What can a short porn film about praying mantises teach us about ‘desire and devotion and sacrifice’?
South Philly filmmaker Isabella Akhtarshenas wants viewers to find out at Dan Savage's HUMP! Film Festival, where her film will be playing this year.
The HUMP! Film Festival, the annual tour of DIY adult films made by novices that features a wide range of kink and romance, is returning to Philadelphia on March 27.
Curated by the popular podcaster and sex columnist Dan Savage, this year’s festival marks the debut of an animated short (porn) film by Philly filmmaker Isabella Akhtarshenas.
Her film, Prey for Sex, is a stop-motion animation inspired by nature documentaries that showcases the seductive and somewhat violent mating ritual of praying mantises.
“The man gets his head bitten off early on in the ritual, and they continue having sex while he’s headless, until he dies, basically,” Akhtarshenas, 29, said, summarizing the plot. She designed the female praying mantis character as “very dommy-mom” and her male counterpart as utterly devoted to her.
An artist based in South Philly, Akhtarshenas conceived and crafted the piece with her romantic and creative partner, Eric Scott, in two weeks last fall, after attending a previous HUMP! Film Festival. (The festival has grown so popular that it now arrives in two parts, one in the spring and one in the fall).
Akhtarshenas noticed the lineup didn’t include any stop-motion animation, and wanted to change that.
She found inspiration in still images of praying mantises and her ”own library” of personal sex videos, and drew each frame in the Procreate app on her iPad. The whole process took about 150 hours, she said.
She crafted much of it sitting by her mother, who was hospitalized. A hospital bed, she said, was a somewhat incongruous place to bring an animated porn film about praying mantises into being. When it was done, Akhtarshenas was too proud not to share it.
“I did show it to my family, who was kind of like, ‘OK, I guess!’” she said.
Out of 400 submissions, Akhtarshenas’s was one of 48 films selected (there are 24 being played in the spring edition and 24 in the fall).
This year’s festival will have two showings at FringeArts, one at 6:30 and the other at 9 p.m. An official trailer for the 90-minute compilation highlights elegant rope bondage, lovers in fursuit heads, and a smattering of butts, including one donning a Beyoncé-esque silver-spangled cowboy hat.
Savage founded Hump in 2005, and often describes it as “not your average porn festival.” Viewers watch the lineup together, which could be a new experience for those accustomed to viewing porn in a more solitary setting.
The films always feature people (and creatures) of all sizes, ages, races, and genders.
Akhtarshenas is thrilled to attend the Philly premiere of her film and hopes viewers leave thinking about “desire and devotion and sacrifice.”
“I want people to feel inspired creatively, more than anything,” she said.
The 2026 HUMP! Film Festival will host screenings in Philadelphia on March 27 at 6:30 and 9 p.m. For ages 18+. Tickets: $20 plus fees. FringeArts, 140 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia. Buy tickets here.