Category: Cross-Cultural Romance

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.

New Series: Give Me Back the Night

Set during the middle of the pandemic in 2021, Give Me Back the Night is a smart, sexy, funny and fast paced new series from Columbia – exploring a new relationship which opens up some old wounds.

Leonardo (Juan Manuel Velez Casas), a creative young man who dabbles in sewing and illustration, is just trying to survive his day job – working in a supermarket surrounded by pandemic-related chaos. When he learns that his biological mother, thought to be dead, is very much alive and wants to reconnect with him, it completely upends his day-to-day life.

Meanwhile, Felix (Sergio Quevedo Barreto) is a photographer with rough and tumble good looks who has his eyes firmly planted on the stars. He has recently run away from a disapproving home. When he meets Leonardo on the street and the two young men form an unlikely connection, they’re budding relationship finally allows them to explore their suppressed desires and freedoms.

Together, they begin to face the issues that keep them up at night. They soon learn that they must reckon with their pasts and repair their fractured family ties in order to move forward and grow together.

Watch the trailer for Give Me Back the Night below. The full six-episode first season is streaming now on Dekkoo!

A swimmer’s relationship with his coach causes family problems – and an arranged marriage – in the coming-of-age drama Beyto

Beyto (Burak Ates) is a young man whose family are Turkish immigrants living in Switzerland. A dutiful student and an attractive and popular rising star at his local swimming club, he strives to make them proud, but his family’s stringent views about homosexuality means he has to keep a whole portion of his life and his identity secret.

Just as Beyto begins to discover first love with his coach, Mike (Dimitri Stapfer), his parents get word from friends who spotted him at Gay Pride Parade and become desperate to shut down any rumors that he’s gay.

Shocked and ashamed by Beyto’s budding relationship with another man, his parents lure their son to their home village in Anatolia and start arranging his wedding to Seher (Ecem Aydin), a female friend from his childhood. Suddenly, Beyto finds himself at the center of an unbearable love triangle.

A subtle, sensuous and moving love story, Beyto examines the drama of family tradition and integration, expressing the dilemmas of its characters while never losing sight of their humanity and love for one another.

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