Category: Gay Icon

Théodore Pellerin and Félix Maritaud star in the irresistible romantic drag drama ‘Solo’

Théodore Pellerin stars in Solo as Simon, a rising star in Montreal’s drag scene who vibrates with the passion of his adopted artistic community.

Performing lively disco pop numbers weekly at his local club, he’s friendly with his fellow drag queens and supported by his sister, who delights in designing increasingly elaborate and beautiful costumes for his act.

When he meets Oliver, an alluring new recruit played by French BPM and Sauvage/Wild heartthrob Félix Maritaud, their irresistible chemistry sparks an electric romance and a fulfilling creative collaboration. Their dynamic is mesmerizing and tender until Oliver’s dominant instincts and destructive behavior jeopardize Simon’s space in the spotlight.

Simon has plenty of experience with tempestuous personalities – his mother, a bona fide opera diva, is back in his life after years on the road – but can he get out from under the shadow of their influence?

Beautifully charting the highs and lows of falling in love and finding yourself in art, writer-director Sophie Dupuis’s Solo is a passionate feat of character-driven storytelling and visual extravagance, celebrating the drag world in all its splendor and heartache.

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

Muffy Blake Stephyns slays D.C. in the illuminating documentary ‘Queen of the Capital’

Bureaucrat by day and drag queen crusader by night, Muffy Blake Stephyns has high aspirations.

Muffy and her everyday persona, Daniel, must navigate her bureaucratic day job at the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, all while balancing her role in the Imperial Court of Washington DC, a philanthropic organization full of drag queens, drag kings and other vibrant performers.

Every year, the court elects an emperor and an empress. Drawing on experience as a former political consultant, Muffy spends a year campaigning for the title.

Documentary filmmaker Josh Davidsburg follows all of the action in the feature-length film Queen of the Capital, illuminating the thriving Washington D.C. drag scene and exploring the story of one individual on a colorful crusade for the community at large – who also finds time to be funny as hell along the way.

Watch the trailer for Queen of the Capital below. The full documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution’ examines the 1980s LGBTQ+ punk scene

Started in the 1980s as a fabricated movement intended to ‘punk’ the punk scene, Queercore quickly became a real-life cultural community of LGBTQ music and movie-making revolutionaries.

With this frank and fascinating feature-length documentary, director Yony Leyser (the filmmaker behind Chokehole, Desire Will Set You Free and William S. Burroughs: A Man Within) chronicles the start of the pseudo-movement through to the widespread rise of pop artists who used queer identity to push back against gay assimilation and homophobic punk culture.

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution is just what the title suggests: a ‘how-to-do-it’ guide for the next generation of queer radicals. The extensive participant list includes Bruce LaBruce, G.B. Jones, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, John Waters, Justin Vivian Bond, Lynn Breedlove, Silas Howard, Pansy Division, Penny Arcade, Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon, Deke Elash, Tom Jennings, Team Dresch and many, many more.

Watch the trailer for Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

The New Queer Cinema classic ‘Young Soul Rebels’ comes home to Dekkoo

Young Soul Rebels, a 1991 classic from maverick New Queer Cinema director Isaac Julien, has been restored to its original director’s cut in a stunning new 4K version overseen by Julien and director of photography Nina Kelgren.

Set in East London in 1977 – just days before Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee – the film revolves around underground DJs Chris and Caz, who find their worlds rocked when a close friend is murdered in a queer hook-up park.

Their tight-knit local Black community suspects potential right-wing involvement, while the police point fingers at Chris as the prime suspect.

Winner of the Critic’s Prize at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, Young Soul Rebels has gone on to earn even more critical acclaim in the time since its release.

With pulsating energy and an unforgettable soundtrack, Julien examines race clashes and the interaction between cultural youth movements – namely skinheads, punks and soul boys – along with the social, political and cultural tensions between them.

Still as relevant today, we’re thrilled to introduce Young Soul Rebels – back and looking better than ever – to a whole new generation.

Watch a trailer for the new restoration below. Young Soul Rebels is now available on Dekkoo.

An accomplished figure skater reveals his truth in the documentary ‘Go Figure: The Randy Gardner Story’

In Go Figure: The Randy Gardner Story, two-time Olympian and World Champion, the legendary Randy Gardner, explores his true identity through figure skating and his own one man show.

With his skating partner of over fifty years, Tai Babilonia, the pair experienced the heights of worldwide glory and devastating personal tragedy.

Now that the intense glare of the public spotlight has softened, he is free to finally reveal his untold magical and meaningful journey… both on and off the ice.

Go Figure: The Randy Gardner Story is a moving film filled with family secrets, closeted sexuality and the price that one gifted and wildly accomplished man paid to keep everything quiet.

Watch a short trailer for Go Figure: The Randy Gardner Story below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

New This Week – 6/10/22

Director Oskar Roehler and revelatory star Oliver Masucci bring to the screen the story of prolific German New Wave filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder – following his early days in the theater through to his reign as one of Europe’s most daring and original visionaries. ‘Enfant Terrible’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

Mirna and Pablo start a friendship framed in reflections about identity, loneliness and death during the 1990s in Chile. From writer-director Manu Morales Contreras, ‘Eyeshadow’ is a story about fellowship and the HIV/AIDS crisis inspired by the literary works of Pedro Lemebel. Watch ‘Eyeshadow’ now on Dekkoo!

In season 2 of the Dekkoo-original series ‘Here Comes Your Man’ Aaron tries to navigate his causal relationship with Julio somewhere more serious. Meanwhile, Jordan settles into Omaha Nebraska to record his album. Dustin becomes entangled in an online romance while Cassie reignites her romance with Malcolm.

Watch the trailer for Season 2 now!

Watch Here Comes Your Man Season 1 only on Dekkoo!

New This Week – 5/13/22

***EPISODES 21 – 24 ARE AVAILABLE NOW***

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. New episodes of ‘Bad Boy’ are available now on Dekkoo!

A romantic dinner turns into a ludicrous disaster when Bruno, an anxious psychology student, has to lie to his control-freak boyfriend about what really happened during his PhD’s entrance interview earlier that day. A short, 20-minute comedy – drama from French director Maxime S. Girard. Watch ‘The PhD’ now on Dekkoo!

Jobriath’s legacy goes deeper than the labels hung upon him. His reign was brief – two years and two albums. Sabotaged by a publicity machine run amok and dismissed by critics, Jobriath was excommunicated from the music business, and became an early casualty of AIDS. Now new generations of fans have discovered him. Through interviews, archival material and animation, experience the heartbreaking, unbelievable story of the one, the only, Jobriath. Stream ‘Jobriath A.D.’ now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: The Perfect David.

New This Week – 4/28/22

What begins as a friendship turns into a fierce and complicated romance in this heart-wrenching prison drama about two men who meet behind bars and try to make their relationship work outside of lock-up. ‘Luz’ is a story of survival, not only for the lives of both men, but for their relationship and the unconventional way it came together. ‘Luz’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

In this short film from director Anderson Bardot, a contemporary dance company is about to debut “The Uninhabitable Ones,” its newest performance which addresses black homosexuality as its theme. Running parallel to the rehearsals, the choreographer builds a friendship with Pedro, a black youth who no longer wishes to identify as “a boy.” Stream ‘The Uninhabitable Ones’ now on Dekkoo!

This truly joyous documentary follows groundbreaking filmmaker and poet James Broughton. His remarkable story spans the post-war San Francisco Renaissance, his influence on the Beat generation, a lifetime of acclaim for his joyous experimental films and poetry celebrating the human body, finding his soulmate at age 61, and finally, his ascendancy as a revered bard of sexual liberation. ‘Big Joy’ is streaming now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: Those Bears are back!