Award Winner – Page 12 – Discover great gay stories.

Five filmmakers explore male sexuality and longing in the collection ‘Furious Desires’

The concept of desire is explored to the fullest in Furious Desires, a collection of five international short films exploring male sexuality and longing.

In Brazilian filmmaker Fabio Leal’s The Daytime Doorman, a man pushes past boundaries with someone who works in his apartment building. Also from Brazil, Ricky Mastro’s film Xavier and Miguel follows a teen who is ready to tell the world about the secret feelings he has for his best friend.

The Other Side, from Mexican director Rodrigo Alvarez Flores, chronicles the romance between two young men who will not let the border come between their love. Mexican filmmaker Denisse Quintero’s The Tiger’s Fight is centered around a homoerotic harvest ritual where village men are expected fight one another.

Finally, from Italian director Simone Bozzelli, Loris is Fine follows a naïve 20-year-old whose need for affection drives him to make some life-altering choices.

With all of the shorts combined together, this stylish and diverse collection runs a total of 91 minutes… and will surely leave you with some desires of your own.

Check out these select stills from each of the five featured short films below. Furious Desires is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Warm up your winter with François Ozon’s new queer classic ‘Summer of 85’

Two teenage boys meet on the coast of Normandy and experience a life-changing summer in this sexy and gorgeously-crafted ode to youth from François Ozon, the celebrated French auteur behind ‘Swimming Pool,’ ‘8 Women,’ ‘Double Lover’ and many more.

Set in 1985, the film is told from the romantic, nostalgia-shaded perspective of 16-year-old Alexis (Félix Lefebvre). Unsure whether to pursue his literary aspirations in school or get a job to appease his blue-collar dad, Alexis is at a crossroads – and desperate for affection.

When he meets David (Benjamin Voisin), a dashing stranger who rescues him at sea, his potentially dull summer is upended. He’s quickly thrust into the alluring and enigmatic world of his new friend. Soon, the boys’ flirtatious friendship blossoms into something much more, yet David’s charismatic demeanor belies a mercurial, tempestuous side that threatens to blight their idyllic summer fling.

Ozon inventively blends breezy teen romance with a looming mystery while cutting back and forth between past and present so that the pieces of the puzzle don’t fall into place until the film’s unforgettable, emotionally devastating climax.

Summer of 85 is an electric ode to youth, self-discovery, and the possibilities that lay in front of us all.

Watch the trailer for Summer of 85 below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Raúl Castillo and Sheila Vand star in the powerful coming-of-age drama ‘We the Animals’

Featuring riveting performances from Sheila Vand and Raul Castillo, We the Animals follows three boys who tear through their rural New York hometown while their young parents’ volatile relationship makes and unmakes the family many times over.

While Manny and Joel grow into versions of their loving and unpredictable father, Ma seeks to keep her youngest, Jonah, in the cocoon of home. More sensitive and conscious than his older siblings, Jonah increasingly embraces an imagined world all his own.

With a screenplay by Dan Kitrosser and Jeremiah Zagar based on the celebrated novel by Justin Torres, We the Animals is a visceral coming-of-age story propelled by layered performances from its astounding cast – including three talented, young first-time actors – and stunning animated sequences which bring Jonah’s torn inner world to life.

Drawing from his documentary background, director Jeremiah Zagar creates an immersive portrait of working class family life and brotherhood.

Watch the trailer for We the Animals below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

François Ozon’s underseen masterpiece ‘Frantz’ is now available on Dekkoo

Set in Germany and France in the immediate aftermath of World War I, Frantz recalls the mourning period that follows great national tragedies as seen through the eyes of Anna, played by Paula Beer in a breakthrough performance.

A bereft young German woman whose fiancé, Frantz, was killed during trench warfare, she’s surprised to find Adrien, a French veteran played by Pierre Niney, laying flowers at her late lover’s grave.

Adrien’s presence is met with resistance by the small community still reeling from Germany’s defeat, yet Anna gradually gets closer to the handsome and melancholy young man, as she learns of his deep friendship with Frantz, conjured up in evocative flashbacks.

What follows is a surprising exploration of how these characters wrestle with their conflicting feelings – survivor’s guilt, anger at one’s losses, the overriding desire for happiness despite everything that has come before, and the longing for sexual, romantic and familial attachments.

Stylishly shot in black and white, prolific director Francois Ozon drew his inspiration for the film from a post-WWI play by Maurice Rostand that also inspired the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film Broken Lullaby.

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

Pedro Almodóvar presents this stylish thriller about one of Argentina’s most infamous criminals

Produced by Pedro and Augustin Almodóvar, El Angel is a provocative true crime drama – exploring the short, violent career of Argentina’s most infamous and longest-serving convicted killer.

Carlitos (Lorenzo Ferro) is a seventeen-year-old youth with blonde curls, a baby face and movie star swagger. As a young boy, he coveted other people’s things, but it wasn’t until his early adolescence that his true calling – to be a thief – manifested itself.

When he meets Ramon (Chino Darin) at his new school, Carlitos is immediately drawn to him and starts showing off to get his attention. Together they will embark on a journey of discoveries, love and crime. Killing is just a random offshoot of the violence, which continues to escalate until Carlitos is finally apprehended.

Because of his angelic appearance, the press dubs him ‘The Angel of Death.’ He’s soon showered with attention because of his beauty and becomes an unlikely overnight celebrity, despite his long list of offenses.

A flamboyant, pop-energized portrait of a serial killer, El Angel made a big splash when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, even drawing comparisons to some of Martin Scorsese’s most revered crime sagas.

Watch the trailer for El Angel below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: My Straight Son

Guillermo García stars in the gay family drama My Straight Son as Diego, a successful young photographer who lives inside a glamorous world of fashion, shallowness and excess.

When a tragic accident leaves his partner in a coma, it turns Diego’s whole world upside down. Unexpectedly, during this difficult time, he learns that we also must take care of his son, Armando (Ignacio Montes).

Now, both of them have to adapt to each other; Armando to the unknown, homosexual world of his father, and Diego to the closed-off, conservative attitudes of his teenage son.

Directed by well-known telenovela actor Miguel Ferrari and featuring performances by numerous Venezuelan television personalities, My Straight Son channels the early melodramas of Pedro Almodovar to tell a proudly sentimental gay father-son story.

A winner of numerous awards, this is also one of the first Venezuelan films to openly deal with gay and transgender topics.

Watch the trailer for My Straight Son below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Zachary Quinto stars in director Sam Max’s chilling short thriller ‘Chaperone’

Starring Zachary Quinto and Russell Kahn, the provocative 16-minute short film Chaperone is a genre-bending queer thriller that will keep you guessing to the bitter end – and linger with you long after the credits roll.

Without giving too much away, the film follows an unnamed figure (Quinto) who picks up a young man (Kahn) in his car. As the two drive away together and settle into an austere rental house in the country, the details of their arrangement become disturbingly clear.

The first filmmaking project of promising writer-director Sam Max, Chaperone had its world premiere in-competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, playing in the Midnight Shorts category to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The film was also shortlisted for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Haunting, formally assured and chillingly acted by Kahn and Quinto, this film marks Sam Max as a director to watch.

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

A closeted young Jewish man explores his sexuality in this thoughtful drama set in 1980s Brooklyn

A closeted young man struggles to reconcile his strict Russian-Jewish upbringing with his burgeoning sexuality in director Eric Steel’s Minyan, a contemplative coming-of-age drama set in Brighton Beach during the 1980s.

Samuel H. Levine stars as David, a Yeshiva student who dutifully follows religious strictures, but itches to explore yearnings beyond his insular community.

When he moves in with his widowed grandfather, played by Ron Rifkin, and befriends two elderly gay neighbors, they open his imagination to new possibilities.

David begins to explore gay life in the East Village, just as the threat of AIDS looms in the background.

A sexy and thoughtful critically-acclaimed drama, Minyan is a must-see, telling a powerful story of rebellion, self-discovery, sexual and spiritual awakening – and survival.

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

Two young men share a fleeting connection in the gay romance ‘Boy Meets Boy’

Harry (Matthew J. Morrison) has been partying for two days when he meets Johannes (Alexis Koutsoulis) on the dance floor of a club in Berlin.

With only fifteen hours left until Harry’s flight back to London, Johannes offers to help him print his boarding pass. This mundane task leads to a day together, wandering the city.

The contrasts in their lives and values force them to confront their own truths and be completely honest – leading to a strong, romantic connection that is under an unusual time crunch.

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, director Dani Sanchez-Lopez’s Boy Meets Boy is about a brief encounter and a fleeting moment of happiness and possible love.

Watch the trailer for Boy Meets Boy below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: October Boy

The stylish short film October Boy concerns Thomas (Elias Budde Christensen), a shy 14-year-old boy who has just moved to Copenhagen with his mom. Thomas likes to draw, it’s a way for him to escape from the pressure around him. In school he meets Mads and Emma (Noa Risbro Hjerrild and Esther Marie Boisen Berg).

Mads likes Thomas’ drawings, whereas Emma is romantically interested in Thomas and invites him home with her. Just before leaving, Thomas meets Emma’s older brother (Jacob August Ottensten), a young, emerging artist. The meeting changes something within him.

Rumors start circulating about Emma and Thomas – and though he doesn’t deny them, Thomas can’t understand his feelings, how to act in the new school or control the lies he has created to be popular.

A powerful 29-minute coming-of-age drama from Danish director Soren Green, October Boy is film about all the things that change us as people during out adolescence.

Watch the trailer for October Boy below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.