Set in New Zealand in the early 1960s, this stylish story of family, revenge and forbidden love follows a young cowboy who drifts into a small town and starts falling in love with the local farmer’s son. As the two young men grow closer, they learn to stop fighting their desires and to start fighting their demons instead. Watch ‘West of Eden’ now on Dekkoo!
Brazilian writer-director André Antônio’s unusual first feature-length film reveals him as a unique talent. The Cultpremiered at the Rio International Film Festival and was awarded at Mix Brasil. It also recently had its European Premiere at the Göteborg International Film Festival.
Set in the year 2040, the film sees the city of Recife, in Brazil, deserted and in ruins. It was abandoned by the wealthy, who migrated to space colonies. The son of one of these rich families, bored in his new address, decides to return. In Recife, he redecorates his old house and spends his time reading, walking and getting involved with various men. Gradually, however, he perceives strange signs in the streets and discovers the existence of a secret cult.
André Antônio. Born 1988 in Recife himself, worked as an editor in several Brazilian films before founding, in 2012 and along with filmmakers Chico Lacerda, Fábio Ramalho and Rodrigo Almeida, the independent cinema collective Surto & Deslumbramento. In this collective, he directed two short films, Mama and Canto de Outono. André is also a researcher at Rio de Janeiro Federal University in the topics Cinema and Artifice.
You can watch the trailer for The Cult below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.
In the cloistered world of competitive surf-lifesaving, an Australian hero is de-throned as the reigning champion by a younger, gay competitor. He embarks on a campaign of intimidation and bullying against the newcomer but is forced to confront his own repressed homoerotic desire. ‘Drown’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo.
Scott, a mild-mannered gay writer in Los Angeles, gets wrapped up into a world of bad boys and their crime-filled past after being adopted as their “Daddy Scott”, whether he likes it or not.
Written and directed by John Ira Palmer, the six-minute short film Pitbull follows Javi (Josué Jiménez), a young man from East Los Angeles who is being harassed by his deeply homophobic neighbor. As tensions escalate, he must decide whether to finally confront his tormentor or turn the other cheek.
A writer, director and producer, Palmer created the short film Elwood Takes a Lover, which screened at festivals around the world and was an official selection of The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. He was named a quarter-finalist for the 2019 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, and is also a co-writer of Samir, the Warner Bros-funded USC feature film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Palmer also produced the documentary Al Imam, which became a Vimeo Staff Pick, aired on National Geographic, and earned KCET Fine Cut’s top prize. He also co-produced The Dare Project, directed by Adam Salky and written by David Brind, which screened at Outfest and Frameline in 2018.
In 2016, Palmer was invited to the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Artist Academy for emerging filmmakers at the New York Film Festival. John’s experimental 16mm and super-8 short films have screened at venues such as REDCAT, Blum & Poe, and Pacific Film Archive. He has been selected for artist residencies at Echo Park Film Center and AICAD’s New York Studio Program, and awards including the ARRI Emerging Filmmaker Grant, the James Broughton Film Award, and a Princess Grace Foundation Film Honorarium. John earned his MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and his BFA at San Francisco Art Institute.
Watch the trailer for Pitbull below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.
Len (Matt Levett) is a Surf Lifesaving champion, a legend in the cloistered surf club just like his father. But when the younger, faster, fitter Phil (Jack Matthews) arrives at the club, Len’s legendary status starts to crumble. Then Len sees Phil arriving in the company of another man; a man Phil gives a farewell kiss too. Phil is gay.
Over the summer season, Len starts to form unexpected, confusing feelings for Phil. It’s something Len cannot accept and after the annual awards dinner, Len explodes. He finds Phil in the Club House locker room and violently attacks him.
But to Len’s surprise, Phil remains loyal to the pack and refuses to rat on Len about the beating in the Club House locker Room. Len stays in the Club and is free to compete in the annual Surf Lifesaving completion; a competition Len has won five times but Phil wins and Len’s defeat is final.
Broken, Len refuses to die and with his best mate Meat he takes Phil on a victory bender through the seedy city in an attempt to secure an intoxicated oblivion.
Arriving back at the beach where Phil won his victory the day before, Len sets upon Phil. And in a series of humiliating acts, Len finally comes face to face with a fundamental question, can he accept the truth about his sexuality and identity or will he succumb to complete oblivion.
A shocking and powerful tale of toxic masculinity, repressed desire and violence, Drown is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.
A timid 18-year-old living with his financially-struggling immigrant parents, chances upon a secret cruising spot when he takes a job at an all-male spa. There he begins to realize hidden desires that threaten his life as a dutiful son and student. ‘Spa Night’ is available to stream on Dekkoo!
‘But She’s My Best Friend’ is a gay comedy series about two gay best friends, Christian and Joey, and their lives in West Hollywood as they try to find a happy medium between being an adult and being a mess. Season 2 of this hilarious series is available now on Dekkoo!
It is the year 2040, Earth has been abandoned by the wealthy, who have migrated to space colonies. Bored, a rich young man decides to return home. Gradually, he perceives strange signs in the streets and discovers the existence of a secret cult. Stream ‘The Cult’ now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: Violence, jealousy, desire and what it takes to hide what you are.
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.
Sun is a young man who attends a sex party, organised via a dating app, with four other men. While the others seem to be enjoying themselves enormously, Sun finds himself unaroused, despite the others’ best efforts turn him on. ‘Sodom’s Cat’ is available to stream now!
‘Child of the ’70’s’ is the story of gay Italian-American Carlo Perdente who ends up working as a personal assistant to his 1970’s TV idol, the neurotic and over-the-top KiKi Lawrence. Season 5 is available now to binge on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: A profoundly moving drama about a young man torn between the expectations of his family and his own burgeoning desires. Coming next week:
When architect Bruno (hot Chilean TV star Francisco Celhay) finds himself passionately drawn to Santiago tour guide, Fernando (Emilio Edwards) he faces challenging decisions about his identity – and his relationship with his wife and young son.
Hired to design a civic landmark for the Chilean capitol city, Bruno struggles with the commission. His uncertainty about how to proceed professionally is paralleled by his personal grappling.
Offering no easy answers, this tenderly told tale of sexual discovery has earned comparisons to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend for its beautifully realized portrayal of two men in love. Variety called In the Grayscale “A measured, tenderly played study of imprecise sexual identity.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it a “wonderfully complex character study.” The film also won the Jury Award for Best First Feature at the Frameline San Francisco LGBT Film Festival and the Ibero-American Debut Award at the Miami International Film Festival.
“The Blue Hour” can mean the time between day and night, a realm between dream and reality, or a point between good and evil. Based on a true story, The Blue Hour from director Anucha Boonyawatana is all about the relationship between a boy, who is pressured by his family, and a mysterious young man who will lead him into horrifying situations.
A sexy supernatural love story about a bullied loner, Tam (Attapun Poonsawad), who finds solace in the arms of Phum (Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang), a boy he meets at a haunted swimming pool. Phum reveals that his family’s land has been stolen and the new found lovers imagine a perfect life together on the disputed land. Haunted by a ghostly presence, Tam struggles to stay connected to reality.
An official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival, The Blue Hour is a dark atmospheric tale of love and distress.
Born in Nakhon Phanom, a North-Eastern Province of Thailand, in 1981, Anucha Boonyawatana is a Thai independent film director and also founder of G-Motif Production, one of the largest video production company in Thailand. His thesis film “Down the River”, combination of Buddhist philosophy and Thai art and a love story of a gay couple, won Young Thai Artist Award and has been shown at several film festivals. He collaborated with TUC, Thai-American Public Health Agency (under the US government) and UNESCO to direct the online movie “Love Audition1, 2” aim to promote health and relationships among Thai gay teenagers. In 2012, his short film “Erotic Fragments No.1, 2, 3” was screened in competition at Berlinale Shorts of the 62th Berlin International Film Festival. The Blue Hour is his first feature film.
Check out the trailer for The Blue Hour below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.
