Janik and Samuel, best friends in their final year of high school, are practically inseparable. In the wake of a reckless incident, the pair travel together on a trip to Istanbul. During the trip, they find their friendship tested – and they’re soon forced to examine what they really mean to one another. ‘Blurred Lines’ is available exclusively now on Dekkoo!
A man heading to jail entrusts the care of his beloved German shepherd to his gay lover, who becomes enamored with the dog and wants to keep her at all costs. Gary Oldman and Alan Bates star in this heartfelt gay drama, originally released in 1988 and now available again on Dekkoo! Stream ‘We Think The World Of You’ now on Dekkoo!
After learning he has only six weeks to live, all veteran drag queen Jackie Collins wants to do is perform his long-running act and behave as if everything is normal. But between a new friendship with a rising young queen and some unfinished business with his estranged daughter, he’s about to have the most eventful month and a half of his life. ‘Tucked’ is available now on Dekkoo!
After leaving Brazil, Cesar meets Martin at an empty café in Tallinn, Estonia. In front of these two attractive young men lies an uncertainty as infinite as the sea itself. A charming new short film drama from writer-director-star Gabriel Motta. Watch ‘Two Men By The Sea’ on Dekkoo!
A deliciously scandalous documentary about unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose controversial bestselling memoir portrayed him as a sexual liaison to the biggest movie stars of the 1940s and ‘50s – including Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and more. Stream ‘Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: An unapologetically homoerotic study of a profound male friendship.
Marco Berger, the maverick Argentinian filmmaker behind Absent, Young Hunter, Taekwondo, The Blonde One and many more, turns his unparalleled eye for the male form to one of the world’s largest displays of masculine bodies- a traditional South American Carnival.
Using two men as our primary guides, we watch the men of the town prepare and, eventually participate, in parade like no other.
The sensual joy of watching the men of Gualeguaychú transform in to Dionysiac figures via costumes, glitter and feathers is the perfect canvas for Berger’s talents.
A visual, erotic feast for the senses, The Carnival is not to be missed.
Watch the trailer for The Carnival below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.
Originally released in 1970, Dinah East tells the story of a glamourous movie starlet who is later revealed to be a trans woman.
In 1950s Hollywood, Dinah East (Jeremy Stockwell) fooled the world into believing he was a she – and became a glamorous movie diva on top of it. When she dies, the secret finally comes out. The film proceeds to tell the story of her relationships with friends and intimates – including a lesbian wardrobe designer, a gay matinee idol (with whom she had an affair), a protective lawyer and a washed up prize fighter who becomes her chauffeur.
Marketed at the time as “Hollywood’s strangest story,” Dinah East is a film that is deeply dated and problematic in many respects, but surprisingly far ahead of its time in others. Seen today, it’s an undeniably fascinating cult classic curio of a bygone era.
After a short, but celebrated run in theaters, the film seemingly disappeared, but has not been restored for modern audiences. Take a trip back fifty years and behold the lost LGBTQ+ classic Dinah East. The film is now available on Dekkoo.
The Circuit is a new digital series that explores the underground circuit community through the personal lives of different players within the scene.
The cast of The Circuit – DJs, dancers, a party producer and an adult entertainer – take us on a wild ride through the inner workings of the New York City gay dance party subculture.
Explore the eponymous “circuit” parties as the cast juggle career, love and the thrilling events themselves until a global pandemic and a series of unfortunate decisions turns their world on its head.
Featuring Nina Flowers, Sam Gee, Joe Pacheco, Jake Resnicow, Dan De Leon, Alec Brian, Ian Frost, Shane Jackson, Shane Marcus, Manuel Skye, Ugene, Trey Sherman, Darius Glover and more, The Circuit offers a frank look at a thrilling LGBTQ+ subculture.
Watch the trailer for The Circuit below. The first season is now available on Dekkoo.
A voyeuristic, behind-the-scenes look as celebrated choreographer Thierry Smits and his team go through the auditions, rehearsals and eventual premiere of his controversial dance piece Anima Ardens. ‘Bare’ is available now to stream on Dekkoo!
Clement and Alex are looking for a new gay roommate. And they find Leo, a charming student who is in deep trouble to find a place to sleep. Leo will do anything to get that room, whatever it takes. ‘Clément, Alex et tous les autres’ is available on Dekkoo!
Elena goes home for her father’s funeral. Everything is just as she remembered, but will her family pressure her to be like they remember? Stream ‘The Guest’ now on Dekkoo!
Childhood friends Andreas and Alessandro, now grown college students, live in different cities. The pair have reunited at a seaside resort for the summer. As the summer starts coming to a close, Andreas realizes he must make a move to let Alessandro know how he really feels. Watch ‘It’s Just In My Head’ now on Dekkoo!
For contemporary LGBT viewers, Queens at Heart offers a vivid and compelling lens on how far we have come as a movement while also giving a deep (and wildly entertaining) understanding of what it was like to be transgender at a very different time in history. There are very few filmed images by or about LGBT people before the Stonewall Riots of 1969. There were especially few portrayals of trans lives and experience in this era. The two other films that come to mind from this period are: the remarkable feature documentary, The Queen (1968) and the short documentary portrait of an African American trans woman, Behind Every Good Man (1967). (While the 1970 dramatic feature, The Christine Jorgenson Story is at least somewhat well intended, it primarily comes across as lurid and sensationalist.)
Produced in New York City in 1967, this amazing 22-minute short introduces us to Misty, Vicky, Sonya and Simone — four courageous trans women who candidly discuss their personal lives with a lurid male interviewer who claims to have spoken to “thousands of homosexuals” (and who clearly doesn’t understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity). The film offers an extremely rare and poignant glimpse into pre-Stonewall queer life as it takes us to a New York City drag ball and follows the women through their daily lives. They talk about their double-lives — going out as women at night but living as men during the day, and about how they take hormones and dream of “going for a change.” One talks about avoiding the draft, another about her fiancé and another about the torment of childhood as an effeminate youth.
“We know that homosexuality is a psychological aberration that should be treated,” proclaims the interviewer as the film ends. Shifting to a surprisingly sympathetic tone he then concludes with the provocative challenge, “but what about those who don’t want to change? Who are we to judge?” This flip-flop perfectly encapsulates the film’s schizophrenic combination of attitudes as it alternates between luridness and validation, judgment and empathy.
Of course it is extremely significant for us to be able to look back and see this rare portrait of four wonderful trans women being so candid and courageous in the years before Stonewall. Queens at Heart is especially remarkable for how candid and brave the women are in expressing themselves so vulnerably when we can tell that the film was produced more as an exploitation film than as a serious documentary.
As a film historian and archivist I’ve unearthed many films over the years. Queens at Heart is the most significant on every level. It is a film that had been essentially lost to us — with nothing having previously been written about it in LGBT film literature. As a glimpse at pre-Stonewall queer life it is remarkable: from the wonderful footage of the drag balls and gay men dancing together to the provocative interviews with transgender women which are truly jaw-dropping in their candor. The power of this film for bringing us face to face with our forebears (and queer life in 1967) is absolutely incredible, and the film is of even greater interest in this era of increased trans awareness and activism.
Queens at Heart is a tremendously valuable archival portrait of pre-Stonewall trans women — their candor and courage are a true gift and this is a must-see film for anyone interested in transgender history.
About Jenni Olson: Jenni Olson is an LGBT film historian, archivist and filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. Her work as a film historian includes the Lambda Award nominated The Queer Movie Poster Book (Chronicle Books, 2005) and her many vintage movie trailer presentations (Homo Promo, Trailer Camp, etc.). She is on the Advisory Board of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project for LGBT Moving Image Preservation.
In this new Dekkoo-original series two very different young men come together in an episodic series that follows their relationship – from beginning to end. Watch the official trailer now!
When Lucas travels to visit his sister he meets Antonio who works as a boatswain in a local fishing boat. An intense romance blossoms between the two of them, and with it their strength, their independence and their adulthood become immovable with the ebb and flow of the tide. ‘The Strong Ones’ is available now on Dekkoo!
Felix is a friendless achiever in high school whose life changes after the arrival of the half-American Snyder brothers, entangling him in their dark ambitions. Watch ‘2 Cool 2 B 4Gotten’ now on Dekkoo!
Bernardo is an old Art History teacher recently retired and widowed from his wife Cecilia. One day he runs into Víctor, a piano player and long lost love from Bernardo’s past that he hasn’t seen in almost 40 years. ‘Chords’ is available now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: “Both sprawling and intimate, it tells a story dealing with life, love, friendship, mortality and, yes, AIDS, in a manner that is relentlessly and deliberately unsentimental in tone but which nevertheless proves to be quite affecting.” – rogerebert.com
From writer-director Sergei Alexander, the British drama Your Eyes on Me tells the story of an experienced drag queen named Gloria (Paul Stone) whose life starts to change when she meets Kandi (Jean-Philippe Boriau) a younger drag-virgin who is auditioning for her next show.
As a bond begins to develop between Gloria and Kandi, their relationship takes an unexpected turn. Suddenly, the past, and the choices Gloria made as a young man, become a stark reality.
A Russian-born filmmaker who arrived in London in 2004, Alexander makes his feature-length debut with Your Eyes on Me. The film won major awards and acclaim at the 2020 London Independent Film Festival.
“Your Eyes on Me is a story of love, family, friendship and sexuality, one which can be read and interpreted on many different levels and through many different lenses,” said Alexander. “I hope that film will bring viewers on a thought-provoking and emotional journey, eliciting questions around their beliefs of love, self-acceptance and self-identity.”
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