Modest Male Exposure 2: I Dream of Genes

While blogging about some of his recent news segments, TV reporter Sam Derrick (Jed Ryan) wonders about male modesty and exposure in public places and gender-segregated bathroom facilities. From a live post-game locker room interview that accidentally broadcasts naked pro-baseball players, to a segment about a nudist resort where no one is shy - From male high school students who won't use showers after gym class or open urinals, to concerns about openly LGBTQ and females in the facilities - Will hitting the showers with his rugby buddies after games ever be the same?

An experimental feature film about people in different cities who are trying to escape their loneliness through love, lust or a combination of both. The film was shot in real locations using only available light. The viewer is both a voyeur - watching the characters in intimate situations that are not meant to be seen - and an active participant - imagining what the characters are going through and making connections between them that may or may not be real.

As an older gay man lies dying in a hospital room, he tries to remember all of his past lovers. Over the years, he had filmed many of his lovers as a way to capture them, but now the films are disintegrating – fading away just like his memories. Shot entirely on super8 film, this touching new film incorporates archival footage shot by Charles Lum in the 1970s and '80s (including footage from his time as an exchange student in Norway), archival footage shot by Todd Verow in the 1980s and '90s, as well as new footage by Verow. With a script based on Lum's stories and cruising diaries, and stories written by Verow, Memorabilia is a beautiful visual homage to love, as well as a testament to its creators' close friendship and mutual understanding in how to tell a story. Charles Lum never saw this film come to life, but he would no doubt have been proud of the result.