Category: Documentary

Filmmaker Alex Liu gets to the bottom of sex education in this frank and funny new documentary

A huge hit with critics and audiences at film festivals, A Sexplanation is a proudly queer and Asian American comedic sex documentary about the unusual search for love, connection and family acceptance.

Like many Americans, writer/director/host Alex Liu’s childhood sex education left much to be desired. Years of repression left him feeling disconnected from his own body, his desires as a gay man and even his family. Now out and proud in his thirties, Alex decides it’s time to turn his years of fear and loathing into something more positive and humorous.

From neuroscience labs to church pews, A Sexplanation features provocative conversations with psychologists, sex researchers and even a Jesuit priest. With humor and grit, Alex takes audiences on a playful and heartfelt journey from a shame-filled past to a happier, healthier and much sexier future.

Oh, and he also sits down with his parents. That’s a highlight that you won’t want to miss.

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

Four same-sex couples and their kids are profiled in the uplifting new documentary Papa & Dada

A new documentary from award-winning Swiss director Daniela Ambrosoli, Papa & Dada shows what it means to raise children as a gay couple.

Four same-sex couples, including the famous ballet dancer John Lam and his husband John Ruggieri, talk about of the tough challenges and inspiring joys they experienced along to road to becoming a family.

The film paints a loving portrait of ordinary family life, showing how two fathers experience the same worries, hardships, joys and challenges as straight couples. The unconditional love shown to the children runs like a thread through the film – unobtrusive, but always present.

Funny, touching and inspiring, the film ultimately aims to prove that sexual orientation has nothing to do with raising a child. Being a parent simply means giving love. Period.

Watch the trailer for Papa & Dada below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Gemmel & Tim

A deeply emotional, award-winning new documentary, Gemmel and Tim explores the lives and untimely passings of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, two Black gay men who died from meth overdoses at the home of West Hollywood politico Ed Buck.

Their deaths at the now-infamous apartment sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community. Shortly after, the ensuing media circus cooked up a spicy concoction of sex, drugs, race and politics, but had no appetite for the in-depth human stories of the individual victims.

This new film looks at Gemmel and Tim’s parallel walks of life through the eyes of their extended and chosen families. Memories, correspondences and the things they did and didn’t share with each other are all examined. Through the intimate recollections of their friends, we get to know these young men. Each subject also shares their own personal journey in dealing with grief.

Powerful and galvanizing, Gemmel and Tim simultaneously investigates the crimes and offers a cautionary tale to keep similar events from repeating in the future.

Watch the trailer for Gemmel and Tim below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

The Dekkoo Digest 029 – 11/18/22

The Dekkoo Digest is back with three new releases this week (of course!). Check out what Ross has to say about the Dekkoo-original series ‘Adam In Fragments’. It’s available to stream now exclusively on Dekkoo!

Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day explores the sensual experiences of gay Egyptian men

In Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?, a contemporary queer musical and pseudo-documentary from Egyptian director Mohammad Shawky Hassan, soft speaking voices and a dreamlike soundscape of Egyptian pop music combine to create an almost hallucinatory cinematic experience.

Based on a diary of the filmmaker’s personal love stories, and told in the form of tales from “One Thousand and One Nights,” Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day? gives us a glimpse into the sensual experiences of gay Egyptian men.

Telling their stories with humor, tenderness and wit, the power of prose commands attention and allows viewers to be completely swept up in Hassan’s unique vision.

With gorgeous colors, riveting stories, handsome actors and imaginative editing, Shall I Compare You To a Summer’s Day? is a truly unique gay fantasia.

Watch the trailer for Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day? below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

What He Did is a chilling new true crime doc from Denmark

From Danish director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, What He Did is a chilling new true crime documentary about psychologist and author Jens Michael Schau.

Back in 1988, allegedly sparked by a fit of jealousy, Schau’s actions led to the death of Christian Kampmann, his boyfriend of thirteen years. At the time, Kampmann had been at the peak of a successful literary career. He had travelled to a small island, along with Schau, to write a continuation of a popular Danish television series. During their stay, something went terribly wrong. But what caused this mysterious death… and why?

Featuring intense and intimate new interviews with Schau, who has since served a full prison sentence for second-degree manslaughter, those questions are explored in What He Did. Schau digs deep, telling the story in his own words and recalling troublesome memories he had long ago tried to suppress – all while a local theater group begins staging a new production based on the shocking incident.

Watch the trailer for What He Did below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Zachary Quinto narrates this challenging documentary about an unlikely 50-year friendship

Narrated by Zachary Quinto, the riveting new documentary Conversion takes a look at the history of gay conversion therapy and two men who bravely stood up against it.

The film tells the story of how these two unlikely friends — straight psychologist Gerald Davison and gay activist Charles Silverstein — changed the psychology world for the better after first crossing paths 50 years ago at a Behavioral Therapies Convention in New York City.

While Davison had been deeply involved in a practice dubbed “Playboy Therapy,” wherein he would attempt to teach gay men how to be straight, his first meeting with Silverstein proved eye-opening.

After what Davison dubs “an intellectual and emotional epiphany,” the men started speaking out against such practices, still quite common at the time, leading to an eventful moment when Davison presented his case at a national convention to over 1,000 peers.

This new film celebrates their courage and activism while also examining their moving 50-year friendship.

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