Pink & White Productions' flagship website, PinkLabel.TV, has begun exclusively streaming A Body to Live In, a feature-length documentary exploring the life and art of performance art pioneer Fakir Musafar and the cultural movements behind BDSM performance art and body modification.

Documentary Focus and Content

A Body to Live In combines previously unseen archival footage with insights from queer and artistic trailblazers. These trailblazers include Annie Sprinkle, Ron Athey, Cléo Dubois, Jim Ward, and Midori. A video description states that the film provides "deep perspectives on the emergence of a global subculture shaped by the AIDS crisis and spiritual reinvention."

The documentary pays particular interest to Fakir Musafar’s early experiments in body play and his photographic works from the 1940s and 1950s. Director Angelo Madsen, known for North by Current, "uncovers a controversial and riveting facet of queer history." The description further states that the film is "visually striking and moving," unfolding "conversationally between Fakir’s archive and the voices of the canonical elders of this movement, to create intergenerational dialog, question cultural responsibility, and provoke larger ideas about the drive to transcend the limits of the body."

The film follows Musafar’s early experiments in body play and his photographic works, which are presented as a springboard to body modification as it emerged in LGBTQ+ subculture in the early 1970s. Captured in static 16mm film portraits, A Body to Live In also draws from an archive of over 100 hours of unseen footage. The film aims to create "intergenerational dialog, question cultural responsibility, and provoke larger ideas about the drive to transcend the limits of the body."

A Body to Live In offers an uncompromising look at the rise of BDSM performance art, body modification, and the ‘modern primitives’ cultural movement through the experiences of transgressive artist Fakir Musafar and his surrounding communities. Blending rare archival footage with the voices of queer artist trailblazers, the film illustrates how pain, ritual, and transformation became tools of identity, survival, and self-expression. Weaving from early experiments and secret gatherings to the emergence of a global subculture shaped by the AIDS crisis and spiritual reinvention, Director Angelo Madsen reveals not just the story of one artist, but a collective history of bodies in revolt, asking what it means to live freely in one’s own skin.

Fakir Musafar's Legacy

Fakir Musafar, who lived from 1930 to 2018, is profiled in the documentary as a "modern primitivist." The film tracks the timeline of body modification culture shift through his life, art, and spiritual practice. From his early experiments with corset-binding fetish photography in the 1940s through his educational body-piercing and body suspension workshops in the 2010s, Musafar’s artistic, spiritual, and professional life was dedicated to body modification. He witnessed this practice evolve from private kink play to public fashion display, reportedly involved with major milestones of this journey. The documentary serves as both a portrait of Fakir Musafar and a broader overview history of body modification in the American mainstream.

In the opening moments of the documentary, two black-and-white photographs from 1944 are shown, depicting the teenage Roland Loomis, who later renamed himself Fakir Musafar. These images show him stripped to his underwear, with his waist heavily restricted by a leather belt and a rope wrapped multiple times around his neck. Musafar became one of the founders of the modern primitive movement, a subculture centered on body modification practices including branding, suspension, contortion, and binding. The film dissects Musafar’s body of work, which explored the tension between masculinity and femininity, pain and pleasure, spirituality and S&M.

Madsen met Musafar in 2004 through Musafar’s wife, artist Cleo Dubois, whose commentary is featured in the film. They remained close friends until Musafar’s death from cancer in 2018. Dubois granted Madsen "free rein" to explore Musafar’s extensive archive, which includes over 100 hours of previously unseen video and audio recordings. The film integrates these materials with Musafar’s photography.

Availability and Production

A Body to Live In is now exclusively streaming on PinkLabel.TV, Pink & White Productions' flagship website, as of September 18, 2026. The film is also available on DVD, Special Edition Blu-Ray, and VOD as of May 26th. Altered Innocence acquired A Body to Live In. The film recently completed a 7-city US theatrical release, with select in-person screening events continuing sporadically. Limited Edition official release posters are available from Posterati. For booking screenings or acquiring the film for libraries or universities, Altered Innocence can be contacted.

Key Facts

  • A Body to Live In is a feature-length documentary.
  • It is exclusively streaming on PinkLabel.TV as of September 18, 2026.
  • The film profiles performance artist Fakir Musafar (1930-2018).
  • Angelo Madsen directed the documentary.
  • The film includes insights from Annie Sprinkle, Ron Athey, Cléo Dubois, Jim Ward, and Midori.
  • Altered Innocence acquired the film for distribution.