Running September 3-6, Muscle Distribution and the Roxy Cinema present MuscleFest, a four-night mini-festival celebrating the distributor's deep-cut restorations, alongside a fearless slate of underground trans and queer cinema.
I discovered Muscle Distribution last year at Fantastic Fest with their restoration of Dildo Heaven, the charming "Nudie Cutie" from octogenarian filmmaker and "Queen of Sexploitation" Doris Wishman. Working at a sex shop in Miami in the early '90s, Wishman directed the delightfully shameless, all-top-no-bottoms romp while she was in her late 80s. The completed film premiered at the New York Underground Film Festival just months before her death from lymphoma, before being released posthumously on video in 2002--and, like so many of the films Muscle champions, largely disappearing from the conversation.
What really sold me on Muscle Distribution, though, wasn't simply the fact that they were rescuing something as wonderfully strange as Dildo Heaven. It was how they were doing it. Rather than leaning on AI or attempting to scrub away the rough edges that are part of an SOV film's DNA, they went back to the original masters, restoring the film while preserving its original look, texture, and character. That commitment to letting these films remain themselves immediately caught my attention -- and had me following whatever they dug up next.
In the year since its formation, Muscle Distribution has quickly carved out a distinctive niche, championing both vintage and contemporary voices in underground trans and queer cinema. The label has already amassed an impressive slate, including Louise Weard's prolific analog Castration series and a growing collection of other boundary-pushing releases. Many of those films are represented in the MuscleFest lineup, making the showcase a perfect opportunity to see exactly what makes this distributor one of the most exciting out there.
Thursday, September 3, 2026:
OPENING NIGHT FILM - 7 pm: CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER III. JUNIOR GHOSTS--PREMORPHIC DRIFT; A FRAGMENTARY PASSAGE
(2026, dir. Louise Weard)
Castration Movie is a multi-part postmodern epic by visionary auteur Louise Weard.
Chapter iii. Junior Ghosts--Premorphic Drift; a fragmentary passage is a standalone installment that consists of one chapter.
In Chapter iii. Junior Ghosts--Premorphic Drift, Izzy (Avalon Fast) does everything in her power to stop her partner (Henri Gillespi) from transitioning. New York Premiere
Q&A with Louise Weard and Avalon Fast.
10 pm: CROCODILE DOSE
(2026, dir. Jason Waters)
On their first summer back from college, best friends Curtis, Jimmy, and Abe embark on a fantastical 24-hour odyssey of drugs and alcohol on their way to a house party hosted by Curtis's ex-girlfriend, Jane. When their pursuit of hedonism leads to Jane and Curtis reuniting prematurely, Curtis is unable to handle his emotions and loses touch with his relationships and reality. Crocodile Dose is a teen comedy told through cell phones, digital photography, and the internet. Set in a magical Denver, Colorado, the film explores falling in love and growing up in a technologically interconnected world.
Q&A with actors Graham Cox and Chase Mackay, moderated by Louise Weard.
Friday, September 4, 2026
7 pm: DILDO HEAVEN
(2002, dir. Doris Wishman)
Roommates Lisa, Beth, and Tess are three young women who each share the same goal of hooking up with their respective male bosses. While their attempts at seduction get off to a rough start, their peeping tom neighbor Billy spends his days spying through keyholes and trying to get a piece of the action. Will these roommates finally make it with their managers? And what about Billy?
Octogenarian filmmaker and "Queen of Sexploitation" Doris Wishman was working at a sex shop in Miami in the early 90s when she met experimental musician Tom Smith, spurring a full-blown career revival that saw her honored at film festivals around the world and featured on HBO's Real Sex and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Intended to be her comeback movie, Dildo Heaven premiered at the New York Underground Film Festival just months before her passing in 2002 and then was never officially widely released until now. New York Premiere
Q&A with Zach Clark and Dildo Heaven editor Mark Boswell, moderated by filmmaker Todd Rohal.
9 pm: a night with alterotics
Muscle presents a special evening with filmmaking, screening, performance, and cruising collective alterotics. Co-founded by Anaïs Alias and Avery Jaye in 2023, the group's transgressive moving-image sex art--like the Stephen Sayadian-influenced Rat Trap--has quickly found a hungry audience both at international queer film festivals and especially in Chicago, where they have fostered a growing community centered around their monthly cruising parties. For this screening, we'll present a survey of the group's work over the past three years, including its latest short film, Character Syndrome. All four films are New York premieres.
RAT TRAP (2025, 15min)
Angel is your typical rat girl: sneaking through grocery stores, shoplifting cheeses, scurrying. The world is her dumpster... until one night she falls into the clutches of pervert ratologist Dr. Fontina. Abducting the rat girl and taking her to a lab deep underground, Fontina and her lackeys use science to put Angel into a state of teledildonic trance. She can't resist. Infused with orgasmic energy, her body becomes an experiment in rat-human transgenesis. A hybrid girl squeaking with lust. And to Dr. Fontina, this creature becomes a plaything, a seductress, a variable out of control... You'll never guess--or forget--what happens next. Don't miss this genre-bending porno romp featuring an all trans cast, crew, and production team.
SUPERLUNACY CLINIC (2023, 21min)
Anais and Avery talk art, politics, and "the big O" in an exclusive interview with journalist Wendy Stroker. After seducing Stroker into a career-ending snafu, however, the two starlets are bound to face her wrath. Their fate: to be devoured by the spawning sturgeons of Lake Michigan. Marvel in lust as girls and fish get frisky under the radiance of a supermoon!!! Featuring real public fucking and 100% simulated drug use.
THE NATURISTS (2026, 21min)
alterotics culturati Avery Jaye and Anais Alias explore the perverse intimacies--and frictions--of the notoriously gay sand dunes on a drizzly day trip to the lake retreat town of Saugatuck, MI.
CHARACTER SYNDROME (2026, 35min)
Yes, exactly: in Character Syndrome, therapy *itself* becomes a new digital neurosis. Seeking your undoing here genuinely makes sense. POV you're Lisa Boston: relationship therapist, sex worker, gambling addict, and all-around dopamine burnout. Managing these scattered persona-streams is all you care about, overriding any concern for your clients' well-being. You're losing it, succumbing to every failure mode--until a background observer kindly pops in to help.
Q&A with Anaïs Alias and Avery Jaye, moderated by film writer Nea Ching.
Saturday, September 5, 2026
7 pm: Secret Screening
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Sneak preview of new 4K restoration
Sunday, September 6, 2026
5 pm: DOG MOVIE + PUPPYGIRL
(2024 + 2026, dir. Henry Hanson)
Dog Movie: A passive-aggressive tenderqueer couple sends their household into a quiet tailspin when they adopt an elderly dog who shares the same name as the unemployed couch surfer they just can't seem to confront in Bros Before filmmaker Henry Hanson's improvised microbudget debut feature, which he/they describe as "the trans Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Puppygirl: A semi-delusional trans woman (Milo Talwani) embarks on a shocking, bizarre, and oddly touching personal odyssey to undo years of sexual repression by performing in puppygirl fetish porn in Henry Hanson's new gonzo documentary. New York Premiere
Q&A with film team, moderated by filmmaker Jessica Dunn Rovinelli.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM - 7 pm: DRINKING AND DRIVING
(2026, dir. Avalon Fast and Jillian Frank)
Early twenties Iris (Jillian Frank) and Palmer (Avalon Fast) never left their hometown. They work at the same restaurant, share the same bed, and both have a habit of drinking and driving. They run into Levi (Ethan Hawksworth), a guy they used to know. They spend time with him and his cousin, Phoenix (Henri Gillespi), in cars, backyards, and other people's bedrooms. When Levi shares a dream he had with Iris, things change between the four of them. The reality of the summer becomes faded, the parties die. The four end in a field of unified confusion. New York Premiere
Q&A with Avalon Fast and Jillian Frank, moderated by actor and filmmaker Jack Haven.
Check out MuscleFest's official website for more details.