award

Erik Lamens' feature debut S&M Judge has grabbed the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Film at this year's seventh CineKink festival in New York (16-21 February). Receiving its US premiere at the fest, the film registered the highest score ever at CineKink.

CineKink refers to itself as an organisation that recognises and encourages the positive depiction of sexuality in film and television. The film and video programme explores a wide variety of sexuality. The works presented at CineKink range from documentary to drama, from the mildly spicy to quite explicit.

S&M Judge is based on a true story. A judge, desperate to save his marriage, reluctantly gives in to fulfilling his wife's secret desire to bring her to the edge of extreme pain and pleasure. At first he's shocked, but his love for his wife is so strong that he overcomes his own inhibitions. Together they push their sexual boundaries until the couple is trapped in a spiral of more excessive needs and they cannot escape the world of pimps, jealousy and treachery.

Sharing the major roles are Gene Bervoets and Veerle Dobbelaere. In October 2009 they both received an award at the Fetish Film Festival in Kiel, Germany, for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively.

The film's producers are Bert Hamelinck, Kato Maes and Frank Van Passel for Brussels-based Caviar.