Hugh Hefner; Playboy, Activist & Rebel Movie Poster

Hugh Hefner, known of course as the famous founder of Playboy – is also a rebellious activist, a little known fact that Oscar-winning™ producer/director Brigitte Berman brings to light in her feature documentary, titled “HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL”.  The film tells the story of the flamboyant, outspoken founder of the Playboy empire and the fierce battles with nearly all levels of the U.S. government, the religious right, and militant feminists. Think less bunnies, less nudity and more politics.

Hefner launched Playboy in 1953, achieving instant notoriety and astounding success for the magazine, the nude centerfold of Marilyn Monroe naturally helped.  Hefner began to become the most outspoken leader of the sexual revolution and/or liberation, in his own Playboy Style. Almost immediately, his brand and his voice, outraged forces of Church and State, who launched a war againist him, which is still going on today.

Known as hedonist, leading a controversial lifestyle, some said he exploited women, regardless, he became a true catalyst for progressive change in social groups, starting in Chicago, on an assortment of social and political issues including not just sexual freedom, but censorship, First Amendment rights, abortion rights, and social justice. Check out the official trailer below:

After Berman attended Hefner’s 80th birthday party at his infamous Mansion in April 2006, she decided the otherside of Hefner, Berman said in an interview, “was fascinating because as much as he had become a legendary lover of countless women – there was a more intersting side to him, the publisher of a groundbreaking magazine, who is also a social activist at the forefront of countless progressive causes – a man who took great risks in breaking the colour line in his Playboy clubs and TV shows, who defied the blacklist in the McCarthy Fifties decade, fought antiquated and absurd sex laws that regulated private conduct in the nation’s bedrooms, provided legal teams to fight anti-abortion laws that eventually led to Roe vs Wade, and campaigned against censorship and for the individual’s right to freedom of expression on all fronts. For me, this film has it all – sex, glamour, politics, romance, tragedy, and conflicts – and many great surprises about a man people think they know, but don’t really know”.

Berman was granted unprecedented access to his vast archives and allowed her to have complete creative control, something he had never done in his life for anyone.  Interesting for a man who is known for being proud of his enemies including Presidents Nixon and Reagan, FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Don Wildmon, Gloria Steinem and Susan Brownmiller.

The highlights in the film include battles he fought from being arrested for obscenity, having been branded a pornographer by Reagan’s Meese Commission, the boycott of his magazine he endured, FBI surveillance and having been set up on drug charge, which he proved to have been fabricated.  Hefner has won every single legal battle he has ever fought, while continuing with his legendary lifestyle.

Participants in the film are essentially a “Who’s Who”  of the decades Playboy has been around, the list is extraordinary and brings insight into the mind of someone who has been called everything from a Genius to a Pedophile.  Regardless of what you think of him, there is no doubt that his personal style and vision has made an impact in media, and it turns out also in controversial social issues that may come to a surprise to many.

The film debuted at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival and opened July 30, 2010 nationally.

http://www.hughhefnerplayboyactivistrebel.com/