Category: Classic

‘Fashion Victims,’ a 2007 comedy crowd-pleaser from Germany, makes its debut on Dekkoo!

Wolfgang (Edgar Selge) is a middle-aged traveling ladies’ fashion salesman. Persnickety, humorless and self-absorbed, he’s alternately inattentive and insensitive toward wife Erika (Franziska Walser) and their teenage son Karsten (Florian Bartholomäi).

At the start of Fashion Victims, a 2007 comedy from German co-writer and director Ingo Rasper, Wolfgang finds himself in dire straits. His rival is threatening to steal his best customers and he’s also lost his driver’s license.

Desperate to stay one step ahead of his young enemy salesman, he cancels his son’s vacation plans and employs him as an unwilling chauffeur. Things soon go from bad to worse – the bank is after him, the taxman catches up with him, he’s on the outs with his wife, and, perhaps most surprisingly, his son announces that he’s gay… and has fallen in love with his father’s dreaded rival!

Both bullets and misunderstandings start flying once family and foe collide in this sexy screwball comedy.

Watch a short clip from Fashion Victims below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

An all-star cast brings Martin Sherman’s award-winning stage play ‘Bent’ to the screen

Clive Owen, Mick Jagger, Ian McKellen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Paul Bettany star in Bent, a gut-wrenching adaptation of the award-winning stage play by Martin Sherman.

Originally released in 1997, the film is set in 1930s Berlin. We follow Max (Owen), a promiscuous gay man who sleeps with a German SA officer, only to see him killed by his fellow Nazis the next morning.

Refusing an offer of new papers for fear of leaving his boyfriend behind, he’s found by the Gestapo and soon bound for Dachau. Once there, Max makes friends with a fellow gay man, who shows him that dignity lies in acknowledging one’s true nature. As the pair become lovers through dialog and the power of their imagination, they reckon with identity and struggle to maintain their dignity in the face of unspeakable persecution.

The original play, which premiered in London in 1979 before opening on Broadway the following year, was revived many times, most significantly by Sean Mathias, who directed this film adaptation as well.

Though much time had passed between the play’s debut and this film’s release, much was still not known about the experiences of LGBTQ+ victims of the Nazi regime. By the time of the film’s release in 1997, it was the first feature to tackle the subject head on. Today, Bent remains a riveting and important record of our understanding of this terrible history, a valuable preservation of a significant work of theater and a deeply moving cinematic work in its own right.

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

The landmark documentary ‘Before Stonewall’ is now available on Dekkoo

In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city’s LGBTQ+ community. With this outpouring of courage and unity, the gay liberation movement had begun.

Made in 1984 and released to great acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 1985, during the harrowing early years of the AIDS crisis, the landmark documentary Before Stonewall pried open the closet door – shining a spotlight on the experiences of queer Americans throughout the 20th century and setting free dramatic untold stories of survival, love, persecution and resistance.

Revealing and often humorous, this celebrated film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today’s gay rights movement, from the events that led to the fevered 1969 riots to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance.

Experience the fascinating and unforgettable, decade-by-decade history of gay life in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived – and fought – through an often brutal closeted history.

Watch the trailer for Before Stonewall. The documentary is now available on Dekkoo.

Gregg Araki’s New Queer Cinema classic ‘The Living End’ is now available on Dekkoo!

One of the most electrifying films of the New Queer Cinema movement, The Living End left viewers stunned when it premiered at the now-infamous 1992 Sundance Film Festival. Brazenly transgressive, it may be even more shocking by today’s standards. Credited as ‘An Irresponsible Movie by Gregg Araki,’ the film’s take-no-prisoners story follows two HIV-positive men with nothing to lose.

Luke (Mike Dytri), a mischievous and reckless drifter, and Jon (Craig Gilmore), an initially uptight film critic, meet, unconventionally, after Luke has a run-in with a trio of gay-bashers.

A passionate affair – and a whole lot of trouble – soon ensue as the pair embark on a nihilistic road trip – fueled by whiskey, a gun and Luke’s motto of ‘fuck everything.’

Though it was referred to, at the time, as ‘the gay Thelma & Louise,’ The Living End has far more in common with the groundbreaking work of Andy Warhol, John Waters, Derek Jarman and Jean-Luc Godard, iconoclast filmmakers who are all paid some level homage throughout the film.

On a budget of just $20,000, Gregg Araki crafted this ultra-violent Gen-X classic as a primal scream in the face of the mounting AIDS crisis and its accompanying cultural stigma.

More than thirty years later, The Living End has lost none of it’s power or political charge. Now audiences new and old can experience it once again, in all it’s digitally-remastered glory, on Dekkoo. Check out the original trailer below.

‘Velociraptor’ celebrates it’s 10th Anniversary this year on Dekkoo!

It’s the end of the world as you know it in director Chucho E. Quintero’s award-winning oddball indie Velociraptor – which is celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary this month on Dekkoo.

Set on the eve of an imminent apocalypse, the film offers up an unusual cross between Before Sunset and A Clockwork Orange while following two attractive young buddies from Mexico – one gay, the other “undecided” – as they wander the streets, awaiting their seemingly inevitable demise.

Deep in conversation, Alex and Diego (Pablo Mezz and Carlos Hendrick Huber) bond while sharing their fears and desires about sex and intimacy. Once they make their way to Alex’s bedroom, the true nature of their relationship is made clear.

The strength of their unbreakable friendship helps them test the limits of trust and loyalty while pushing one another into exciting new realms of sexual exploration. There isn’t much time left, after all – why not make the most of it?

A smartly written, heartfelt mix of comedy, drama, science fiction and romance, Velociraptor offers up a clever examination of what it means to be young man, exploring male friendship and desire in an entirely fresh way.

You can catch up on the pre-apocalyptic action of Velociraptor now on Dekkoo. We also have a trio of new special features available, including interviews with production designer Irina Miroslava and lead actor Carlos Hendrick Huber; and a conversation between director Chucho E. Quintero and filmmaker H.P. Mendoza. Watch the trailer below.

‘The Sons of Tennessee Williams’ charts the evolution of the Mardi Gras drag scene

Paying homage to monumental queer documentaries like The Queen and Paris is Burning, director Tim Wolff’s film The Sons of Tennessee Williams interweaves archival footage with contemporary interviews to chart the evolution of drag and politics in the gay Mardi Gras scene.

Having come of age in New Orleans in the 1940s and ’50s, gay krewe members reminisce fondly of being inspired by the opulence of the Mardi Gras festivities, a hotbed for decadence and dress-up.

Seven years before the first rock was thrown at Stonewall, the gay krewes began throwing lavish balls as a sendup of their straight society counterparts and have since become a powerful force in city politics.

Members, many of them now in their seventies and eighties, discuss the importance of creating safe spaces at a time of police crackdowns in gay clubs, gaining a seat at the political table, the toll of AIDS and Hurricane Katrina on the community, and the importance of passing on the torch to a younger generation.

With oversized wigs and lavish costumes, these unlikely political activists strut their stuff with style, grace, and an eye toward the future.

Watch the trailer for The Sons of Tennessee Williams 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.

The long-lost queer indie classic ‘Together Alone’ is now available on Dekkoo!

Shooting on 16-millimeter black and white film in his own apartment back in 1991, with a budget of just seven thousand dollars, filmmaker P.J. Castellaneta wrote, directed, produced, edited and even catered this bare-bones affair as his cinematic calling card while capturing a very specific moment in LGBTQ+ history.

Together Alone stars Todd Styles and Terry Curry as two men, both coincidentally named Brian, who meet in a bar and end up going home together. Later, they start getting to know one another, spending hours talking through a variety of topics – including AIDS, sexuality, feminism, role-playing and Emily Dickinson.

A fascinating time capsule that celebrates the value of good dialog and showcases what a smart filmmaker can do with a shoestring budget, Together Alone isn’t a well known film, but it earned much respect at the time of its release. Writing in The Austin Chronicle, critic Marjorie Barmgauten called the film “forthright and artistically accomplished.” It went on to win numerous accolades, including the ‘Audience Award’ at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the ‘Teddy Award’ for ‘Best Feature Film’ and the ‘Best Art House Film Award’ at the Berlin International Film Festival and the award for ‘Best Feature Film’ at the Torino International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Watch the trailer for Together Alone below. The film is finally available once again, ready to be discovered by a whole new generation, on Dekkoo.

Lead actors Nick Ferrucci and Benjamin Farmer return for the final entry in ‘The Falls Trilogy’

Brace yourself for the emotional final entry of director Jon Garcia’s The Falls Trilogy. The original film, about two Mormon missionaries who fall in love, was released in 2012 to such great acclaim that it spawned two unexpected, but wholly welcome sequels.

In The Falls: Covenant of Grace, the third installment, lead actors Nick Ferrucci and Benjamin Farmer reprise their roles as R.J. and Chris, two men who seem destined to be together despite overwhelming obstacles.

Now finally together, the pair are struggling to make their relationship work amid conflicts with their families and their faith. Determined to put the past behind them, the two men set in motion a quest for unconditional love that ultimately leads them to the very top of the Latter Day Saints leadership.

Handling controversial topics with great sensitivity, this final trilogy entry has resonated with LGBTQ+ audiences around the world.

Don’t miss this exquisitely moving third chapter – and make sure to check out The Falls and the first sequel The Falls: Testament of Love, both of which are also streaming right now on Dekkoo.