Category: Award Winner

‘20,000 Species of Bees’ tells a heart-wrenching story about gender, sexuality and identity

In a small, sleepy village in the Basque Country, a sculptor named Ane and her three children arrive at her mother Lita’s home for summer vacation. Lita disapproves of her daughter’s frayed marriage, career as an artist and the way she parents her obstinate and mischievous children.

Chief among them is eight-year-old Aitor, nicknamed Coco, after it becomes clear that being referred to by the name Aitor elicits feelings of distress in the child. Born biologically male, neither birth name nor the genderless nickname feel quite right, and Ane’s concern for her child grows as Coco becomes more withdrawn.

The child’s only respite lies in the Basque hills, where Ane’s aunt Lourdes tends to the family’s beekeeping farm. Among the peaceful humming of bees and Lourdes’ open-minded guardianship, Coco slowly begins to confide in family and friends her discomfort in her body, eventually voicing a desire to be treated as a girl.

As Coco explores her own developing identity over the summer, Ane and the rest of her family in turn must learn to accept the child as she is.

From Basque director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, this assured debut feature is a wonderfully sensitive work carried by the Berlinale Silver Bear-winning lead performance of newcomer Sofía Otero.

An authentic and heart-wrenching story of transition, 20,000 Species of Bees is a landmark in the cinematic discussion of gender, sexuality and identity.

Watch the trailer for 20,000 Species of Bees below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Mismatched roommates become unexpected allies in the sly British dramedy ‘Makeup’

When two people are brought together from completely different walks of life, it can make for awkward circumstances, especially when they both have their secrets.

Making his feature debut, writer-director Hugo Andre also stars in the film Makeup as Sacha, an introverted French food critic who travels to London. Moving into a rented room in a house belonging to Dan (Will Masheter), a well-respected stockbroker, they fall into a classic “Odd Couple” dynamic.

As time goes on, Dan attempts to hide his aspirations of becoming a burlesque dancer from those who perceive him as an alpha male. Despite their differences, Sacha and Dan soon become pillars of support in each other’s lives.

A winner of 15 different awards at film festivals around the globe – including ‘Directorial Debut by a Young Film Maker’ at the London International Film Festival – Makeup is a stirring drama about the unlikely friendship that forms between the hidden personalities of two distinct characters.

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

Check out the short works of filmmaker Tristan Scott-Behrends this month on Dekkoo!

This month, we’re shining a much-deserved spotlight on the short film work of auteur writer/director Tristan Scott-Behrends.

His films – funny, eclectic and packed with bold visual style – have been making a splash on the queer film festival circuit since the debut of Curtain Down in 2017. A 25-minute short, he wrote, produced and stars alongside Margaret Cho in this love story from director Emett Casey. The film takes a surreal but tender look at gender, identity and aging as our lead character is forced to choose between art and love.

Only Trumpets, his directorial debut, following an outsider navigating love and sex in the digital age, made it’s world premiere at the 2018 Outfest Film Festival, where it was selected as ‘Best of the Fest.’

Our four-film collection also includes The Man of My Dreams, which follows two gorgeous, magnetic male lovers as they traipse around the streets of New York City enmeshed in a dreamy romance.

Finally, Lilac Lips, Dutchess County, a reimagining of Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus, stars Joey Hardy Gray as nymph-like protagonist, navigating the complexities of relationships in a maze of his own making.

Exploring themes of identity, gender, isolation and sexuality in the most delicious ways possible, Tristan Scott-Behrends is a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on. While he’s currently hard at work developing a script for a feature film version of Only Trumpets, you can now enjoy some of his most stylish and provocative shorts right here on Dekkoo.

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.