Category: Drama

Short Film Spotlight: People (Who Need People)

From screenwriter Eric Grant and director Omid Iranikhah, the short film People (Who Need People) follows former partners Alex and Raj (Patrick Sprague and Adron Duell), who are in the middle of a bitter divorce.

Raj has packed up most of their belongings and has one foot out the door, but Alex is nowhere near ready to move on. When Alex attempts to steal back a copy of Barbra Streisand’s album People, which was given to him as an anniversary present, it sets a major conflict into motion.

As the couple begin to argue, they discover that there are unresolved issues at the heart of their relationship… and not all of them revolve around Barbra.

Featuring game performances from the two lead actors, People (Who Need People) is a clever and bitingly funny 8-minute break-up comedy.

Check out the poster for People (Who Need People) below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Director Ray Yeung’s critically acclaimed ‘Twilight’s Kiss’ is now available on Dekkoo

From Ray Yeung, the accomplished filmmaker behind Front Cover, Cut Sleeve Boys and All Shall Be Well, Twilight’s Kiss tells a gut-wrenching tale of forbidden love between two married men in their golden years.

The film follows Pak (Tai Bo), a Hong Kong cab driver on the verge of hanging up his keys, and Hoi (Ben Yuen), a divorced retiree. The pair find themselves drawn into a secret affair, stealing moments of intimacy in the steam-shrouded sanctuary of the local gay bathhouse.

In a society where same-sex love is still very much taboo, the two men have to keep their trysts on the down-low. But when genuine feelings start to bubble up, their carefully compartmentalized lives threaten to boil over. As the Pak and Hoi navigate an increasingly intimate relationship, they begin to wonder whether they’ve aged out of the possibility of happily-ever-after.

Yeung, who crafted the screenplay from real-life stories, shines a light on the isolation and heartache faced by those who dare to love outside the lines, delivering a powerful and unforgettable portrait of a love that refuses to be denied.

Profoundly moving, Twilight’s Kiss is the kind of film that stays with you long after the end credits roll.

Watch the trailer for Twilight’s Kiss below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A musician’s spark is ignited by a young trans man in the Australian drama ‘Unsound’

When guitarist Noah (Reece Noi) finds himself growing disillusioned, he quits his band and returns to his mother’s home in Sydney, Australia.

Clashing with his mother over old wounds, Noah seeks solace elsewhere and soon finds himself swept up in the vibrant, passionate life and of a young trans-man named Finn (Yiana Pandelis), who runs a local center and nightclub for his deaf community.

Together, the pair traverse new ground, sharing their languages – Noah’s music and Finn’s sign language – with one another. They move carefully, as this is Finn’s first relationship while he is on the precipice of diving into his trans journey.

Noah offers to help aid the club any way he can, but as the two become closer, and with no shared language to fall back on, they risk hurting each other as they learn to be true to themselves.

From screenwriter Ally Burnham and director Ian Watson, Unsound is a thoughtful and romantic queer drama that takes great pride in its conversational awareness of both the LGBTQIA+ and deaf or hard of hearing communities.

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

The gay boxing drama ‘Punch’ tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation

Up-and-coming New Zealand actor Jordan Oosterhof stars in the gay sports drama Punch as Jim, a seventeen-year-old boxer from a small town. Something of a golden boy, Jim is preparing for a fight that will elevate him to an early professional status.

All bets are on his climb to success. But his father, Stan, a demanding coach and a notorious alcoholic played by Tim Roth, is treated like a joke. He has given everything to see his son gain professional status and escape the brutality of his small world.

As Jim begins to rethink why he is fighting in the first place, his life tangles with Whetu, a razor-tongued, gay Maori boy played by Conan Hayes, who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.

Along with his dog, Whetu cobbles together a fragile glamour and dreams of leaving town to become a musician. As Jim stumbles towards discovering what it really means to be a gay man, he is forced to see that strength has little to do with heroism.

Gorgeously crafted, powerfully acted and deeply romantic, Punch tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Yet Another Family Drama

Yet Another Family Drama, a darkly emotional 20-minute short from Bulgarian writer-director Diana Petrova, follows a mother and son who begin hashing out their relationship conflicts at an extremely inopportune time.

Georgi (Delyan Iliev), drunk and naked, is in the middle of a tryst with a hot, young one-night-stand (Plamen Kanev) when his estranged mother (Stanka Kalcheva) drops by his apartment to crash the party and deliver some shocking news.

Though he’s hidden his sexuality from her in the past, Georgi is in no mood to walk on eggshells. The two begin to hash out their grievances, despite the presence of Georgi’s lover, until their argument reaches an operatic crescendo.

Using surreal imagery to convey the tense dance between this dysfunctional mother and son, Yet Another Family Drama goes far beyond the simple premise laid out by the title.

Check out the poster for Yet Another Family Drama below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

A man searches for his soulmate in the romantic short-form comedy series ‘Geomapping Love’

Created by writer, director, actor, radio columnist and Canadian television personality Simon Boulereese, based on his novel of the same name, Geomapping Love is a short-form romantic comedy series about looking for love in all the wrong places.

Through a succession of sexual conquests, we accompany Simon in his disappointments, emotions and disarrays in his search of a soul mate – or at least a really good one-night stand.

His quest takes him to the four corners of Montreal and, each time, he leaves a little piece of his dignity behind.

Underneath all of these encounters lies a deep loneliness and a need to feel desired. Will he finally be able to find love in the age of smartphones and dating apps? And will he ever discover the true identity of ‘Felix,’ the mysterious virtual paramour to whom he’s grown most attached?

Catch up on all the sexy, heartfelt and deeply intimate action with Geomapping Love. All ten episodes of the first season are available now on Dekkoo. You can watch the trailer below.

Short Film Spotlight: Shiba San and Meow Chan

Shiba San and Meow Chan, a 30-minute Taiwanese short film from director Chung-Chieh Chiang, revolves around two brothers, both stars of a hit children’s show – in which they perform as a dog and a cat, respectively.

Their show, having swept through the nation capturing the eyes and hearts of kids, has brought them great fame and media attention. Though radiant on stage, both actors have something else on their minds.

Shiba San has been secretly in love with a married man while Meow Chan misses his remarried mother and finds himself desperately searching for reasons why she left him.

Their journey will lead the two stray siblings to confront their emptiness that comes with very public success.

Mixing cuteness and melancholy, Shiba San and Meow Chan is a touching story of two brothers coming of age under intense scrutiny.

Watch the trailer for Shiba San and Meow Chan below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Born for You’ tells the incredibly moving true story of Italy’s first adoptive gay parent

From Italian director Fabio Mollo, Born for You tells the beautiful and touching true story of Luca (Pierluigi Gigante), a gay, single, Catholic man who, in 2017, adopted Alba, a child with Down syndrome who had been left in hospital shortly after being born.

Thirty heterosexual families rejected her before the court decided to entrust her to Luca. With this new precedent set, the legal foster care register for single gay men was inaugurated in Italy.

Luca may have been the first single gay parent in Italy to successfully adopt a daughter, but this was not a charitable gesture or a fight against the system… he simply wanted to start a family.

Beautifully shot and powerfully acted, the film weaves between Luca’s present-day struggles and flashbacks to his youth, creating a deeply intimate portrait of love, loss and the fight for equality and acceptance.

Born for You is a profound reflection on the transformative and triumphant power of love and the potential of LGBTQ+ families everywhere.

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