Skin to Skin

A night with a stranger can mean very different things to the two people involved. Skin to Skin, an experimental short from Irish filmmakers Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan, explores the tangled and often surprising relationship between intimacy and hook-up culture among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Blending documentary with staged moments, the film builds a collage of voices and images, with Shaun Dunne, Siobhán Callaghan and Rodrigo Ternevoy on screen, and invites viewers to look past easy assumptions about casual encounters. Frank about sex yet more interested in feeling, it asks what people are really looking for when they meet someone for a few hours, and what they carry away once the night is over. At around ten minutes, it is a brief, reflective piece that treats fleeting connections with curiosity and respect.