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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism

1999 film

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ2443564 ↗
Source-derived summary

Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Cristine Richey and released in 1999. The film depicts the BDSM subculture, most notably through the relationship of BDSM enthusiast couple Robert and Mary Dante.

The film premiered in the Perspectives Canada at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival, and was subsequently screened in the Midnight Madness lineup at the 1999 Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival. It was broadcast by TVOntario as an episode of The View from Here in February 2000.

The film received a Genie Award nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 20th Genie Awards in 2000.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism” as 1999 film. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999, 2000—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1999. The account is most persuasive where Tops, Bottoms and Power can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1999 film. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2443564. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 2000.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism primary sources, Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism archive and Tops research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Tops & Bottoms: Sex, Power and Sadomasochism” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.