Category: International Film

Short Film Spotlight: Impulses

Two very different individuals settle into one romantic unit in the sexy new short film Impulses, a visually striking work from Argentine filmmaker Juan Mirarchi.

Playing out like a dark tone poem, the film follows a writer named Joaquin, who, burdened by anxiety and self-doubt, struggles to embrace the romantic and emotional vulnerability that presents itself when he starts living with Gabriel, his seemingly perfect new boyfriend.

What, at first, seems like it may be a case of obsessive interpersonal attachment soon reveals itself as simple post-commitment jitters blown way out of proportion.

The actors bare both body and soul in this tender and thought-provoking short relationship drama.

Watch a short teaser for Impulses below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Mismatched roommates become unexpected allies in the sly British dramedy ‘Makeup’

When two people are brought together from completely different walks of life, it can make for awkward circumstances, especially when they both have their secrets.

Making his feature debut, writer-director Hugo Andre also stars in the film Makeup as Sacha, an introverted French food critic who travels to London. Moving into a rented room in a house belonging to Dan (Will Masheter), a well-respected stockbroker, they fall into a classic “Odd Couple” dynamic.

As time goes on, Dan attempts to hide his aspirations of becoming a burlesque dancer from those who perceive him as an alpha male. Despite their differences, Sacha and Dan soon become pillars of support in each other’s lives.

A winner of 15 different awards at film festivals around the globe – including ‘Directorial Debut by a Young Film Maker’ at the London International Film Festival – Makeup is a stirring drama about the unlikely friendship that forms between the hidden personalities of two distinct characters.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Many Happy Returns

André (Vitor Rocha) is about to turn twenty-five years old. Extremely worried about his future – and about the uncertainties of life in general – he’s not even able to celebrate.

At his birthday party, before blowing out the candles, he wishes for time to stop passing. To his great surprise, his wish comes true. The next morning – and over the next several – he finds that the day has repeated. It’s still, perhaps always, his twenty-fifth birthday once again.

Suddenly André finds that he has eternal youth, the absence of problems and the liberty to do just about anything he wants without the fear of consequences. When he learns, however, that time has stopped passing only for him, what seemed to be a dream come true morphs into a nightmare.

Now he must go back in time – one last time – and correct his past while learning how to enjoy the present without worrying too much about the future.

Taking obvious inspiration from Groundhog Day, Many Happy Returns is a clever short musical comedy about learning to appreciate the time you’re in – no matter how old you may be.

Watch the trailer for Many Happy Returns below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

A young man looks for new connections in the provocative Dekkoo Exclusive ‘In Ashes’

Spanning the five-year period after an intense break-up, In Ashes is an arresting drama and an unconventional coming-of-age tale.

Christian (Rex Leonard), a twenty-something gay man, is trying to get over the heartbreak of his first love. Looking for meaningful connections through emotionless online dating apps, he goes through a whirlwind of experiences. His passion gives way to obsession as he sets out on an intense journey to find new love… and possibly himself along the way.

A deeply personal, semi-autobiographical film from prolific Danish director Ludvig Christian Næsted Poulsen, In Ashes tells a modern story about the search for love, offering up a raw and unflinchingly honest portrait of one young gay man’s quest to find his way in life.

Watch the trailer for In Ashes below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Blue Angel

Set in the 1990s, director René Pereyra’s 35-minute short The Blue Angel tells the story of a nightclub that is on the brink of disappearing.

Porfirio, an HIV positive man, returns home to run the night club, when he meets a fortuitously-named patron that will alter the course of his life forever.

Part drama, part dark comedy, the film takes place in a small, turbulent Mexican town full of insecure men and tells a poignant story about homophobia and machismo posturing that conceals a burgeoning homosexuality.

Inspired by director Peter Bogdonovich’s 1971 classic The Last Picture Show, Pereyra made the film to shine light on what he sees as a very real and continuing problem in Mexican society.

Watch the trailer for The Blue Angel below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the acclaimed gay romantic comedy ‘Perfect Endings’ – a new Dekkoo Exclusive!

Following up his crowd-pleasing, critically-acclaimed 2014 romance The Way He Looks, Brazilian writer-director Daniel Ribeiro returns with the endearing, sexy and far more grown up sophomore feature Perfect Endings.

Perfect Endings stars Artur Volpi as João, a struggling filmmaker who is fresh off of a 10-year-long relationship and ready to dive back into single dating life.

With the support of his hilarious besties, João rides the oh-so-relatable rollercoaster of emotions as he tries to find himself and his voice as a filmmaker while navigating the ups and downs of hook-up culture and rebound romance.

João begins to take charge of his destiny, intermingling the scenes from his dating life into his screenwriting and swiftly blurring the lines between the two. But can we really write our way to a perfect ending? Or do we have to surrender to serendipity? His earnest search for fulfillment through love and creativity’s battlefield leads us on a heartwarming journey to an unexpected, sweetly satisfying and very erotic ending that lives up to the title.

Watch the trailer for Perfect Endings below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo!

Don’t miss the romantic comedy ‘Who Wants to Marry an Astronaut’ – A new Dekkoo Exclusive!

David (Raúl Tejón Sánchez), a marriage-obsessed gay man, is forced to choose between his matrimony-adverse boyfriend and the stranger who agrees to simulate a spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding.

As the universe doles out destiny, everyone in David’s orbit gets swept up in the adventure. Egged on by his best girlfriend and a mother who is so hands-on that she has a fake Grindr profile to track his movements, David takes the leap, booking his flight from Barcelona to Vegas.

The trip is only meant to be a lark – a way to satisfy his matrimonial fever so he can settle into his 15-year relationship. But when he meets potential fake groom Esteban (Raúl Fernández de Pablo), downtrodden David’s future becomes as bright and chaotic as the Vegas strip itself.

Esteban’s joie de vivre and generous attention gives David the confidence that he has been lacking. Suddenly realizing that he is worthy of love, he begins to see a new version of himself through Esteban’s dreamy eyes. Now all he has left to do is decide with whom he’ll be walking down the aisle.

Loosely based on true events, Spanish director David Matamoros’s Who Wants to Marry an Astronaut is a heartwarming and splashy ode to classic romantic comedies.

Watch the trailer for Who Wants to Marry an Astronaut below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

A queer filmmaker visits a sleepy seaside village in the French rom-com ‘My Life with James Dean’

Still pining for his ex-boyfriend, aloof filmmaker Géraud (Johnny Rasse) has travelled to a seaside town along the North Coast of France to present his newest experimental feature.

The only person keen on seeing Géraud’s new film, however, is Balthazar (Mickaël Pelissier), the local theater’s young projectionist, who becomes increasingly more smitten by the handsome director.

With charm, sex appeal, a fondness for slapstick humor and a subtle homage to the films of Eric Rohmer, this sophisticated romantic comedy from writer/director Dominique Choisy follows several different characters through hotel rooms and nearly empty movie theatres across Normandy as they go to ridiculous extremes in the name of passion. With great reserves of optimism and hope, they keep chasing their romantic feelings, even when the results aren’t entirely what they expected.

Watch the trailer for My Life with James Dean below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘This is Ballroom’ takes a backstage look at the Brazilian drag and queer performance scene

Conceived in New York during the 1960s, when two Black queens left the white-dominated pageant contests behind to create their own scene, ballroom culture has long been a space of freedom, expression, and transgression.

Some fifty years later, the ballroom scene in Brazil is thriving, with houses across the country teaching the art of shade.

Directed by queer Brazilian artists Juru and Vitã, This Is Ballroom stages a real-life ball in a city warehouse. Riotously soundtracked, the film only pauses for breath to illuminate the lives of its trans-led cast. Away from the glitz of the dance floor, these interviews reveal simmering racial and gender tensions.

Capturing the spirit of a new, emerging generation, This Is Ballroom celebrates this energetic subculture as a bounteous and transformative space for queer people of color.

Watch the trailer for This is Ballroom below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the gripping, sexually-charged new Dekkoo Exclusive ‘The Pleasure is Mine’

Antonio (Max Suen), a streetwise hustler and small-time drug pusher, wanders through Buenos Aires in search of money and sex.

His morals tossed aside, Antonio weaponizes his charisma, conjuring sexual relations with a laundry list of clientele… and stealing from them as they sleep. Only his tempestuous mother provides the force that may one day push him to leave the city in search of a new way of life and alternative forms of happiness.

An irreverent, compelling and sexually charged debut feature from Brazilian writer-director Sacha Amaral, The Pleasure is Mine offers up a searing, slow-motion portrait of hedonism and discovery.

Watch the trailer for The Pleasure is Mine below. The film is now available exclusively on Dekkoo!