Category: Award Winner

Short Film Spotlight: Skogen

A twenty-minute short film from prolific Norwegian director Magnus Mork, Skogen features a middle-aged couple who are camping together in the forest.

At first glance, Bjorn (Odd Johan Fritzøe) seems much more accustomed to these settings than his partner Lars (Gisle Kverndokk), but over the course of their trip, they both find themselves greatly influenced by the natural surroundings.

Within their tend, they discuss life’s questions, both big and small, and find new levels to their relationship. Soon, Lars decides he may not want to leave and return to their old way of life.

Featuring two newcomers who give truthful, naturalistic performances, Skogen is a smart, observant slice-of-life drama that bears witness to a long-term relationship between two mature men and examines how sometimes the things not being said are more weighty and meaningful than the things we’re willing to say out loud.

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

Watch five award-winning coming-of-age short films in the new Through a Boy’s Eyes collection

When a boy becomes a young man, the way he sees the world can change – not just his perceptions of those around him, but how others see him as well. As burgeoning desires come to the surface, he has the choice of either embracing and acting upon them, or burying them.

In Through a Boy’s Eyes, a selection of award-winning short films, different directors examine the struggles and celebrations seen through the eyes of boys not only becoming men, but becoming attracted to them. This new collection includes…

On the Roof
It’s summer time and Adrián and his friends spend almost every afternoon climbing onto a rooftop to spy a girl who sunbathes naked. But this afternoon won’t be like the others. Today they’ll realize that one of them is more interested in the guy showering in a close-by building.

The Son
Pedro is a 17-year-old at the tail end of high school. The thing he loves most in the world are his mother’s baked beans. He hasn’t tried each one, but there is no need. Pedro knows what he likes. His father, however, doesn’t feel the same way.

Inside
Juan is a seductive and cold man who easily attracts women. But his mind is immersed in a spiral of emotions and experiences that will force him to discover who he truly is and find his real identity, suppressed by his father’s strong conservative education.

Tomboy
10-year-old Chloe plays soccer, spits, never cries and can’t stand other girls – the so-called “cry-babies.” One day, Marie, a pretty and perky blonde girl, takes part for the first time in the games Chloe plays with the boys. Her femininity unsettles Chloe’s self-confidence and the balance of their small group of children.

Paradigma
Innocence, sex and lust converge to tell the story of Guille, a teen who seeks himself through the eyes of others.

All five short films are available now on Dekkoo in the Through a Boy’s Eyes collection. Watch the official trailer below.

Now Available: Monster Pies

Does anyone ever forget the time they felt the incredible force of first love?

When Mike (Tristan Barr) learns that his English teacher is pairing him up for a class assignment on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ William (Lucas Linehan), the super-cute new kids on school, Mike can’t believe his luck!

As the two young men spend more and more time working together on a monster movie version of the Bard’s classic tale, they soon realize that their feelings for one another may be more powerful than either of them is truly ready for.

From Australian writer-director Lee Galea, who based his screenplay on a short story he has written when he was 15 years old and deep into the themes of the movie on a personal level, Monster Pies is a touching and original take on the all encompassing power of teen love – one that is sure to move even the hardest of hearts.

The film was originally released back in 2013 (almost ten years ago!) when it earned awards – and a whole lot of tears – at film festivals all around the globe.

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

Don’t miss the gripping, layered and beautifully honest award-winning drama José

Winner of multiple awards, including the Queer Lion from the 75th Annual Venice Film Festival, José is a gripping, layered and beautifully honest story about one working class young man’s struggle to find himself. Made in the neorealist filmmaking tradition, the film delivers a nuanced and vivid look at being gay in Central America.

José (played by magnetic newcomer Enrique Salanic) lives with his mother (Ana Cecilia Mota) in Guatemala City, where they survive on her selling sandwiches at bus stops and with him working at a local restaurant. It is a poor and sometimes dangerous country where, dominated by conservative Catholic and Evangelical Christian religion, living one’s life as an openly gay man is hard for José to imagine.

His mother has never had a husband. And though José is at the edge of manhood at 19-years old, he is her youngest and favorite child and she is determined to hold on to him.

Reserved and private, José fills his free moments playing with his phone and random sex with other men arranged on street corners and dating apps. When he meets attractive and gentle Luis (Manolo Herrera), a migrant from the rural Caribbean coast, they pursue an unexpected relationship with more emotion than José has ever felt. He is quickly thrust into new passion, pain and self-reflection that push him to rethink his life even as he is reluctant to take a leap of faith.

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

Xavier Dolan’s sensational feature debut I Killed My Mother hits Dekkoo

Released in 2009, I Killed My Mother was the semi-autobiographical debut feature film by then 20-year-old Xavier Dolan – who quickly became a breakthrough star director on the international film scene.

Focusing on the relationship between Hubert Minel (Dolan), a 16-year-old Quebecois living in suburban Montreal, and his single mother Chantale (Anne Dorval), I Killed My Mother beautifully captures the anxieties of a mother-son relationship.

While he gauges her with contempt, only seeing her out-of-date sweater and kitschy decor, the ingrained mechanisms (i.e. manipulation and guilt) of their relationship beautifully (and tragically) unravel on the big screen.

After the film’s debut, I Killed My Mother was nominated for dozens of film festival awards all over the globe and quickly became a sensation. Dolan has gone on to make many more features, often with major Hollywood stars. He has also had some other big acting opportunities in films like Bad Times at the El Royale and It: Chapter Two.

Watch the trailer for I Killed My Mother below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Parallel Sons

A gay indie classic and film festival favorite from 1995, Parallel Sons follows the relationship that develops between a white teen who identifies as black and a young black man who has been wounded while escaping prison.

Seth (Gabriel Mann) is a youth with artistic leanings, a fascination with Black pop culture and a dead-end life in an Adirondack village. He’s alternatively sensitive and brutal with Kristen (Heather Gottlieb), who wants a sexual relationship that he explosively rejects.

Late one night, as he’s closing the cafe where he works, a young Black man attempts to rob him at gun point but faints from illness. Seth takes the man, Knowledge (Laurence Mason), an escapee from a nearby prison, to a family cabin where he nurses him and they begin a tentative friendship. When the sheriff learns of Seth’s harboring a fugitive, a major confrontation looms.

Watch the original trailer for Parallel Sons below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss this award-winning biopic about one of the past century’s most celebrated gay artists

Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of one of the most influential and celebrated figures of 20th century LGBTQ life.

Known to the world as Tom of Finland, artist Touko Laaksonen shaped the fantasies of a generation of gay men with his proudly erotic and taboo-shattering drawings of testosterone-filled, muscle-bound men. But who was the man behind the leather?

This stirring biopic follows his life from the trenches of WWII and repressive Finnish society of the 1950s through his struggle to get his work published in California, where he and his art were finally embraced amid the sexual revolution of the 1970s.

Tom’s story is one of love, courage and perseverance, mirroring the gay liberation movement for which his leather-clad studs served as a defiant emblem.

Watch the trailer for Tom of Finland below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the charming and unusual LGBTQ rom-com Straight Up

A major hit at film festivals when it first premiered in 2019, writer-director James Sweeney’s Straight Up is one of the best gay rom-coms of the past several years.

Sweeney himself stars as Todd, a hyper-articulate and obsessive compulsive twentysomething whose frustration over the gay dating scene leads him to a baffling conclusion: maybe he’s actually straight?!

When Todd meets Rory, a witty and equally whip-smart young actress played by Katie Findlay, the two form a strong connection and try to enter into a hetero relationship together – one that turns out to be all talk and no sex.

Can the two get past their hang-ups and make a real go at a loving and committed asexual relationship? Or are they just good friends who are fooling themselves?

Featuring razor-sharp dialog that evokes classic Hollywood, but with distinctly 21st century references, Straight Up is a deeply funny and charming crowd-pleaser that explores just how elastic our definitions of love and sexuality can get.

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

Short Film Spotlight: To (10) Centimeters

When Christophe (Otman Salil), a soft-spoken violinist studying at a music conservatory, moves in with Jerome (Thomas Alden), his almost instant attraction to the young and handsome up-and-coming journalist is palpable.

Unfortunately for Christophe, Jerome is seemingly straight. When he also learns that Jerome has a girlfriend (Océane Dailly), any romantic hopes he had are quickly dashed. His infatuation, however, grows deeper. He borrows Jerome’s clothes and even crosses a line while he’s sleeping.

Facing agonizing longing, their new living arrangement seems untenable. But before Christophe leaves for good, he devises an unusual way to tell Jerome how he really feels.

To (10) Centimeters, a new 25-minute short from Paris-based Japanese filmmaker Masaya Matsui, has style to spare and is packed with intriguing mystery. Watching the film, you’re never quite sure where your allegiance should lie. Is there a real simmering connection between the new roommates or is Christophe projecting and creating a gender-flipped Single White Female scenario? You’ll have to watch and decide for yourself.

Watch a short trailer for To (10) Centimeters below. The full film is available now on Dekkoo.

Director Eytan Fox follows up with one of his most beloved characters in the gay drama Yossi

Released in 2002, the beloved gay romance Yossi and Jagger followed the romance that developed between two soldiers stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border. Ten years later, award-winning director Eytan Fox decided to follow up with one of his most cherished characters.

Dr. Yossi Hoffman (Ohad Knoller) has become a valued and dedicated cardiologist, often using his work as a way to escape from dealing with his anguished life. He lives alone, still closeted, unable to break through the walls and defenses built around him since the death of his lover. Even his co-workers a recently divorced doctor, who tries to sweep Yossi into his world of women and drugs, and a lonely nurse, who is secretly in love with him find it almost impossible to get close to him.

Yossi’s daily routine at the hospital is shaken up by the arrival of a mysterious woman. He follows her, and through the surprising connection they make, receives a rare opportunity to deal with his trauma. Yossi then travels to the southern city of Eilat. Surrounded by the sea and sand dunes, he meets a group of young Israeli officers, among them Tom (Oz Zehavi), a handsome and self confident openly gay man, who represents a new world, different from the one that shaped our lead character.

An emotional, critically-acclaimed sequel, Yossi is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.