Movie Spotlight: Bear Week Diaries

Bear Week in Provincetown lasts seven days. Antongiulio Panizzi shot the entire film in those seven days. That constraint is part of the point: the thing the film is about is also the thing that produced it.

Bear Week Diaries follows David as he arrives ready for a carefree week, meets Ryan, and finds himself questioning what he wants from love. Panizzi blends documentary and narrative fiction, a form he’s used before (his film The Girl in the Fountain featured Monica Bellucci playing a version of herself in a role that didn’t actually exist). The goal is to get at feelings that pure documentary can’t always reach, and to blur the line between reality and fiction until it nearly disappears.

Provincetown Is Not Almost a Character

Panizzi is direct about it: Provincetown is not almost a character in the film. It absolutely is one. The characters ride bikes because biking in Provincetown is beautiful. They laugh and let loose because they’re in Provincetown. They fall in love because the dunes themselves seem to inspire it. He went several times during the years he lived in New York, and describes it as an atmosphere unlike anywhere else: welcoming, open, where everyone is ready to meet someone new and have a new adventure.

David on the Dance Floor

The emotional turn in the film comes when Ryan confronts David with a reality check that feels out of place for a night out at the club. David turns to his friend Nathan Butera for advice. Then he finds himself alone on the dance floor, dressed to party, dressed to meet people. In that moment he realizes how alone he really is. He wipes off the glitter and the sequins. He finally talks to himself.

Varla, Christeene, and Randy Roberts as Cher

The film includes Varla Jean Merman, Christeene, and Randy Roberts in a cameo as Cher. Panizzi describes each as representing different languages of queer performance: sharp, witty, ironic, provocative. They are pivotal moments in the film, each embodying a side of Bear Week’s double soul. “You don’t find performers like this everywhere,” he says, “and here their work is woven tightly into the fabric of the Bear community and of Provincetown.”

Beyond Body Positivity

The film opens with the recognition that gay bears have made peace with their bodies, without shame or apology. Several people the film interviews, including Frank Vasello and Jeff Robinson, speak openly about it. But Panizzi wanted to look further: what happens when we grow older? How does a community of bears want to age? The celebration of self-acceptance is the starting point, not the destination.

What to Know Before You Press Play

“Watch it ready to have fun and to explore a new world,” Panizzi says. For those who already know Provincetown and Bear Week, he adds: the whole film was shot in seven days. The score is by Horse Meat Disco.

Documentary

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Streaming now on Relay.