Category: Camp

Gay guardian angels Joey and T.J. return in the short film sequel ‘(Un)Free Will 2: The Confession’

Writer-director Robby Kendall returns to Dekkoo with an unexpected follow-up to his short 2024 afterlife comedy (Un)Free Will.

Lead actors Derek DeVault and Brent Roberts reprise their roles as bickering former lovers and full-time angels Joey and T.J.

In (Un)Free Will 2: The Confession they’re tasked by God herself with eliciting a confession from a brokenhearted young man named Ben. Grieving over the recent loss of his mother and racked with guilt after making a promise he was unable to keep, Ben turns to the church.

With a little help from a compassionate priest, a trio of guardian angels, a few divine interventions and an adorable puppy named Darcy, he’s finally able to unburden himself and find the solace he so desperately needs.

Prepare to have your spirits lifted with this warmhearted 15-minute comedy – and be sure to watch the first installment, also on Dekkoo, in what is shaping up to become a “heavenly” on-going series.

Watch the trailer for (Un)Free Will 2: The Confession below. The short film is now available.

The controversial horror-comedy ‘Ticked Off Trannies with Knives’ comes to Dekkoo

Controversial even before it first screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010, where GLAAD condemned the film for what it perceived as a negative portrayal of transgender people, director Israel Luna’s Ticked Off Trannies with Knives has garnered a wild reputation befitting of its exploitation roots.

Fashioned in the style of a sleazy 1970s pulp film, this uproarious slasher/revenge saga features some seriously not-to-be-fucked with characters, finger-snapping one-liners, vicious straight male villains and enough beatings, stabbings and kung-fu style ass-kicking to satisfy even the sickest of viewers.

It all begins in a small Dallas nightclub where a group of performers and friends are assaulted and left for dead. Following these traumatic events, a trio of surviving trans women come together to exact revenge on the men who brutally attacked them.

Inspired by the exploitation genre as a whole, particularly I Spit on Your Grave and the 1984 Linda Blair vehicle Savage Streets, Ticked Off Trannies with Knives is not for the faint of heart and certainly not without its shocks and provocations, but we invite you to judge the film on its own merits.

Ticked Off Trannies with Knives is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Shiba San and Meow Chan

Shiba San and Meow Chan, a 30-minute Taiwanese short film from director Chung-Chieh Chiang, revolves around two brothers, both stars of a hit children’s show – in which they perform as a dog and a cat, respectively.

Their show, having swept through the nation capturing the eyes and hearts of kids, has brought them great fame and media attention. Though radiant on stage, both actors have something else on their minds.

Shiba San has been secretly in love with a married man while Meow Chan misses his remarried mother and finds himself desperately searching for reasons why she left him.

Their journey will lead the two stray siblings to confront their emptiness that comes with very public success.

Mixing cuteness and melancholy, Shiba San and Meow Chan is a touching story of two brothers coming of age under intense scrutiny.

Watch the trailer for Shiba San and Meow Chan below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: (Il)legal Asterisk

Are we defined by how we see ourselves or how we’re perceived by the outside world?

An experimental, uniquely philosophical short from director Fabrizio Bancale, the 20-minute film (Il)legal Asterisk (originally titled Asterisco (Il)legale) employs three Italian actors (Bruno Petrosino, Orazio Rotolo Schifone and Mauro Toscanelli) to examine that very question.

Pulling from stories both personal and historical, the film playfully jumps around, introducing different settings and characters whose inherent queerness – and their ability to express themselves – has been either discouraged or outright destroyed by societal forces beyond their control.

Handling heavy topics with a light, charismatic touch, the film explores how expressing oneself, coming out and/or living life according to one’s own choices can cost dearly when the law of the land does not offers adequate protection.

With the fight for true freedom being far from over, (Il)legal Asterisk investigates our shared past while shedding a light on our present.

Watch the trailer for (Il)legal Asterisk below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Queendom’ follows a talented queer artist who literally risks her life on the streets of Moscow

Both inspiring and nail-biting, the new documentary Queendom shines a much-deserved spotlight on Gena Marvin, a young queer artist from a small town in Russia who dazzles in the otherworldly costumes she crafts from tape and found materials.

As Putin’s government increasingly encroaches on the rights of LGBTQ+ communities, Gena takes to the streets of Moscow, staging provocative performances that challenge the status quo.

All she wants to do change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. But her artistic activism comes at a price as political tensions in Russia escalate, jeopardizing her own personal freedom.

An Oscar-shortlisted doc from director Agniia Galdanova, Queendom is not so much a portrait as it is a direct cinematic extension of Gena’s inner universe, delving into her extravagant subconscious creations and her search for free expression while illustrating how unleashing one’s inner world can create ripples of positive change.

Watch the trailer for Queendom below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A legendary entertainer and pioneer gets her due in the documentary ‘Miwa: A Japanese Icon’

Male actor Akihiro Miwa came to prominence in Japan back in 1968 while playing the glamorous heroine of the film Black Lizard.

A legendary entertainer and a pioneer of gay activism, Miwa popularized androgyny as a fashion statement, fusing the masculine and the feminine into a new generation of aesthetics. This evolved into performing as a woman and living off-stage as a man.

With glitter, wit, evening gowns and enchanting storytelling, Miwa: A Japanese Icon, the celebrated new documentary from director Pascal-Alex Vincent, looks back over a 50-year career and a fascinating life in Japanese music, film and television.

Having sold millions of records, Miwa continues to fight for gay rights, among other issues. Miwa: A Japanese Icon reveals the life story of this wonderful performer and unapologetic social critic.

Watch the trailer for Miwa: A Japanese Icon below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

D’Arcy Drollinger’s ‘Shit & Champagne’ delivers high-kicking, ass-whooping comedy!

When the drug-lords of the underworld kill your fiancé and your sister – and the cops stand idly by and do nothing – there’s only one thing left to do… dance!

Writer-director D’Arcy Drollinger’s tribute to female empowerment and the low-budget exploitation films of the 1970’s, Shit & Champagne delivers high-kicking, ass-whooping comedy.

After her fiancé, Rod (Mario Diaz), and her half-sister, world renowned calf model Brandy (Steven LeMay), are both brutally murdered, Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White (Drollinger), a divorcée and exotic dancer from the wrong side of the tracks, uses all the right moves to single-handedly take on ‘Mal-Wart,’ the largest sex, drug and back-to-school clothing ring in the country.

But when her best friend becomes addicted to booty bumps and is forced to work as a Mal-Wart brand discount prostitute, Champagne has no other choice than to go undercover and infiltrate the corrupt organization.

Using an arsenal of disguises, a plethora of kung-fu moves and a cornucopia of one-liners, Champagne dances her way down the fast and furious road to revenge.

Adapted from Drollinger’s wildly successful stage show, Shit & Champagne is fiendishly fun, offering up wall-to-wall slapstick and camp thanks to the unwavering comic timing of triple threat writer, director and lead actress, as well as an impressive supporting cast of all-star drag talent.

Watch the trailer for Shit & Champagne below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Bubble Gum

Shooting in black and white, writer-director Karina Grinstein pays tribute to classic silent films while giving them a modern spin with her 12-minute short film Bubble Gum.

Channeling Buster Keaton, Mariano Rojo stars as David, a single 23-year-old who finds himself deeply unsatisfied with his love life. Everywhere he looks, David seems to find happy couples in his line of vision, but he just can’t seem to find the right match for himself.

When he spots a potential female suitor on the streets, he makes great efforts just to avoid her. Despite her advances, she’s clearly not the one. But when he accidentally bumps into an attractive, bearded young professional, something about their passing moment together feels entirely different.

Though they quickly part ways, it seems that his whole world suddenly has more color – both literally and figuratively. When the two young men happen upon each other once again, it becomes clear that the feelings are mutual.

Watch the trailer for Bubble Gum below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Thank You, Places

With numerous short films to their names, we have become big fans of collaborative filmmakers Jono Mitchell and Madison Hatfield. Their work is intelligent, heartfelt and unapologetically queer.

Thank You, Places, the latest short co-directed by Hatfield and Taylor Coriell and starring Mitchell, is a winning romantic comedy about a backstage breakup that comes at an inopportune time.

The 8-minute film follows actors Grant and Jimmy (Mitchell and Braian Rivera Jimenez), who fell for one another while working together on what they both admit is an absolutely dreadful community theater play.

Now that Grant has dumped Jimmy before the play’s run has ended, they have to find a way to make it through a performance without killing one another or potentially ruining their already terrible stage production further.

Thank You, Places is a love letter to theater, queer romance and the jaded and idealistic artists that are always at war inside each of us.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Thank You, Places below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.