Category: Drama

Now Available: BPM (Beats Per Minute)

In the early 1990s, ACT UP – in France, as well as in the United States – was on the front lines of AIDS activism, taking on sluggish government agencies and major pharmaceutical companies in bold, invasive actions.

ACT UP’s members, mostly gay, HIV-positive men, stormed offices in “Silence=Death” t-shirts, facing down complacent suits with the urgency of their own struggle for life.

With BPM (Beats Per Minute), acclaimed French director Robin Campillo (Les Revenants, Eastern Boys) takes audiences directly to the front lines, telling a deeply moving love story that doubles as a historical reenactment.

Amid rallies, protests, fierce debates and ecstatic dance parties, newcomer Nathan (Arnaud Valois) falls in love with Sean (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), the group’s radical firebrand. Their passion sparks against the shadow of mortality as the activists fight for a breakthrough.

Winner of the coveted Queer Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival as well as six Cesar Awards, BPM is one of the most acclaimed gay films in recent memory. We can’t recommend it more highly.

Watch the trailer for BPM (Beats Per Minute) below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

The queer ’90s classic ‘Broadway Damage’ is now available on Dekkoo

Originally released in 1997, the romantic comedy-drama Broadway Damage plays like a valentine to ‘90s New York indie cinema when viewed through today’s lens.

Mara Hobel, Michael Lucas and Aaron Williams star as Cynthia, Marc and Robert, a trio of recent NYU grads who score a great apartment together in Greenwich Village. Marc is a struggling actor, Cynthia is desperately trying to break into the magazine publishing world and Robert, an actor/songwriter, is secretly harboring feelings for Marc – who is, sadly, oblivious.

Burning with youthful ambition, all three are ready to take New York City by storm. But when a sexy new neighbor enters the picture, the realities of life, love and career goals start to test their dreams and the dynamics of their friendship in unexpected ways.

A winner of numerous awards at LGBTQ film festivals when it first debuted, Broadway Damage is ready to take you back to a different, but no less complicated time.

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

‘At Night All the Cats Are Black’ is a stylish, sexually-charged and deliberately strange cinematic exercise

At Night All the Cats Are Black, a stylishly-crafted, deeply unusual and deliberately scandalous new queer thriller, concerns a film crew is shooting a surreal and sexually-charged costume drama in the French countryside.

When Valentin, the film’s director, suddenly disappears, the local police set out to investigate. The shoot continues, but takes an odd turn as dreamlike visions portend doom for their beloved maestro and Robin, the cameraman and director’s lover, soon follows through on a mysterious promise he made to his missing partner.

If that sounds strange, you may be surprised to find that the film itself is actually stranger than described. Made without a finished script, At Night All the Cats Are Black was entirely improvised by the cast and crew and has been described by filmmakers Valentin Merz and Robin Mognetti, who plays versions of themselves, as “dreamy, impulsive, coherently illogical, shamelessly artsy and hell bent on surprising its viewers.”

However you feel about the aggressively experimental finished product, the film is packed with bold visual delights and is never afraid to push the envelope in terms of sexuality or structure.

Watch the (not safe for work) trailer for At Night All the Cats Are Black below. The film is now available to stream on Dekkoo.

Now Available: LUV Don’t Live Here

From Philadelphia-based writer, director and co-star Mikal Odom, LUV Don’t Live Here tells the story of Reggie Hamilton (Nathaniel Ryan), also known as poet, dancer and performance artist Reggie Luv, a seemingly confident gay man whose life drastically changes once he becomes severely ill.

Not so easily willing to succumb to his decaying yet humbling new life, Reggie finds it difficult to accept help from others – even when he so desperately needs it.

Reggie soon finds himself not only fighting for his health, but also fighting against the people who love him most. Soon, he’s forced to unearth harsh truths about himself and the relationships he holds dear.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2015 qFLIX Philadelphia Film Festival, LUV Don’t Live Here is a deeply emotional drama that will resonate with anyone who has suffered a severe illness or taken care of a close friend or family member who has.

Watch the trailer for LUV Don’t Live Here below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Acclaimed Danish director Christian Tafdrup’s breakthrough film ‘Awakening’ is now available on Dekkoo

Danish actor and director Christian Tafdrup made a big splash on the international film scene last year with the shockingly violent thriller Speak No Evil.

Back in 2008, he took a similar aim at taboo subject matter with the 39-minute drama Awakening, which has recently been restored by the cult distribution label Altered Innocence.

Awakening stars “True Blood” alum Allan Hyde as Carsten, a sixteen-year-old boy who is taking a trip to meet his girlfriend’s parents at their summer house.

Throughout the weekend, Carsten becomes increasingly bonded with his girlfriend’s father, played by Lars Brygmann. It seems these two men share the same secret – and their time together, which involves a furtive kiss, puts their carefully-constructed relationships in major jeopardy.

Though it may sound racy, Tafdrup handles the developing friendship between two closeted men of differing ages with a great deal of sensitivity and heartfelt honesty.

Watch a clip from Awakening below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Fire at the Lake

The short film Fire at the Lake follows Felix (Hervé Lassïnce), a French farmer who lives an isolated day-to-day with his elderly mother (Isabelle Rama). When he returns home from guarding his cows in the pasture, he’s shocked to find her lying unconscious in bed.

Before he can contact the proper authorities, Felix gets a notification from an attractive younger man (Pierre Moure) who has contacted him on a dating app. At that moment, something inside of him snaps. Instead of checking on his mother’s well-being, Felix flees, driving several miles away to meet up with the alluring stranger in person – and their encounter proves incredibly steamy despite the strange circumstances.

An Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, Fire at the Lake is baffling and captivating in equal measure. This twisted, mysterious and sexually-charged short film from writer-director Pierre Menahem that examines what happens when repressed desire is finally unleashed.

Watch a short trailer for Fire at the Lake below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.