Category: Drama

Short Film Spotlight: Incomplete

From talented actor, writer, director and dancer Sasha Korbut, the new 15-minute short Incomplete examines feelings of loneliness in a crowded world that’s simultaneously connected and apart.

A young man, alone in a phone booth on a New York City street corner, holds a hand-written letter that expresses his longing and desire for a man he’s yet to meet. As we hear the letter read aloud, we’re invited to watch his fantasies of connection in quick bits of dance with random men – pairings that instantly come and go, never quite right.

Each of the three main dances in the film explore different aspects of connection – intellectual, physical and spiritual. Finally, in a crowded square, the young man begins to dance on his own. His movements become a scream of desperation, a way to be seen and heard. Soon, he finds an inner peace that he never imagined and learns that he’s not really as alone as he thought.

A heady experimental film with gorgeous production values, Incomplete asks the question: do we need another person in our lives to feel complete, or are we really missing a connection within ourselves?

Watch a short trailer for Incomplete below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A married man discovers a sensual gay paradise in the erotic drama ‘Behind the Trees’

The third feature film from Thiago Cazado, the versatile Brazilian writer, director and performer behind About Us and Cousins, Behind the Trees is a mesmeric erotic drama about a macho married man who discovers a hidden paradise of sexual freedom.

Leo Carius stars as Paulo, the married man in question. He’s in a toxic relationship with his wife Jessica, played by Maria Guedes. After the pair have a serious argument, Paulo decides to go cycling to blow off some steam. He ends up getting lost in a remote region of the woods known as ‘The Forest of Whispers,’ a secret place where men meet up for anonymous sexual release.

Unhappy in his marriage, Paulo begins to frequent the forest, having no idea how much his life is about to change – especially after he meets Luigi, a young, carefree and sexually confident fellow cruiser played by writer-director Cazado. After the two men share hot encounter, Paulo quickly realizes that nothing will ever be the same again.

Having starred in all of his feature films to date, Cazado has shown a wide range as both a director and a performer.

Tender and provocative, thoughtful and sexually brazen, Behind the Trees is a deeply intimate addition to his growing collection of boundary-pushing stories and characters.

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

A supernatural intervention brings closure to a complicated love affair in the Bollywood melodrama ‘Love is Love’

Taking inspiration from Ghost, the wildly campy Indian melodrama Love is Love tells the story of a complicated relationship that ended far too soon.

Jumping around in time, the film follows the romantic relationship that develops between childhood friends Aryan and Ashley (Kapil Kaustubh Sharma and Yuvraaj Parashar).

Though it took them a while to come to terms with their feelings – and caused much gossip within their tightknit circle of friends – the pair found their way into one another’s open arms.

When Ashley dies unexpectedly, it shakes Aryan to his very core. After two failed suicide attempts, an otherworldly intervention ensues. Ashley, aided by an older female sex worker with psychic abilities, reaches out to Aryan from beyond the grave in an effort to bring perspective and closure to their tragic love affair.

Originally created as part of a trilogy and re-edited for this U.S. release, Love is Love stirred up controversy in India as one of few Bollywood films to prominently feature gay characters and themes.

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

Short Film Spotlight: The Letter Men

Between the years 1938 and 1941, a British man named Gordon Bowsher wrote over 200 love letters to his sweetheart, Gilbert Bradley, while he was off in combat during World War II.

Surviving records of queer relationships from that time period are rare. Presumably, most letters would have been destroyed out of fear of discovery. But luckily, Gordon’s letters have survived. Gilbert kept them safe until his death in 2007 – and they were eventually discovered by museum curators in 2015.

Now, more than 80 years after they were first written, the letters represent the largest known collection of LGBTQ+ love notes from the era. With exceptional production values and a fleet 8-minute runtime, director Andy Vallentine manages to craft an epic depiction of one gay love story that was almost lost to time.

Using Gordon’s own words, The Letter Men transports us back to that era, showing us not only the battlefields and the air raid shelters, but the deepest recesses of the human heart.

Featuring truly swoon-worthy lead performances from actors Matthew Postlethwaite and Garrett Clayton, the film offers a unique window into the untold true story of two gay men who were desperately in love, torn apart by war and unknowingly fated to live on in queer history.

Watch a short trailer for The Letter Men below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Director Frank Brittain’s 1970 queer Australian curio ‘The Set’ is now available on Dekkoo!

Though it’s now something of an obscure queer curio, the Australian drama The Set shocked and thrilled audiences during its initial release in 1970 with its uncommonly frank depictions of male nudity and gay sex.

Aiming for more than just titillation, the film challenged traditional notions of sexuality and gender while depicting a progressive Australia where same-sex relationships were considered equal.

Reeling from his girlfriend’s sexual past, aspiring artist Paul (Sean McEuan) runs off to Sydney in the hopes of attending school, but soon finds himself drawn into the sensual and seductive world of the local art scene.

Swimming through this utopia of flamboyant men, camp queens and fierce sissies, Paul quickly begins exploring his own sexuality.

Commissioned to work for a top stage director, he succumbs to the charms of the handsome Tony (Rod Mullinar) – who just happens to be going out with Paul’s cousin. Although love finds a way through this thorny predicament, things soon turn unexpectedly violent for the young aspiring artist.

Although a box office success in Australia at the time of its release, The Set was largely panned by critics and had fallen into obscurity for nearly 50 years. It’s now been digitally restored and is ready to shock and thrill a whole new generation of fans!

Watch this vintage trailer for The Set below. The full restored film is now available on Dekkoo.

The critically acclaimed romantic gay drama ‘And Then We Danced’ returns to Dekkoo!

A passionate tale of love and liberation set in modern-day Georgia, writer-director Levan Akin’s beloved coming-of-age drama And Then We Danced follows Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani), an ambitious young dancer who has been training from an early age to earn a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble with his partner, Mary (Ana Javakishvili).

His world is suddenly turned upside down with the arrival of Irlaki (Bachi Valishvili), a charismatic, naturally gifted newcomer who becomes both his strongest rival and the object of his secret desires.

Within the highly gender-conservative, traditional world of Georgian dance, Merab must navigate his newfound feelings of attraction while competing for his lifelong goal. But as the two young men grow closer together and their mutual longing comes to the surface, they may unleash a floodgate that will pit them against the country’s outdated culture.

Initially screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival, And Then We Danced offers a riveting and visceral examination of dance, identity, gay longing and everything in between.

The film earned massive critical acclaim when it was first released in 2019 and was even chosen as the Sweden’s entry for the Best International Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Watch the trailer for And Then We Danced below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A casual hook-up takes a dangerous turn in the gritty Mexican thriller ‘Boy Undone’

With a deliciously attention-grabbing premise and a whole lot of explicit gay sex scenes, Mexican writer-director Leopoldo Laborde’s low-fi thriller Boy Undone packs some titillating imagery and a few shocking twists and turns.

Taking a minimalistic approach, the film follows two young men who meet during a night of heavy partying at a gay nightclub and decide to spend the night together.

The next day, the host awakens to find the young man he picked up bewildered and confused. He’s suddenly unable remember his name or anything about his past.

Lacking any type of identification or obvious clues, the boys begin to search for the truth among fragments of memories that may or may not prove reliable – all while giving in to their growing attraction to one another and inching closer to some dangerous revelations.

A chilling homoerotic thriller, Boy Undone is queer guerrilla filmmaking at its most intense.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Family Affair

From writer-producer Ernest Anemone and director Julio Dowansingh, Family Affair is a heartwarming 15-minute queer comedy short about the secrets we keep, the friendships we make and, as the title would suggest, the families we’re born into.

Bear D’Angelo stars as Tanner, a high school senior who seems to have everything going for him. He’s smart, he’s athletic and he’s popular… but there’s something – or rather someone – taking up his time lately. And Tanner feels that, at all costs, he must keep it a secret from his mother.

We don’t want to give away any more of the plot because there are some delightful surprises in store for viewers who aren’t sure where the story is going.

Created by a cast and crew mostly consisting of queer and BIPOC creatives, Family Affair tells an uplifting story about one mother-son relationship while aiming to normalize and destigmatize queer identities across the board.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Family Affair below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

The director of ‘Were the World Mine’ returns with the electrifying new musical ‘Glitter & Doom’

In a fantastical summer romance set to the iconic hits of the Grammy Award-winning, trailblazing Indigo Girls, Glitter & Doom follows the love-at-first-sight connection between carefree circus performer Glitter (Alex Diaz) and struggling musician Doom (Alan Cammish).

An undeniable spark throws the pair into a summer of camping trips, late-night conversations and innovative song-and-dance numbers – until the real world comes calling for them.

Their relationship is put to the test as Doom confronts the realities of finding success in the music industry and Glitter has an opportunity to run away to Paris as a circus performer.

Glitter and Doom soon find themselves struggling to make sense of their whirlwind summer while staying true to themselves and pursuing their dreams.

Directed by beloved Were the World Mine filmmaker Tom Gustafson and punctuated by a star-studded supporting cast – including Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, “Drag Race” alum Peppermint, Ming-Na Wen, Missi Pyle and Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers themselves – Glitter & Doom is a creatively ambitious, visually stunning queer musical about the power of love – and, of course, the “Power of Two.”

Watch the trailer for Glitter & Doom below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.