// Presented as part of April's Docs in Focus II Series //

Adina Pintilie / 2018, Berlin, Bergen, BFI London, CPH:PIX, DOK Leipzig, FICUNAM, FNC - Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Göteborg, Helsinki, IDFA - Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Karlovy Vary, Moscow, Mumbai, Reykjavik, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Sarajevo, Seattle, Seville, Sydney, Thessaloniki, Toronto, Transilvania, Vienna, Vilnius, Visions du Réel / 125'

Laura is a British woman who struggles with physical intimacy. She does not like to be approached, much less touched—a reticence she seeks to address during casual meetings with male prostitutes and lengthier sessions with Hanna and Seani, two therapists with vastly divergent methods. Tómas also has difficulties with intimacy—a diagnosis of alopecia in his teenage years made him always feel separate from others, unable to connect. A touch therapy workshop also introduces us to Christian, with whom Tómas connects for his honesty, rather than appearance.

Balancing the austere aesthetics of its clinical settings with the warm, sumptuous images of human flesh,Touch Me Not probes the limits of conventional notions of sexuality, intimacy, and beauty—offering new perspectives of the way we see human relationships, and each other. Experimental filmmaker Adina Pintilie's debut film premiered at CPH:PIX, DOK Leipzig, Thessaloniki, Toronto, and Berlin, where it won the Golden Bear for Best Film and Best First Feature.