Category: Award Winner

Short Film Spotlight: Intrinsic Moral Evil

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite.”

Using gorgeous cinematography, quick editing, slow motion effects and three immensely talented performers, Intrinsic Moral Evil is a captivating 10-minute dance piece brought to life in the most cinematic way possible.

Beginning with a personal opening narration, the dance tells a story of masculine identity and growing up. Three dancers play games with the viewer’s perception and expectations. Are we watching a memory, a dream, the search for identity or possibly all three things at once?

Filmed in 2013 in the Netherlands by writer/director Harm Weistra, Intrinsic Moral Evil is a layered piece of work which invites the audience to make their own interpretations while marveling at the movement on screen.

Watch a short trailer for Intrinsic Moral Evil below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Vote for the Dekkoo-Original Series Adam in Fragments at the 2023 Queerty Awards!

The Dekkoo-Original Adam in Fragments has been nominated for Best Webseries at the 2023 Queerty Awards! Click here to cast your vote!

From Omar Sales Zamora and Calvin Picou (two of the minds behind other Dekkoo-Originals Here Comes Your Man and Nothing But Flowers), Adam in Fragments is a gritty and provocative new drama series inspired by by crime thrillers of the 1970s.

After a prolonged disappearance, Adam (Beau Swartz) reluctantly returns to sex work. Following the urge to protect a young aspiring adult film star from their terrorizing handler, Adam’s actions trigger a series of events that send violent ripples through the Los Angeles underground sex-trade.

Watch the trailer for Adam in Fragments below. You can check out the entire series now on Dekkoo. And don’t forget to cast your vote for Adam in Fragments at the Queerties!

Beyond Gravity, a gay ’80s classic from New Zealand, has been newly restored!

Richard (Robert Pollock) is an astronomy-obsessed worrier who spends the majority of his time fantasizing about outer space and the cosmos – an activity which antagonizes his friends and family.

One day, Richard meets Johnny (Iain Rea), a handsome Italian man with an enormous appetite for life, who finally offers Richard the love he’s been missing – as well as a much-needed escape from the monotony of work.

A joyous celebration of the love between two eccentrics who both have their sights aimed firmly amongst the stars, Beyond Gravity is a true underground ’80s gay classic.

Originally filmed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1988, this lost 50-minute film has been digitally remastered for a new 2K restoration thanks to the cult indie distribution label Altered Innocence. Now Beyond Gravity is available once again to make audiences think and swoon.

Beyond Gravity is now available on Dekkoo. You can watch an excerpt from the film below.

Short Film Spotlight: Shower Boys

An award-winning 9-minute short comedy from Swedish screenwriter Albin Abrahamsson and co-writer/director Christian Zetterberg, Shower Boys follows two young men who spend an afternoon struggling with their understanding of masculinity.

After a heated training match where their toughness is called into question, 12-year-olds Viggo and Noel (Lucas Andreasson and David Ramirez Knezevic) decide to spend some time together in the sauna.

The two friends begin to compete to see which of them is more “manly.” Though neither of them are looking to qualify for a top score, what feels only natural to them may be regarded quite differently by their parents.

Using nuanced writing and outstanding performances, Shower Boys hilariously reflects the complexity of growing up freely as a young boy and being able to explore your emotions and desires. While society tells boys they must fit into a specific box, this short film – and its characters – deconstruct all the usual stereotypes.

Watch a short trailer for Shower Boys below. The full short is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Gemmel & Tim

A deeply emotional, award-winning new documentary, Gemmel and Tim explores the lives and untimely passings of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, two Black gay men who died from meth overdoses at the home of West Hollywood politico Ed Buck.

Their deaths at the now-infamous apartment sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community. Shortly after, the ensuing media circus cooked up a spicy concoction of sex, drugs, race and politics, but had no appetite for the in-depth human stories of the individual victims.

This new film looks at Gemmel and Tim’s parallel walks of life through the eyes of their extended and chosen families. Memories, correspondences and the things they did and didn’t share with each other are all examined. Through the intimate recollections of their friends, we get to know these young men. Each subject also shares their own personal journey in dealing with grief.

Powerful and galvanizing, Gemmel and Tim simultaneously investigates the crimes and offers a cautionary tale to keep similar events from repeating in the future.

Watch the trailer for Gemmel and Tim below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the achingly beautiful gay romance A Moment in the Reeds

Taking a break from his studies in Paris, Leevi (Janne Puustinen) returns to his family’s summer cottage in Finland to help his father with renovations.

When the dad, a bitter man, unreconciled to his wife’s death and to his son’s sexuality, is called to the city on business, Leevi is left alone to supervise Tareq (Boodi Kabbani), a Syrian refugee trying to forge a new life.

As Leevi and Tareq get to spend some private time together, things take an unexpected turn.

From director Mikko Makela, A Moment in the Reeds is a sexy romantic drama, unfolding like a summer flower, drifting placidly along on a current of natural beauty and eroticism.

As Leevi and Tareq share their hopes and their bodies, the film lets us intimately observe every lovely and telling moment. The film artfully reveals the clash of cultures and dreams that transpire during this summer idyll – one that will alter the character’s lives forever.

Watch the trailer for A Moment in the Reeds below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Unicorn

A new 30-minute short film from Rodrigo Bellott, the writer-director behind the award-winning 2019 drama Tu Me Manques, Unicorn tells a poignant story about religious fundamentalism, homophobia and a romance that helps one character break free.

Doug Porter stars as Isaac, a young man whose family’s strict religious code prohibits them from all modern-day technology. So strict is his pious father that Isaac sometimes finds himself locked away in a cell for even daring to interpret the Bible differently.

When he’s finally freed thanks to intervention from the local police, he finds himself shunned by everyone in his orbit – including his siblings. His work on a dairy farm in the neighboring town brings him into contact with Fernando, played by Eric Robles. An immediate spark is felt between the two, but in Issac’s homophobic and watchful religious community, his sexual awakening will come at a heavy cost.

Inspired by a true story, Unicorn is a gripping film from a talented director at the height of his powers.

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

Short Film Spotlight: The Kiss on the Cliff

The early 1980s were a difficult time to be LGBTQ+. AIDS was considered a death sentence, gay people were frequently shunned by their families and bisexual men and women often let their same-sex attractions go unexplored.

Made in 1993, The Kiss on the Cliff is a deeply moving 21-minute short from accomplished director Reid Waterer. The film begins in 1983, in the small town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, with an attempted kiss between best friends Mark and Steve, played by Stephen Wolfe Smith and Tom Tarantini.

Their deep feeling for one another has sent ripples of tension through every aspect of their lives and forced both of them to question whether their desire is worth the risk.

Flashing forward ten years later, the two are reunited. Though they find that their lives have followed very different courses, their relationship still demands some kind of resolution.

Recently restored, The Kiss on the Cliff offers up a unique look at a different era in both gay life and gay indie cinema.

Watch a super short trailer for The Kiss on the Cliff below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Distance Between Us and the Sky

The new short film The Distance Between Us and the Sky takes place during a dark night somewhere just outside of Athens as two strangers (played by Ioko Ioannis Kotidis and Nikos Zeginoglou) cross paths at an isolated gas station.

One of these gentlemen is just looking to refuel his motorcycle and be on his way. The other, however, is stranded and looking for some cash so that he can catch a bus back to the Greek capital.

After approaching the biker and asking for help, the man in need offers a series of unique propositions – which soon escalate fantastically. What began as a simple favor becomes a tense and ambiguously erotic power struggle. We, the audience, are never sure whether to be afraid or turned on.

Elegantly constructed and packed with mystery, The Distance Between Us and the Sky is a deceptively simple 9-minute short featuring just two characters and endless possibilities. The film won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, with writer-director Vasilis Kekatos becoming the first Greek filmmaker to take home that particular prize. We can’t wait to see what he does next.

You can watch The Distance Between Us and the Sky now on Dekkoo.

Present Still Perfect follows up on a beloved Thai romance

In Present Perfect, his 2017 feature film debut, Thai director Aam Anusorn Soisa-Ngim drew from his own experiences to tell the story of Toey and Oat, a pair of young men who, despite the fact that they both have girlfriends, end up falling into a brief affair during a trip to a small Japanese town.

The film developed a dedicated fanbase in Japan, leading to a successful crowd-funding campaign for this new, highly anticipated sequel. Set four years after the events of the first film, Present Still Perfect reunites the two young lovers – this time on a tropical Thai island.

Oat is now a married man with a son, but Toey has never forgotten their brief romance and won’t give it up so easily.

Tender and heartfelt, the film offers an idealistic view of same-sex relationships in modern day Thailand.

You can catch up on the whole romantic saga right now at Dekkoo. Present Still Perfect is available now, along with the original film. Watch the trailer for Present Still Perfect below.