Month: March 2024

Oscar nominee Colman Domingo stars in the profoundly moving 30-minute drama ‘North Star’

Colman Domingo, Malcolm Gets, Laura Innes and Kevin Bacon make up the primary cast of this astounding 30-minute short film that challenges the meanings of freedom, faith and family.

A winner of countless awards at film festivals all around the globe, North Star is easily one of the most acclaimed gay short films ever made.

Domingo, who also produced the film, stars as James, a rural rancher who makes incredible sacrifices to care for his dying husband – all while his zealot sister-in-law attempts to impose her will and a pair of televangelists peddle shame, fear, and division as the cornerstones of faith.

A deeply personal film by writer-director P.J. Palmer, based on his own experiences of being in same-gender, multi-cultural relationships, North Star is a profoundly emotional drama that will linger with you love after the credits roll.

Watch a short teaser trailer for North Star below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A mysterious drifter comes between two rich siblings in the stylish queer thriller ‘Palace of Fun’

After a chance meeting in a nightclub, a summer romance begins to develop between young lovers Lily and Finn (Phoebe Naughton and Andrew Mullan). Instantly smitten with one another and not looking to part ways too soon, Lily ends up inviting Finn to come stay with her at her parent’s opulent Sussex home.

As her folks are vacationing in Italy, the pair expect to have the estate all to themselves. Their alone time is broken, however, by the arrival of Lily’s mischievous brother Jamie (George Stocks).

When Jamie discovers a revealing secret about Finn on the internet, he uses it to blackmail the handsome young man into performing increasingly uncomfortable favors – playing a dangerous and sinister game with his sister’s new flame.

Paying knowing homage to Patricia Highsmith’s ‘Ripley’ novels, classic three-hander thrillers like Knife in the Water and even a little bit of Some Like it Hot, co-writer/director Eddie Stocks’ Palace of Fun is a smart and supremely tense sexually-charged thriller.

Watch the trailer for Palace of Fun below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Slashr

Every Grindr user’s worst fears are brought thrillingly to life in writer-director Amir Moini’s Slashr.

Nathan Mohebbi stars in this 12-minute horror short as Ashkan, an attractive young man taking a solo trip to the mountains of Big Bear. Looking to clear his head in the aftermath of a breakup, he rents an isolated cabin with lots of opportunity for snowy sightseeing.

Encouraged by his best friend Ricky to engage in some frisky rebound sex, he also downloads a Grindr-inspired gay hookup app called Torso.

Though he’s not emotionally ready to throw caution to the wind and hop into bed with a stranger, he cruises the app and starts a conversation with a faceless admirer… whose persistence becomes alarming and whose physical distance, as listed on the app, keeps getting closer… and closer… and closer.

Heavy on suspense and spooky atmosphere, Slashr marks Moini as a director to watch. You could easily imagine him using this film as the opening of a feature-length horror flick – something in the vein of Scream, but with a decidedly queer point of view.

Watch a short trailer for Slashr below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

The provocative queer punk classic ‘Fögi is a Bastard’ gets a brand-new HD restoration

Set in Zurich during the early 1970s and boasting a killer soundtrack that includes the likes of punk legends The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, Fögi is a Bastard is an unflinchingly honest depiction of teenage infatuation and obsession from director Marcel Gisler.

Vincent Branchet stars as Beni, a sensitive 15-year-old romantic who has become completely besotted by Fögi (Frederic Andrau), the super-sexy front man to a local punk outfit called The Minks.

The wide-eyed, seemingly innocent Beni – who begins his courting of Fögi with lovingly penned letters – is welcomed into the gay punk musician’s world of partying and playing gigs. However, as Fögi slowly drifts from an ambitious music career to the addictive world of drugs, a wedge forms in their relationship.

Soon enough, Beni has become a submissive “dog” in their relationship and also begins supporting his lover through sex work.

With its raw depiction of urban life, ghettoized youth, working class angst and kinky gay male sex without compromise, Fögi is a Bastard is a must see for fans of coming-of-age cinema with alternative queer teen sensibilities and aesthetics.

Originally released in 1998, the film has been given a brand-new restoration by the cult distribution label Altered Innocence. It’s now available to stream on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

A weekend of mischief becomes a battle for survival in the stylish British thriller ‘B&B’

A gay couple pays a price for exercising their rights in this award-winning thriller from writer-director Joe Ahearne.

Sean Teale and Tom Bateman star in B&B as partners Fred and Marc. A year before the main events of the film, they were denied a room at St. Jude bed and breakfast by its fundamentalist Christian owner Josh (Paul McGann). They took the matter to court, won a discrimination suit and have now returned.

Though Fred would happily take the victory and move on, Marc is excited to rub some salt in Josh’s wound – insisting on sleeping as a married couple in the home of a man who has made his resentment known.

Events take a deadly turn when another guest, with far more sinister intentions, arrives. Marc and Fred’s weekend of fun turns into a suspenseful battle for survival.

With plenty of twists and turns, this clever Hitchcock homage will keep you guessing to the bitter end.

Watch the trailer for B&B below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.