Category: Award Winner

Short Film Spotlight: Never Too Old

Directed by Morgan Martini and written by Rolando Zee, the 17-minute short Never Too Old is a life affirming testament to love

Florio and Jesse (Gregory Niebel and screenwriter Rolando Zee) have lived together as lovers for over 45 years. Florio had expressed a desire to get married once same-sex marriage had been legalized, but Jesse held firm to his decision never to tie the knot.

Jesse’s mind starts to change when the law does, however, and he proposes. A small, intimate wedding follows. In their married life they will, of course, face the challenges that come with old age, but they will do so as a committed couple.

Entering marriage in their eighties, the two men offer up a testament to hope and a statement of courage and love.

Watch the trailer for Never Too Old below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Hearstone’ is a beautiful and affecting drama about two boys coming-of-age in Iceland

The years-long friendship between two pre-teen boys is threatened when they strike up romantic relationships with a pair of local girls in this in the affecting and beautifully crafted coming-of-age drama from Icelandic director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson.

Set in a small village in rural Iceland, Heartstone follows Thor and Christian (Baldur Einarsson and Blaer Hinriksson), best friends whose home lives are unsatisfactory, to say the least.

Thor is ruthlessly mocked by his elder sisters, while his mother can’t be bothered to hide her frustration at having to sacrifice her pleasure for the sake of her children. While Thor suffers from absentee parenting, Christian’s drunken and abusive father is, unfortunately for him, all too present. The events that follow threaten to destroy the longest and most meaningful connection of their young lives.

Evincing a real feeling for how kids relate to one another, Heartstone is a piercingly honest portrait of adolescent sexuality that effortlessly and evocatively portrays small-town life in Iceland.

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

A Halloween party takes some wild turns in the gay romance ‘Love Bites’ – a Dekkoo Exclusive!

Just out of their teens, Liam and Anatole (Lyad Smain and Roman Freud) were in the throes of an exciting new relationship… until they had a small fight and Anatole ended all contact.

With Anatole having almost completely disappeared, Liam finds himself confused and heartbroken. He simply can’t accept the breakup. And, since his boyfriend doesn’t reply to his calls or text messages, he decides to sneak into a Halloween party organized by one of Anatole’s friends to try and patch things up.

The wild night that ensues will test the true feelings of both young men while forcing them to confront some hard inner truths once and for all.

Winner of the Memorial Award for ‘Best Love Story’ at the ReelOut Film Festival, Love Bites – originally titled Dracula is in Love – is a winning comedy-drama from French director Lameo Flores. It’s also one of the rare Halloween-set movies that delivers tons of seasonal fun and aesthetics without all those pesky scares.

Watch the trailer for Love Bites below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Alan Cumming, Rupert Everett and Adam Lambert examine the life and legacy of Noël Coward

Playwright, composer, leading man, Oscar nominee, Tony winner, Time Magazine cover-star. The dazzlingly talented Noël Coward did it all – even spying for the crown during World War II.

As revealed by the lively new documentary Mad About the Boy, Coward was a master of self-invention. Raised in a working-class boarding house with no formal education, he transformed himself into the ultimate upper-crust British sophisticate, dishing out relentless charm and wit that winked, always proudly, toward his barely-veiled homosexuality.

Narrated by Alan Cumming, with Rupert Everett serving as Coward’s voice, and featuring songs by Adam Lambert, Mad About the Boy reclaims Coward for queer history. Previously unseen home movies show Coward cavorting with handsome male lovers among the queer elite of the time, while staying closeted publicly.

Dive into this affectionate look at one of the past century’s most fascinating artists. Mad About the Boy is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

Short Film Spotlight: Genetica

A moving 15-minute short from Israeli filmmaker Chen Shahuda, Genetica follows Hemi, a 15-year-old boy who is taking swimming lessons… despite having zero interest in learning how to swim.

In spite of this, he is encouraged to continue with the lessons by his macho conservative father. Returning home one day, he stumbles upon a small dance studio and his finds that his interest is suddenly piqued.

After meeting Dani, a flirtatious a Russian dancer, between classes, the direction in which his heart is pulling him becomes all to clear.

When Hemi’s father discovers, however, that his son has been stealing money for dance classes, his newfound passion is quickly called into question.

Genetica is a bittersweet drama about following your heart, no matter what obstacles may present themselves.

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

‘Lilies Not for Me’ is a stylish queer period piece from the producers of ‘Call Me by Your Name’

Fionn O’Shea stars in Lilies Not for Me as Owen James, a young gay novelist in 1920s England, as he recalls the love affair he shared with a handsome doctor, who was convinced that their mutual ‘condition’ could be cured.

Writer-director Will Seefried’s lushly romantic debut feature shines an unflinching light on a dark and mostly unknown period of gay history.

Evoking a handsome Merchant Ivory-esque production with a dash of gothic flair and featuring exceptional supporting performances from Erin Kellyman, Robert Aramayo and Louis Hoffmann, Lilies Not for Me is an intricately constructed, lyrical and heartbreaking film about two young men wrestling with their sexuality.

The film, produced by the team behind Call Me by Your Name, offers a stark and effective reminder that, despite the many attempts throughout history to change queer people at their very core, passion and love have always persevered.

Watch the trailer for Lilies Not for Me below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Avant-Drag!’ gets intimate with a tight-knit group of Athens-based drag performers

With police brutality and homophobic violence against LGBTQ+ individuals in Greece on the rise, the new documentary Avant-Drag! offers an exhilarating look at ten Athenian drag performers who deconstruct gender, nationalism, belonging, and identity while facing transphobia and racism.

As entertaining as it is thought-provoking, this new film from Greek director Fil Ieropoulos challenges societal norms and reshapes perceptions about LGBTQ+ culture by capturing the intimate lives of a tightly-knit group of drag performers, proving that being ‘othered’ has never felt so familiar.

The film captures the vibrancy of Athens’ underground drag scene and its role in pushing boundaries and expressing dissident identities. It goes beyond the mainstream representations of drag, focusing on more radical, explicitly political, and raw performances.

Juxtaposing magical realism, political commentary, and outrageous performances, Avant-Drag! is a love letter to Athens – a city that can be as oppressive as it can be a refuge for art freaks and a hot-bed for creativity.

Watch the trailer for Avant-Drag! below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Director Ray Yeung’s critically acclaimed ‘Twilight’s Kiss’ is now available on Dekkoo

From Ray Yeung, the accomplished filmmaker behind Front Cover, Cut Sleeve Boys and All Shall Be Well, Twilight’s Kiss tells a gut-wrenching tale of forbidden love between two married men in their golden years.

The film follows Pak (Tai Bo), a Hong Kong cab driver on the verge of hanging up his keys, and Hoi (Ben Yuen), a divorced retiree. The pair find themselves drawn into a secret affair, stealing moments of intimacy in the steam-shrouded sanctuary of the local gay bathhouse.

In a society where same-sex love is still very much taboo, the two men have to keep their trysts on the down-low. But when genuine feelings start to bubble up, their carefully compartmentalized lives threaten to boil over. As the Pak and Hoi navigate an increasingly intimate relationship, they begin to wonder whether they’ve aged out of the possibility of happily-ever-after.

Yeung, who crafted the screenplay from real-life stories, shines a light on the isolation and heartache faced by those who dare to love outside the lines, delivering a powerful and unforgettable portrait of a love that refuses to be denied.

Profoundly moving, Twilight’s Kiss is the kind of film that stays with you long after the end credits roll.

Watch the trailer for Twilight’s Kiss below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

The gay boxing drama ‘Punch’ tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation

Up-and-coming New Zealand actor Jordan Oosterhof stars in the gay sports drama Punch as Jim, a seventeen-year-old boxer from a small town. Something of a golden boy, Jim is preparing for a fight that will elevate him to an early professional status.

All bets are on his climb to success. But his father, Stan, a demanding coach and a notorious alcoholic played by Tim Roth, is treated like a joke. He has given everything to see his son gain professional status and escape the brutality of his small world.

As Jim begins to rethink why he is fighting in the first place, his life tangles with Whetu, a razor-tongued, gay Maori boy played by Conan Hayes, who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.

Along with his dog, Whetu cobbles together a fragile glamour and dreams of leaving town to become a musician. As Jim stumbles towards discovering what it really means to be a gay man, he is forced to see that strength has little to do with heroism.

Gorgeously crafted, powerfully acted and deeply romantic, Punch tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation.

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

‘Born for You’ tells the incredibly moving true story of Italy’s first adoptive gay parent

From Italian director Fabio Mollo, Born for You tells the beautiful and touching true story of Luca (Pierluigi Gigante), a gay, single, Catholic man who, in 2017, adopted Alba, a child with Down syndrome who had been left in hospital shortly after being born.

Thirty heterosexual families rejected her before the court decided to entrust her to Luca. With this new precedent set, the legal foster care register for single gay men was inaugurated in Italy.

Luca may have been the first single gay parent in Italy to successfully adopt a daughter, but this was not a charitable gesture or a fight against the system… he simply wanted to start a family.

Beautifully shot and powerfully acted, the film weaves between Luca’s present-day struggles and flashbacks to his youth, creating a deeply intimate portrait of love, loss and the fight for equality and acceptance.

Born for You is a profound reflection on the transformative and triumphant power of love and the potential of LGBTQ+ families everywhere.

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