Ben and Andrew just want to reconnect with each other, but the harder they try, the harder they push each other away. Men can be so passionate about each other, but when it's time to express that love they're uncomfortable whereas straight women can just say, 'I love you'. 'So I started thinking about the intense, straight male relationships I've seen, with their seemingly homoerotic undercurrents. And I felt it was really quite cute, and funny, that he was fascinated by these films yet couldn't figure out why. 'I thought of the premise when a filmmaking friend of mine was staying with us in Seattle and went to Hump, and kept talking about the gay porn he'd seen there. Visiting the Edinburgh film festival with her thoughtful and funny film, having already screened it to some acclaim at Sundance and Cannes, Shelton tells me that Hump! is a real porn festival, representative of the 'sex-positive' culture in her city. 'Straight ballin' – it's beyond gay!' When they sober up, the reality of their idea dawns on them. Lynn Shelton's film centres on two heterosexual Seattle friends, happily married Ben and bohemian Andrew, who meet for the first time in years and, in the midst of a drink and drugs bender, talk themselves into entering the local amateur porn festival, as the stars of their own gay porn movie.
