Adolescence – Page 35 – Discover great gay stories.

Watch the trailer for the profoundly moving new short film Louder Than Words

Louder Than Words, written and directed by Julio Dowansingh, is an independent short film that follows a young musician named Ansel (Luke Farley), and his unexpected encounter with Niall (Marty Lauter), an endearing, deaf dancer.

When forced to share a studio space, artists Ansel and Niall find themselves awkwardly beside each other, performing song and dance respectively. They have an underlying connection, and that is a closeted interest and admiration of each other. While Niall can read lips, an obvious language barrier still stands between him and Ansel.

In order to communicate, Ansel and Niall must step out of their comfort zones, because even though they share similar passions and quickly inspire each other, the inevitable risk of miscommunication – both in language and emotion – remains, rendering their hidden affection almost impossible to express.

The film explores the sheer struggle that queer people often face in a culture that is yet to fully foster accepting spaces for courtship and love. At its core, the story portrays how difficult it can be to communicate romantic interest as a queer person, and in this case, an added impediment of being hearing impaired.

Louder Than Words is now available to stream on Dekkoo. Check out the trailer below.

Cinema Spotlight: Bromance

Welcome back to the fall of 1996.

When four friends go on a camping trip in a remote part of Argentina, sexual tensions quickly bubble to the surface. Once in virtual seclusion by the beach, Juli, the only girl of the group, quickly recognizes that the boys seem to have a closer relationship than what she would consider “normal” (it’s only ’96, after all).

The line between friendship and love fade further for two of the boys in particular as their desire becomes too much to bear. When what started as a simple getaway quickly becomes tinged with sex, romance and conflict, everyone is forced to confront who they really are for the very first time.

Starring Javier De Pietro, the scrumptious star of Absent and Sexual Tension: Volatile (both of which are also available on Dekkoo), Bromance uses a clever found-footage aesthetic to deliver a thoughtful and supremely sexy meditation on young, burgeoning gay love.

Bromance is available now on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

New This Week – 2/1/19

Samuel and Wilfredo, two struggling artists in the Philippines, have put everything they have into a new independent film project that they’re hoping will launch their careers. But when the Board of Censors bans their film for having gay themes, they find more even more obstacles along to road to success. ‘Uncensored Dreams’ is available now on Dekkoo!

A young musician named Ansel has an unexpected encounter with Niall, an endearing, deaf dancer. ‘Louder Than Words’ is available to stream on Dekkoo!

In what way does communication serve as a form of self-expression, and self-expression a form of communication? ‘Words’ explores how people navigate gender and identity in the open and evolving landscape of New York City.

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Coming next week: A brand new-gay film that is a magical coming-of-age tale.

Cinema Spotlight: Teenage Kicks

The scars of our youth shape the adults we become.

In the riveting Australian drama Teenage Kicks, angst-ridden seventeen-year-old Miklos (Miles Szanto) makes plans to escape his migrant family and run away with his best friend and secret crush Dan (cutie-pie Daniel Webber, hot off his star-making turn as Lee Harvey Oswald in the miniseries “11.22.63” and his regular role on “The Punisher”).

Miklos’s dreams are dashed after the accidental death of his older brother Tomi (Nadim Kobeissi). Only he knows the events that led to this tragedy. Suddenly, he is forced to navigate his guilt, as well as his explosive sexuality, in order to find the man he will become.

Written and directed by Craig Boreham, who recently made MTV’s list of “hot filmmakers to watch,” Teenage Kicks is a smart and sexy drama that has earned rave reviews around the globe. Empire magazine labeled it “a debut not to be missed.”

Teenage Kicks is now available on Dekkoo.

One Great Gay Shot – ‘Seeds’ (2017)

The mesmerizing coming-of-age film ‘Seeds’ arrives exclusively on Dekkoo next week!

Take a trip back to 1992

The new 25-minute short film 1992 follows Martin (Louis Duneton), a seventeen-year-old student who and spends the majority of his time behind a video camera, recording everything everything that catches his eye. One day, he meets an older man named Dominique (Matthieu Dessertine), who works as a watchman at his school. After their first encounter, Martin seems to only have eyes for his new crush.

Examining infatuations, the frustrations of adolescence, father-son conflict, first-time sexual experiences and the way being a gay teen has changed from the early ’90s to now, director Anthony Doncque’s period piece 1992 is provocative and brutally honesty. The film depicts a warts-and-all sex scene between a teen and a twenty-something that should ring familiar to any or us who came of age pre-internet.

Louis Duneton and Matthieu Dessertine give committed, completely fearless performances and Doncque stands out as a talented director worth keeping an eye on.

You can watch 1992 now on Dekkoo. Just be warned: the film features scenes of graphic sexuality. Viewer discretion is advised.

New This Week – 1/25/19

Aaron, an up-and-coming young rapper, is starting to find career success. Unfortunately, his rise is tempered by a volatile music industry, his dangerously jealous older brother and his own insecurities surrounding his sexuality. Binge the first season of ‘Single Record’ now, only on Dekkoo!

Dekkoo Films presents the gay short film, ‘1992’. Martin is seventeen and spends all day recording everything with his Hi8 camera. One day Martin meets Dominique, who works as a watchman at his school.

This documentary discusses how a small Mediterranean fishing village of some 3,500 people in 1900 has now become the Gay Mecca of the Mediterranean and can serve as an example for other less tolerant countries of harmonious LGBT integration. Watch ‘The Gay History of Sitges’ now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: “An exploration of identity.”

Now Available: In the Family

In the Family takes place in the small town of Martin, Tennessee, where Chip Hines (Sebastian Brodziak), a precocious six year old, has only known life with his two dads, Cody and Joey (Trevor St. John and writer/director Patrick Wang). And a good life it is. When Cody dies suddenly in a car accident, Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Just as they begin to, Cody’s will reveals that he named his sister as Chip’s guardian. The years of Joey’s acceptance into the family unravel as Chip is taken away from him. In his now solitary home life, Joey searches for a solution. The law is not on his side, but friends are. Armed with their comfort and inspired by memories of Cody, Joey finds a path to peace with the family and closer to his son.

Wildly acclaimed by critics and in-the-know audiences for his work on this film – as well as the recent duology A Bread Factory, Part One and A Bread Factory, Part Two – writer/director Patrick Wang is one of the most thoughtful, talented and ambitious indie filmmakers most people aren’t familiar with yet.

The late, great Roger Ebert said of In the Family, “I was completely absorbed from beginning to end. What a courageous first feature this is, a film that sidesteps shopworn stereotypes and tells a quiet, firm, deeply humanist story about doing the right thing. It is a film that avoids any message or statement and simply shows us, with infinite sympathy, how the life of a completely original character can help us lead our own.”

In the Family is now available to stream on Dekkoo. Check out the trailer below.

Short Film Spotlight: Jackpot

Man, it was hard to get gay porn discreetly before the internet! Especially if you were still coming of age.

Writer-director Adam Baran’s acclaimed short film Jackpot takes place in 1994 – not long ago, yet so far away – and follows a closeted 14-year-old kid named Jack (Ethan Navarro), who hears about a valuable stash of gay porno magazines hidden in a dumpster across town and sets out on a quest to retrieve them before they make their way to the dump. Like any good cinematic quest, there are obstacles to be overcome. In Jack’s case, they take the form of a form of a pack of homophobic bullies who have been taunting him. Luckily, he’s got an imaginary friend on his side to help coach him through – “Jackpot” cover boy Ricky Swayze (Adam Fleming).

Clever, well-directed and surprisingly heartfelt for a film about one young man’s mission to masturbate with a visual aid to match his hidden desires, Jackpot was a massive crowd-pleaser when it made the rounds at film festivals all over the world. The film is now available to watch on Dekkoo!

New This Week – 12/21/18

With the style of a European art filmmaker, director/co-writer Eldar Rapaport tells the story of a gay love triangle by using innovative edits, a beautiful (frequently naked) cast and an exploration of how we find our life’s love. Stream the gay film ‘August’ now, on Dekkoo!

Over the course of one night, a newly out-of -the-closet young man struggles to hold back his feelings for his straight best friend while dealing with the problems and complications of being different in a hetero-normative world. The gay short film ‘Midnights With Adam’ is available now on Dekkoo!

Fabricating credentials to score a last-ditch job as a high school guidance counsellor, a boozing, drug-addled former child star becomes an improbable hit with his students by dispensing the worst advice possible. ‘Guidance’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: What happens when two gay men in a disintegrating relationship leave the big city to spend some time alone, together in nature?