THE OPERATION
An infrared erotic short film by Jacob Pander and Marne Lucas.
“Where technology and flesh collide.” WIRED MAGAZINE
Best Experimental Film - 1995 NY Underground Film Festival
In a cold tile operating room, a surgeon clad in a protective Ty-Vek suit, goggles and tight rubber gloves demonstrates her skill before a group of observers. They scrutinize the eerie coupling between the surgeon and patient, whose bodies merge like molten lava. Thermal coitus draws the viewer into an erotic experience that probes beneath the boundary of skin.
THE OPERATION is an award-winning cult film by Jacob Pander and Marne Lucas, shot in 48 hours on a minuscule budget, using thermal imaging technology. Their exploration of erotic imagery first-hand stems from an interest in intimacy and the viewer's psychological and sexual response. THE OPERATION represents a merging of their fascination with the macabre beauty of the human body as viewed by science and technology; using new infrared imaging devices, the boundaries between physical and intellectual stimulation become blurred.
CREDITS
Starring: Gina Velour and Otto Wrek
Directed by: Jacob Pander
Written by Marne Lucas and Jacob Pander.
Producer: Roman Guenther, Marne Lucas, Arnold Pander
Cinematographer: Steve Doughton
Art Direction: Marne Lucas
Sets and Props: Benjamin Hayden
Music: Michael Gerard
Sound Engineering: Brian Jones
SELECT SCREENINGS/AWARDS
2024 ‘Sightlines’, IRT videos by Marne Lucas, curated by Natsha Gornik, NYC.
2019/2020 'Uncensored Festival' London, U.K.
2015 'Sousveillance: Inverse Surveillance' shorts program Olympia Film Festival, WA.
2014 ExplOratorium Museum, Sexplorations special event, San Francisco, California
2013 Best of the Chicago Underground Film Festival- 20th Anniversary, curated by Jack Sargeant
2011 'Hotter Than July' NY Studio Gallery, curated by Savannah Spirit
2010 CPH:DOX International Documentary Film Festival - Presented
2003 Avanto Helsinki Media Art Festival- Presented
2002 Melbourne Underground Film Festival- Presented
1998 Institute of Contemporary Art, London. American Underground Film, curated by Jack Sargeant.
1997 Honolulu Underground Film Festival - Best Experimental
Film
1997 23rd Annual NW Film and Video Festival - Judges Award
1996 Copenhagen Film and Video Workshop - 3rd Prize, plus grant
1995 Chicago Underground Film Festival – Best Experimental Film, 2nd Prize
1995 New York Underground Film Festival - Best Experimental Film
Jerry Saltz pick, 'Hotter Than July', New York Magazine.
"Four Chambers selects: 9 art horror classics to watch now" by Vex Ashley, Dazed Magazine, 2024.
CHP DOX screening, 2009
Gina Velour's eyes are white hot orbs.
The Observers in the surgical theater.
Review by Richard Kadrey, Wired Magazine, December 1996.
Review by Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing
Uncensored Fest, curated by Lidia Ravviso
The Surgeon's throat opens in ecstasy.
Review by Susannah Breslin, Reverse Cowgirl
Otto Wrek (Patient) and Gina Velour (Surgeon) in THE OPERATION.
SELECT PRESS 1999 ‘Hot Zones-‘The Operation’,’ Suture: The Arts Journal, Vol 1. interview by Jack Sargeant (Creation Books, UK). Pgs 55-74.
The Surgeon, the Patient on gurney, and the Observers, on set in the elevator from the opening scene of THE OPERATION.
