Body Parts is a feature-length essay film about the on-screen representation of female sex and desire in Hollywood. The film examines how sex scenes are made, how actresses struggle to protect their bodies, and how the industry grapples with the  #MeToo movement. As nudity and sex scenes become more prevalent than ever, this project asks a simple question: how are scenes made and what impact do they have on those involved in the making? The result, Body Parts, is an essayistic inquiry into the process.

The project includes the voices of a range of participants, from A-list to lesser known actresses, body doubles to rape stunt choreographers, make-up artists to lawyers who specialize in nudity clauses. It follows emerging players in the post-#MeToo era: an intimacy coordinator rewriting on-set practices, an investigative journalist covering breaking scandals, and Screen Actors Guild representatives struggling to keep up with harassment complaints. Interspersed throughout are historical observations about sex on screen from Thomas Edison’s The Kiss to the rise of graphic content on modern subscription television. Juxtaposed with the interviews are clips highlighting and deconstructing the ways in which women are shown as erotic objects, passive participants, or unwilling fantasy subjects. When scenes are about sex, to whom are they sexy? How do race, age, and body factor in? How did we get here and where do we go now? Animation layers introduced by a woman’s hand are used to creatively de-emphasize and re-contextualize nudity without adding to exploitation.