Category: International Film

  • Short Film Spotlight: Bubble Gum

    Short Film Spotlight: Bubble Gum

    Shooting in black and white, writer-director Karina Grinstein pays tribute to classic silent films while giving them a modern spin with her 12-minute short film Bubble Gum.

    Channeling Buster Keaton, Mariano Rojo stars as David, a single 23-year-old who finds himself deeply unsatisfied with his love life. Everywhere he looks, David seems to find happy couples in his line of vision, but he just can’t seem to find the right match for himself.

    When he spots a potential female suitor on the streets, he makes great efforts just to avoid her. Despite her advances, she’s clearly not the one. But when he accidentally bumps into an attractive, bearded young professional, something about their passing moment together feels entirely different.

    Though they quickly part ways, it seems that his whole world suddenly has more color – both literally and figuratively. When the two young men happen upon each other once again, it becomes clear that the feelings are mutual.

    Watch the trailer for Bubble Gum below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

  • Dekkoo Digest – 148

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

    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.

  • Dekkoo Digest 147

  • A respected soldier falls for a young recruit in the searing gay military drama ‘Eismayer’

    A respected soldier falls for a young recruit in the searing gay military drama ‘Eismayer’

    Sergeant Major Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) is known and feared as the toughest training officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. Ruthless with recruits, he is seemingly unwavering in his ideas about discipline, order and presenting an image of macho toughness.

    When he starts to fall in love with Falak (Luka Dimic), a new recruit who unashamedly embraces his homosexuality, Eismayer’s closeted existence is shaken to the core.

    To a man like Eismayer, loving another man cannot be reconciled with the understanding of what a model soldier should be. Will he choose to protect his badass tough guy image over all else… or can he follow his heart and his true desire?

    Inspired by an incredible true story, director David Wagner’s Eismayer is a hard-hitting queer love story set against a modern military backdrop.

    A powerful film about coming out, gay love, toxic masculinity, traditional gender roles, fear and friendship, Eismayer aims to tear down your preconceptions and assumptions about masculinity and strength before rebuilding them in a whole new way.

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

  • Dekkoo Digest – 146

  • ‘Room for a Man’ is a deeply personal, remarkably assured doc about identity and sexuality

    ‘Room for a Man’ is a deeply personal, remarkably assured doc about identity and sexuality

    One of the first things that writer, director and documentary subject Anthony Chidiac confesses in his deeply personal film Room for a Man, is that he is paralyzed by fear. He finds the very concept of life in the outside world overwhelming.

    Chidiac lives with his mother, a French teacher, in Beirut, and rarely leaves the house. His home is a refuge, but in some respects it’s also a prison. To Anthony, the outside world feels like a hostile environment. That’s partly because of his sexuality – something that his own family refuses to accept. His mom wanted him to become a notary, so that he would earn a lot of money and become ‘a real man.’ But that’s not how he sees himself.

    When his bedroom undergoes a renovation, much to his mother’s dismay, Syrian construction workers arrive to do the remodeling. As they peel away at the walls, Anthony engages them in an exploration of his own identity and sexuality within the confines of the apartment.

    As the construction workers come and go in the freshly embattled household, unexpected passions get stirred. Through the process of renovation – and the making of this film – Anthony finally begins to blossom and embrace his own identity.

    Though he may suffer from insecurities, his filmmaking is remarkably self-assured. Room for a Man is a courageous, stylish and ultimately life-affirming cinematic experiment.

    Watch a short trailer for Room for a Man below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

  • Dekkoo Digest – 145

  • Dekkoo Digest – 144

  • Two young men from different backgrounds come together in the sexy Italian romance ‘Empty’

    Two young men from different backgrounds come together in the sexy Italian romance ‘Empty’

    Italian writer-director Giovanni Carpanzano’s feature-length debut, Empty follows two incredibly handsome young men in love who come from different worlds.

    Giorgio (Gianluca Galati) is the first-born son of a wealthy and prominent Italian lawyer. Marco (Kevin Di Sole) comes from a much more modest family and has been struggling to emancipate himself from his small provincial town.

    Both young men dream of an overwhelming love and above all to emerge from their current circumstances into something greater. The powerful force that attracts them to one another will also fuel them in their fight to stay together.

    Sexy, thought-provoking and deeply emotional, Empty examines two lovers at a crossroads and the overwhelming and unexpected love that pushes them.

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