Category: Cross-Cultural Romance

Don’t miss the gorgeous and enthralling road-movie romance ‘The Man with the Answers’

The Man with the Answers first introduces us to Victor (Vasilis Magouliotis), a hunky, twenty-something ex-diving champion now working in a furniture factory and living with his sick grandmother in a seaside town in Greece.

Distraught after her death, he decides to dust off her old car and travel to Germany to visit his estranged mother. On the ferry to Italy, he meets the dreamy Matthias (Anton Weil) – a talkative, inquisitive young German who is on his way home.

Matthias persuades Victor to take him along for the journey. As the pair drive north, Victor’s uptight, repressive personality clashes with the more free-spirited Matthias. But they soon find common emotional ground as their summer road trip takes unexpected – and increasingly romantic – turns.

When their journey finally comes to an end, they’re confronted with the question of whether either has found the answers he’s looking for… and whether or not they can be found in one another.

Featuring terrific performances from sexy lead actors Magouliotis and Weil, The Man with the Answers tells a tender story of self-discovery, family and burgeoning love in all its many forms.

Watch the trailer for The Man with the Answers below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

A sex worker gets into a tricky relationship with an older man in the Belgian drama ‘All Yours’

Prolific actor Nahuel P̩rez Biscayart (Glue, Persian Lessons, BPM) stars in All Yours as Lucas, a young and penniless Argentine escort who moves to a small Belgian town with the help of Henry (Jean-Michel Balthazar), a lonely Рand much older Рgay bakery owner who dreams of saving him from a life of prostitution.

Henry fell completely head over heels for Lucas when he first spotted him as a web cam model. He bought Lucas a plane ticket hoping that he would not only help out in the bakery, but share his bed.

With very different ideas about living together, the two men find their personalities and expectations clashing. Things get even more tense when the predominately straight Lucas starts falling for Audrey (Monia Chokri), a single mother who also works for Henry.

A complicated love triangle soon develops in this tender, award-winning character study from acclaimed writer-director David Lambert.

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

A man attempts a turbulent journey out of the closet in the moving drama ‘El Houb (The Love)’

Having spent decades hiding his sexuality from his family, Moroccan-Dutch businessman Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) decides to come clean after his father catches him in bed with a man.

Caught up in a panic over the thought of coming out to his traditional Muslim parents (Slimane Dazi and Lubna Azabal), he barricades himself in their closet… literally.

As he feverishly revisits his childhood memories, negotiates a budding romance with a new Ghanaian boyfriend (Emmanuel Boafo) and wages a long-delayed battle royale to uproot his family’s conservative attitudes, a series of darkly hilarious and unflinchingly frank conversations begin – and the family is finally forced to confront the truths that have so long been avoided.

Loosely based on the theater work and actual experiences of lead actor and co-screenwriter Fahd Larhzaoui, El Houb (The Love) cascades through time. Director Shariff Nasr manages to straddle a line between uproarious comedy and heartbreaking drama while examining family dynamics, cultural taboos and hard-won self-acceptance.

Watch the trailer for El Houb (The Love) below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

François Ozon’s underseen masterpiece ‘Frantz’ is now available on Dekkoo

Set in Germany and France in the immediate aftermath of World War I, Frantz recalls the mourning period that follows great national tragedies as seen through the eyes of Anna, played by Paula Beer in a breakthrough performance.

A bereft young German woman whose fiancé, Frantz, was killed during trench warfare, she’s surprised to find Adrien, a French veteran played by Pierre Niney, laying flowers at her late lover’s grave.

Adrien’s presence is met with resistance by the small community still reeling from Germany’s defeat, yet Anna gradually gets closer to the handsome and melancholy young man, as she learns of his deep friendship with Frantz, conjured up in evocative flashbacks.

What follows is a surprising exploration of how these characters wrestle with their conflicting feelings – survivor’s guilt, anger at one’s losses, the overriding desire for happiness despite everything that has come before, and the longing for sexual, romantic and familial attachments.

Stylishly shot in black and white, prolific director Francois Ozon drew his inspiration for the film from a post-WWI play by Maurice Rostand that also inspired the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film Broken Lullaby.

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

Two young men share a fleeting connection in the gay romance ‘Boy Meets Boy’

Harry (Matthew J. Morrison) has been partying for two days when he meets Johannes (Alexis Koutsoulis) on the dance floor of a club in Berlin.

With only fifteen hours left until Harry’s flight back to London, Johannes offers to help him print his boarding pass. This mundane task leads to a day together, wandering the city.

The contrasts in their lives and values force them to confront their own truths and be completely honest – leading to a strong, romantic connection that is under an unusual time crunch.

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, director Dani Sanchez-Lopez’s Boy Meets Boy is about a brief encounter and a fleeting moment of happiness and possible love.

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

Director Eloy de la Iglesia’s controversial classic ‘Hidden Pleasures’ is now available in a new restoration

Highly controversial at the time of its release in 1977, Hidden Pleasures is one of the first films in the history of Spanish cinema to prominently feature gay characters and themes.

Directed by acclaimed underground filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia, the film stars Simon Andreu as Eduardo, a wealthy, but lonely and deeply closeted bank manager in his forties.

Though he’s secretive about his sex life, Eduardo uses his social and economic position to win over young men. In one of his regular cruising sessions, he meets and falls head over heels for Miguel, an attractive young straight guy played by Tony Fuentes.

As Eduardo’s infatuation with the young man grows deeper, it sets up a complicated love triangle between the pair and Miguel’s girlfriend Carmen (Beatriz Rossat) – not to mention Rosa (Charo López), the older married neighbor with whom Miguel is having an affair.

Though it’s clearly a product of the 1970s, Hidden Pleasures was truly radical at the time of its release. Though it was initially banned be Spanish censors, it was championed by film critics who opposed the ongoing censorship in the years after Francisco Franco’s death.

The film’s premiere was met with massive street demonstrations by gay activists who came out in support of Eloy de la Iglesia’s bold new vision.

Watch a short clip from Hidden Pleasures below. The full, newly-restored film is now available on Dekkoo.

Queer Classics: We Were One Man

Years ahead of its time, We Were One Man is a period piece, originally released in France in 1979, that dared to depict a budding romance between two men.

From director Philippe Vallois, the film tells a story of gay love between two soldiers. Guy (Serge Avedikian), a peasant farmer, is trying to live a simple life during the turmoil of World War II. He lives in a small farmhouse outside a sleepy village in France, where he has almost no friends.

Everything starts to change when he stumbles across Rolf (Piotr Stanislas), an injured German soldier. The simple, naive Guy brings Rolf home and nurses him back to health. While convalescing, a relationship slowly builds between the two men.

Soon the pair are frolicking naked in the woods and swimming in the stream. Thin, boyish Guy is a contrast to the blond, hard bodied Rolf. The passion that stirs between them that becomes hard to deny. As their connection grows deeper, they find a happy escape in one another, content to be sheltered and loved… until the war asserts itself back into their lives.

We Were One Man is now available on Dekkoo.

Two college seniors get close in the colorful romance Good Enough: A Modern Musical

Featuring a completely original soundtrack, a diverse case and dazzling dance numbers, Good Enough: A Modern Musical is, as the title suggests, a sensational modern pop musical that deals with some of the most relevant issues of the day.

Written and directed by Mike Spears, the colorful new gay romance centers around college seniors Jamal and Trevor (Jay Towns and Trey Mendlik). Two young guys from very different backgrounds, they believe that they have their whole lives planned out.

When the pair end up having an unexpected encounter and begin to fall for one another, their cautiously developing love threatens to jeopardize their best laid plans and the expectations of their families and friends.

Watch the trailer for Good Enough: A Modern Musical below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.