Category: Award Winner

Stream the entire Where the Bears Are collection on Dekkoo!

Where the Bears Are is much-beloved, seven-season comedy-mystery series from creators, writers and stars Rick Copp, Ben Zook and Joe Dietl.

Described by the creators as a cross between ‘The Golden Girls’ and ‘Murder, She Wrote’, the series focuses on Nelson (Zook), Wood (Dietl) and Reggie (Copp), three gay, bear friends sharing a house in the Silver Lake neighborhood who, in each season, are drawn into a different murder investigation which plays out as a season-long story arc.

All seven seasons of Where the Bears Are are available to stream now on Dekkoo! Watch the trailer below and click here to browse through the full collection.

Short Film Spotlight: Sparrow

Written and directed by Welby Ings, Sparrow is a visually inventive 15-minute short film from New Zealand which follows an unusual young boy who believes he can fly.

Adorned with a set of homemade wings, he finds himself a frequent target of bullying at school. When he discovers the truth behind a family myth involving his war veteran grandfather, he finally discovers the strength to stand up to his abusers.

Visually stunning and deeply moving, Sparrow earned acclaim and awards at countless film festivals all around the globe when it was originally released in 2016.

Welby Ings recently made his feature-length debut with a boxing drama called Punch, which has also been earning a great deal of buzz at festivals over the past year and is expected to be released in the US in 2023.

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

Alan Cumming and Garrett Dillahunt star in the emotional period piece Any Day Now

From writer-director Travis Fine, Any Day Now is a fact-based drama starring Alan Cumming and Garrett Dillahunt. Set in the late-1970s, the film follows a gay couple who take in a child with down syndrome, played by Isaac Levya.

Once their new living arrangement is discovered by the local authorities, the men find that they must fight their way through an unjust and incredibly discriminatory legal system to adopt the child they have come to love as their own.

A deeply moving drama which takes a look at a difficult time in history, Any Day Now earned rave reviews from critics and won audience awards at over ten film festivals when it first made the rounds in 2012, including Tribeca where it premiered. Alan Cumming was also given Best Actor awards from Outfest, Seattle, Key West and Napa Valley film festivals.

Watch the trailer for Any Day Now below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

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.