Catch a sneak preview of the moving documentary "Dark & Tender"

Aaron Johnson’s powerful short film "Dark and Tender" follows ten Black men on a transformative retreat with the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project outside Seattle, WA. The men seek to reclaim platonic intimacy and tenderness through close encounters with nature and depictions of gentle Black masculinity, restoring the vital aspect of touch by replacing violence and rough play with care, connection, and intimacy.

The Port Townsend Film Festival will present a special sneak preview screening on September 20th, followed by Panel Discussion led by producer Ben Wilson.

Aaron is a public speaker, facilitator, and touch activist who practices closeness as a way to break down barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Aaron has created the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project — basic strategies to bring a black body from being Chronically UnderTouched to a state of touch balance — as part of the lifelong journey of interrupting oppressive systems that make touch balance a radical action.