Category: Drama

Short Film Spotlight: Dominant Chord

Adam Charles (Clayton Chitty), the lead character in the affecting new nine-minute short film Dominant Chord, is a bona fide country music star. He’s had his third single reach number one, his last album has just gone platinum, he’s headlining sold out shows across the country and he’s been nominated for several CMA’s. Adam is settling into his stardom – and it’s great. Except for one small thing.

Adam is gay, and for years Adam has kept his love-life under wraps while building his career – because the common thinking is that country music is not ready for a gay country star.

So Adam and his partner Brian (Sean Poague) made the bargain to stay in the closet, but as Adam’s popularity and success grows so does the goalpost of Adam’s coming out. Brian is tired of the trail of broken promises and sets in motion a plan that rapidly spirals out of control and forces Adam to make an impossible choice.

“I walked away from country music years ago because I felt it was a closed door to me,” says Dominant Chord writer-director Jeremy Leroux. “LGBTQ+ youth should not grow up feeling some doors are closed to them because of who they are. It’s time to kick down those doors.”

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

Short Film Spotlight: Cognitive

What if growing up in the Church led you to believe that you weren’t really going to grow up at all?

Young David, played as a little kid by Zakary Risinger, interprets something he hears from the pulpit by a homophobic, Southern Baptist preacher (Del Shores) that changes his outlook on life.

As an adult, David, now played by writer-director Mat Hayes, takes his family to a more progressive church, but despite Reverend Wynn’s (Jessalyn Gilsig) inspiring sermon on true love, David struggles to overcome the trauma inflicted upon him as a young boy at the hands of the church.

Will he be able to find peace with the religion he was raised in? Daniel Robaire, as David’s husband Jonathan, offers the love we all look for in a partner. Erica Tazel delivers a gripping performance as Young David’s school nurse, rounding out the stellar ensemble of actors.

Watch the trailer for Cognitive below. This short film is available now on Dekkoo.

New This Week – 6/26/20

In this poignant gay cinema classic, the first film to deal with the AIDS epidemic, a New York City gay man in a monogamous relationship becomes a “buddy” or a volunteer friend to another gay man dying of AIDS. Director by Arthur J. Bressan Jr. died of complications from AIDS two years after the film was released. ‘Buddies’ is available to stream on Dekkoo!

A former high school track athlete’s distorted views on love, negatively affects the people closest to him. Watch season 1 and season 2 of ‘Cheetah in August’ now on Dekkoo!

Dave and Andrew reach a new level of closeness in their relationship when they share their personal experiences with self-harm. ‘Vertical Lines’ is now available on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: Two Naked Gay Guys returns!

Genèse tells a beautiful story first love and first heartbreak

“When you first fall in love, everything else around you seems to melt away and pretty much nothing or no one else seems to exist. In the French-Canadian film Genesis (Genese), about adolescent love, director Philippe Lesage weaves this idea of full-on immediacy and a very blinkered view into the fabric of his storytelling, delivering a film that feels intensely alive and in the moment.” – Boyd van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter

“Philippe Lesage takes chances, and succeeds with boldly original form and narrative. Critic’s Pick.” – Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

“A study of duality, family and youth, Genesis is considerate in its beauty and agony, a successful exploration of first love and first heartbreak.” – Nick Davie, Spectrum Culture

Following his autobiographical 2015 narrative debut The Demons (also available now on Dekkoo), writer-director Philippe Lesage chronicles the life of young Felix (Édouard Tremblay-Grenier), now diverging to capture the romantic trials and tribulations of two Quebecois teen siblings. While the charismatic, Salinger-reading Guillaume (Théodore Pellerin) wrestles with his sexual identity at his all-boys boarding school, the more ostensibly grown-up Charlotte (Noée Abita) discovers the casual cruelty of the adult world that awaits her post-graduation. Lesage and his young actors depict the aches of becoming oneself with nuance, honesty, and compassion, and the result is one of the most beautiful coming-of-age stories in years.

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

Embrace a Whole New World with Trade

Michael (Austin Miller) is an intelligent, well-spoken corporate transaction analysis attorney. Very successful, he is highly regarded in his firm and by his colleagues. Married for ten years, he genuinely cares for his wife – and knows that she desperately wants to have a baby. He wants her to be happy and agrees to go to a fertility specialist to help the process along. However, Michael has a secret life. He likes to dress up as a woman and be with men.

When Michael meets Shawn (T. Ashanti Mozelle), he is introduced to a world he has only ever dreamed of, and finally embraces his true self.

A confident, outspoken and amiable African American male, Shawn describes himself as a gay black man. He has not had an easy life. He unknowingly took the wrap for another person’s crime, and served time in prison. Now living with his aunt, he regularly works the night shift on the boulevard dressed up as a woman named Coco, selling himself to men.

When he meets Michael, he is intrigued – and encourages Michael to become the person he longs to be.

A powerful and compassionate drama about friendship and hidden desire, Trade is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

New This Week – 6/19/20

A Californian teenager’s plan to come out at his Nebraskan family reunion gets derailed when a bloodstain on his young cousin’s dress makes him the unwitting suspect of abuse. ‘Take Me To The River’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

Walter’s honey do list piles up and Frank is too busy to do the fixes, a new sexy handyman arrives with an agenda that isn’t exactly on Walter’s fix-it list. Can Walter resist this new temptation? Dekkoo Films presents ‘Honey Do List’ the saucy sequel to ‘The Handyman’.

When his cross-dressing teenage son suffers a brutally violent attack, a mannequin-factory manager desperately seeks help and, when none can be found, is forced to take matters into his own hands. ‘You’ll Never Be Alone’ is available now on Dekkoo!

The son of a famous singer wants to sing the song of life his own way. Stream ‘Kiss Me Softly’ now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: The first film to deal with the AIDS pandemic. A classic of gay cinema.

New This Week – 6/12/20

Three men struggle to save their relationship while traveling across country in search of a doctor they believe will make one of them well. ‘Kill the Monsters’ is streaming now on Dekkoo!

Friends and family reflect on the life and death of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in a targeted homophobic attack in Wyoming in 1998. ‘Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine’ is available now on Dekkoo!

When Debbie comes home for Christmas, she and her mother Gayle are forced to confront the truth about their family’s past. Watch ‘He Could’ve Gone Pro’ on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: Dekkoo Films presents the fun and sexy sequel to ‘The Handyman’!

Pride Month Spotlight: Spa Night

Writer-director Andrew Ahn’s remarkably assured feature-length debut is a portrait of forbidden sexual awakening set in the nocturnal world of spas and karaoke bars in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.

David Cho (Joe Seo, who won the Special Jury Award at Sundance for his breakthrough performance), a timid 18-year-old living with his financially-struggling immigrant parents, chances upon a secret spot for cruising when he takes a part-time job at an allmale spa, and begins to realize hidden inner desires that threaten his life as a dutiful son and student.

Effervescent and atmospheric, this one-of-a-kind coming-of-age story makes the steamy spa a liminal place between dream and reality, and desire and disillusionment.

“Spa Night is an intensely personal film,” said Ahn. “I knew very early in the screenwriting process that I had to draw from my own life experiences in order to find the honesty I wanted to show on screen. As the son of Korean-American immigrants, I have felt the conflict between my parents’ expectations and my own personal desires. In Spa Night, I wanted to explore what it means to be a part of a Korean-American family. As Spa Night progressed into production, the film became even more personal for me. We shot on location in Koreatown, Los Angeles — at restaurants I have eaten at, spas I have visited, and streets I have walked down. As I directed scenes, I saw my family in this fictional family I had created.”

“My main character David speaks in a mix of Korean and English to his parents, the same mix I use when I speak to my parents. With Spa Night, I want to open up American independent cinema to include stories about immigrant communities told in languages other than English. It is important that our cinema culture reflect the diversity of the American experience. By telling this story, I am attempting to validate the immigrant experience and acknowledge my parents’ sacrifice to leave their home country and start a new life in America. Spa Night is my way of fulfilling my parents’ hopes and dreams.”

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

New This Week – 6/5/20

Foster siblings Vincent and Krystal have been estranged for many years. When they are forced to reunite, their polar opposite paths in life lead to an explosive outcome where each is made to come to terms with their own faults. Watch ‘Escaping Freedom’ now on Dekkoo!

All Darren wants is to propose to his longtime boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong? ‘Engaged’ is now streaming on Dekkoo!

João, a middle-class filmmaker, goes through a series of encounters with people like his long-time friend Irene; his boyfriend Álvaro; Matias, a young man he meets in the subway and has a sexual experience with, among others, some acquainted, others unknown. These encounters affect him and slowly begin to reveal a play of time frames which blends together life and creative process, present and memory. ‘Your Bones and Your Eyes’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

Two high school friends, Caleb and Macon, are reunited after many years. During the tense reunion, Macon fights his tortured mind, wrestling with a dark secret that is the source of Caleb’s greatest pain. ‘Good Boy’ is streaming now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: Three men struggle to save their relationship while traveling across country in search of a doctor they believe will make one of them well.

Don’t miss the heart-warming and inspiring romance Morgan

Morgan (Leo Minaya) comes home after a tragic accident in a bikers race leaves him paraplegic, binding him to wheelchair use for the rest of his life. He tries to stay positive, not letting the accident end his life, but deep-rooted feelings of uselessness make him wish, at times, that he has not survived.

Rolling out for beer, he meets the handsome, charismatic Dean (Jack Kesy), and the two strike up a friendship that quickly develops into a romantic connection. Morgan wants to participate in the biking race again, more so because of his competitive nature than to prove his ability. Everyone is against it, even Dean, leading to differences that begin to show between the two for the first time.

A powerful and moving story about love and overcoming even the toughest of life’s obstacles, Morgan is a deeply touching romantic drama from writer-director Michael Akers – featuring terrific performances from the two leads.

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