Atlanta filmmaker Bret Wood looked deep into his heart of hearts and decided to make "Psychopathia Sexualis," bringing to cinematic life scientist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 19th-century study of, what was considered at the time, sexual perversion.

"People generally don't make movies like this," Wood says.

RUTH DUSSEAULT / Kino International (ENLARGE)
Patricia French plays a prostitute in "Psychopathia Sexualis," a dramatization of historic case studies of so-called perversion.
TERRY THOMAS / Kino International (ENLARGE)
Filmmaker Bret Wood says his new work explores "the philosophy of sex, a greater concept than nude bodies."
TERRY THOMAS / Kino International (ENLARGE)
Teacher and student (Veronika Duerr, seated, and Lisa Paulsen) cope with secret sexual desire in "Psychopathia Sexualis."
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ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL The 30th annual event with more than 150 film shorts, documentaries and narrative features continues through June 17 at various venues. www.atlantafilmfestival.com.

That would be an understatement.

"Psychopathia," which screens at 9:30 tonight at Georgia State University's Speakers Auditorium as part of the 30th annual Atlanta Film Festival, features a long list of metro Atlanta actors in period costume and a cinematic style reminiscent of the silent film era. The characters deal with vampirism, same-sex longings, masochism and more.

With the screening at such a late hour, young kids presumably will already have been tucked safely into their beds. Besides, the film, while it has nudity and doesn't shy away from its adult themes, is not hard-core.

"A lot of people are disappointed that the film is not pornographic," Wood, 41, says. "But I think the people who do like it like it because it takes sex seriously. It's not just on-screen as something you get off on. Or a conventionalized view of sex. But it talks about and thinks about the philosophy of sex, exploring it as a greater concept than nude bodies."

Wood's project cost less than $100,000 and was filmed in 2004 at a house in Inman Park, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, a warehouse on Krog Street where interior sets were constructed and the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.

The idea for the film came while Wood was doing research for another project.

"I am fascinated by the turn of the century through the 1930s, so I read medical and crime books from that period while trying to write a script called 'The Perverse,' " he says. "It was about intersecting lives of people who have these sexual secrets. I used 'Psychopathia' as a reference to getting the facts straight."

What he found in the case histories were "tidy little movies." So he decided to link them and expand on them.

Wood's film is already getting theatrical runs at art houses in a few cities, including New York and Boston.

Early reviews haven't been exactly kind. The New York Times focused on what it called the film's "unrelenting dullness." Variety dubbed it "tepid."

"For better or worse, 'Psychopathis Sexualis' is not like other independent film out there," Wood says. "Some people want to get what they expect. This film does its own thing. And it sort of frustrates things if you are looking for sex and violence."

AND THE WINNER IS ...: Film awards for the main festival won't be revealed until the end of the week, but Campus MovieFest, which last weekend held its first-ever screenings at the Atlanta Film Festival of 15 shorts made by university students across the country in 2005-2006, handed out its own awards. The South fared well. Best comedy: "Carboy: The Five Seater With a Heart of Gold," a fake documentary about a compact car with human parents made by a team from Georgia State University. It drew consistent laughter from the Atlanta fest audience. Best drama: "Elevator Girl," made by a team from Boston's Emerson College. And best picture: "Snooze," a time-warp tale made by GSU students.

Campus MovieFest, formed in 2000 by four Emory University students, has offered up film equipment nationwide to roughly 50,000 students, who have one week to write and shoot a film short (www.campusmoviefest.com).

The equipment is provided free, but making art still costs money.

"We spent, like, $60 on MARTA tokens," said Jeff Kaplan, co-creator of "Snooze."

RECOMMENDED MOVIES

•June 16: "The Sisters" — Maria Bello leads a capable cast in a modern-day takeoff on Chekov's "Three Sisters." 4 p.m. at Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema

•June 17: "Journey to Justice" — A documentary about a German Jew who fled the Nazis, returned as a U.S. soldier and served as an interpreter at the war trials in Nuremberg. 2 p.m. at Georgia State University's Speakers Auditorium

•June 17: "The Heart of the Game" — An excellent documentary following a Seattle high school's girls basketball team over several seasons. Noon at Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema

•June 17: "American Blackout" — Documentary on disenfranchisement of African-Americans and other minorities in the last two presidential elections, with statements from Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Noon at Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema