Category: Cross-Cultural Romance

Two men’s marriage plans cause a media firestorm in the romantic drama ‘Mysterious Ways’

From Paul Oremland, the New Zealand-based filmmaker behind 100 Men, Surveillance 24/7 and Like It Is, Mysterious Ways tells the powerful and courageous story of two men who become torn between their faith, their families and their love for one another.

Anglican priest Peter (played by British actor Richard Short, from The Tragedy of Macbeth and the Canadian TV series ‘Mary Kills People’) and boyfriend Jason (played by newcomer Nick Afoa) want to get married.

For Anglicans, this is not allowed – and homosexuality itself is still taboo in Samoan culture. Samoan-Kiwi Jason has to deal with his family’s strict cultural beliefs while Peter clashes with the Anglican Church hierarchy.

When news of their marriage plans make headlines, it scandalizes the devout local community and unleashes a media storm that pushes the couple’s relationship to the limit.

A searing critique of the church’s attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community, Mysterious Ways is an impassioned and moving drama.

In the words of director Oremland, “Most religions still see being gay as sinful. This does huge harm to millions of people in terms of self-esteem, family rejection and legitimizing hatred. A love story where God is on our side is a powerful statement that is needed now more than ever.”

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

Visionary director João Pedro Rodrigues returns with the stylish genre-hybrid ‘Will-O’-the-Wisp’

From visionary queer auteur João Pedro Rodrigues, the acclaimed Portuguese director behind the The Ornothologist and the provocative gay classic O Fantasma, comes a bold and wildly unpredictable new musical fantasia.

Beginning in the year 2069, Will-O’-the-Wisp follows Portugal’s fictional King Alfredo, who, on his deathbed, starts to recall the social activism and erotic exploits of his youth in the early years of the 21st century.

As a fresh-faced, curly-haired young prince played by Mauro Costa, Alfredo shocked his riotously wealthy royal family by deciding to become a volunteer firefighter –in part to serve his community, but also as an excuse to be surrounded by a bevy of hot, beefy fellow firemen.

When he meets Alfonso (André Cabral), an alluring young instructor, new possibilities open and the pair become deeply immersed in their desire for one another.

This sexually-frank new film – a heady mix of historical tableau, musical comedy, queer romance and post-colonial provocation – maintains a joyous energy while examining heavy themes. Rodrigues manages to confront the inherited ills of our modern day while also indulging in delightfully bawdy humor and plenty of song-and-dance flights of fancy.

Watch the trailer for Will-O’-the-Wisp below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Colman Domingo stars in the sexy and thought-provoking gay drama ‘Beautiful Something’

Edgy, absorbing and raw, writer-director Joseph Graham’s Beautiful Something takes a fresh and unsentimental look at the links between young and old, black and white, sex and love and desire and art.

Cute, 22-year-old writer Brian (Brian Sheppard) continually crashes and burns with each guy he meets, but does not understand why.

The stunningly gorgeous Jim (Zack Ryan) is not afraid to break hearts – except when it comes to Drew (recent Best Actor Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo!), a 40-something lover and world-renowned metal sculptor who can’t seem to look past his latest masterpiece.

Lastly there’s Bob (John Lescault), a successful talent agent from Los Angeles. Now in his mid-sixties, he leads a double life as a sugar daddy for the random young men he picks up.

All four of these characters comb the streets looking for connection. While they often settle for quick and dirty sexual shenanigans, there’s something in the air on this particular night that suggests the outcome will be much different.

Gorgeously directed by Graham (whose electrifying breakthrough film Strapped is also available now on Dekkoo), Beautiful Something tells bold and unflinchingly honest stories about sexually-charged gay life in the most compassionate and understanding way possible.

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

A shy teen is caught between his family and the boy of his dreams in ‘I Love You More’

How much would you be willing to sacrifice to finally meet up with the man of your dreams? That’s the question at the heart of the new teen drama I Love You More.

For the better part of a year, Ben (Don Shala), a shy Kosovar teen, has been involved in a romantic online entanglement with a boy named Leo. Though they haven’t met in person, they are making plans to do just that. Leo, who lives in Germany, is expecting to come for a visit in just one month.

Falling into the bittersweet throes of first love, Ben spends most of his waking hours engaged in online pillow talk while daydreaming about the day when the pair will finally be together.

An unexpected wrench is thrown into the works when his mom announces that the family will soon be moving to America and starting a new life for themselves. Though this might seem like good news, Ben is not nearly ready to move. If they leave Kosovo, he might never have the opportunity to meet Leo in person again.

Longing for love and connection, Ben puts his family’s dreams on the line and struggles to finally come forward with his truth.

The debut feature from non-binary filmmaker Erblin Nushi, who based the story on their own experiences and feelings of isolation as a queer kid in Kosovo, I Love You More is a tender, resonant and gorgeously crafted coming-of-age drama.

Watch the trailer for I Love You More below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Outside the Aquarium

Artist Alex Mello wrote, directed and stars in Outside the Aquarium, a romantic, funny and thoughtful 25-minute short about the experiences of a Black gay artist living in Germany.

Jonas (Mello) is a painter who is getting ready for a major new exhibition. At the start of the film, we meet him in a state of romantic bliss. He’s deeply in love with Lukas (Julius Dombrink), his partner. During breakfast, Lukas tells Jonas about a strange recurring nightmare that stems from his anxiety over being fetishized by the white gay community over his racial features.

Jonas can relate – maybe more than Lukas even knows. The film unexpectedly flashes back to a time before the pair met, when Jonas was still searching for love in addition to professional success. Following him through the course of one evening, we get to feel what it’s like to walk in his shoes – meeting his self-centered, casually-racist agent and joining him for an exceedingly uncomfortable hook-up with a demented bottom who views interracial sex like the ultimate taboo.

We then get to witness the moment when Jonas and Lukas first met, which gives the beginning of the film and their loving relationship a whole new – and much deeper – perspective.

Directed with heart and inventive visual flair, Outside the Aquarium marks Mello as a unique and playful artist worth keeping an eye on.

Watch the trailer for Outside the Aquarium below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Supernatural’ is a heady sci-fi fantasia – an art film, political essay and erotic gay drama

One hundred years into the future, an unseen leader transforms Thailand into a strange new world where everything is orderly, citizens earn merit through good deeds and humans are forbidden from touching one another.

For the characters in Supernatural, nostalgia for the past, as well as the painful longing for some form of sexual intimacy, are starting to take their toll. Jumping backward in time, the past lives of three of these characters are revealed.

Packed with gorgeous imagery and sensual homoeroticism, Thai writer-director Thunska Pansittivorakul’s heady sci-fi fantasia amplifies the power of touch while telling an epic story with limited resources. Part experimental art film, part political essay and part erotic gay drama, the film tells individual stories that take place in both the past and the future while commenting on gay life in the present.

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

A Brooklyn barber embarks on a hot and sweaty journey of self-discovery in ‘Barrio Boy’

Set during a hot and sultry New York City summer, Barrio Boy stars Dennis Garcia as Quique (pronounced KEE-kay), a Nuyorican barber living in a rapidly changing Brooklyn neighborhood who embarks on an erotically-charged odyssey of self-discovery.

A chance encounter on a basketball court sparks an instant attraction between Quique and Kevin (James Physick), a handsome Irish stranger who is passing through town to settle his late father’s affairs.

As a friendship blossoms between the two young men, so do suspicions about the nature of their relationship – especially to the jealous eye of Cuz (Keet Davis), Quique’s childhood friend turned local bully.

Quique’s quest for love and self-acceptance is further realized as he navigates his way through complex and often messy layers of sexuality, family, friends, race and class.

The truth will prevail in this thoughtful gay drama from Emmy-winning writer-director Dennis Shinners. He marks his feature-length debut here after a series of successful short films, including the 2013 short Barrio Boy which served as the inspiration for this film.

Watch the trailer for Barrio Boy below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo!

Short Film Spotlight: Chasin’

An 8-minute Australian short from director Lee Matthews and screenwriter Ben Chuah, Chasin’ observes an impromptu meeting between a Gen-X daddy and a Gen-Z twink.

On a hot summer night, the pair meet up in a public park after flirting on Scruff. The differences between them are immediately apparent.

But after the two jump the fence of a nearby recreation center and the older man injures his ankle, the pair of would-be lovers share in a moment of vulnerability and unexpected connection.

Suddenly it seems like this may be more than just a casual hook-up.

Featuring charming performances from lead actors Dushan Philips and Jay De Leon, Chasin’ offers up a sexy and kind-hearted meet-cute that may mark the start of a lasting relationship.

Check out the poster for Chasin’ below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.