Category: International Film

Short Film Spotlight: Adjustment

From director Mehrdad Hasani and screenwriter Farzad Ahmadi, this challenging new 16-minute drama tells a story about one child’s bravery in the face of major adversity.

Adjustment follows Shahrokh, a 9-year-old boy who isn’t afraid to play around with his gender expression, despite constant bullying from other kids and aggressive pressure from within his own deeply religious family.

Though he’s been humiliated, pushed aside and victimized, Shahrokh stands firm in his identity. He decides to come out to the people of his village. Having been through a variety or ordeals, Shahrokh shows up or school dressed in girl’s clothes.

While he has an uphill battle ahead, he finds an unlikely ally in his male teacher, learning that being yourself is always the right move – despite anyone else’s reaction.

Watch the trailer for Adjustment below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Dekkoo Presents: The Summertime Sizzle Collection

Summer may be in full swing, but we’re about to turn up the heat even more!

With a diverse selection of feature-length films from around the globe, The Summertime Sizzle Collection is practically guaranteed to make you break a sweat.

Grab your swim trunks and get ready to hit the beach with these seasonally-appropriate gems – featuring men juggling their attractions, falling in love or getting straight-up down and dirty in gorgeous locales under the hot summer sun.

Included are the films Dry Wind, 8 Years, Gameboys: The Movie, Hawaii, He Loves Me, Jess & James, Longhorns, Orpheus’ Song, Screwed and These Peculiar Days.

The Summertime Sizzle Collection is available now to all Dekkoo subscribers!

Now Available: Holding the Man

Based on the beloved and hugely successful memoir and stage play of the same name, Holding the Man tells the warm, funny and achingly sad story of the love affair between Timothy Conigrave and John Caleo, who met when they were teenagers at Xavier College in Melbourne in the 1970s.

Tim (Ryan Corr) was an aspiring actor. John (Craig Stott) was captain of the football team. Their romance lasted 15 years and endured a good many trials. When John died of AIDS at 33, Tim was forbidden to speak at his lover’s funeral. He set out to write a memoir about their relationship that would show the depth of tenderness they shared.

Featuring moving performances by lead actors Corr and Stott, Holding the Man also includes some legendary Australian actors in supporting roles. Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Fox, Geoffrey Rush and “Succession” star Sarah Snook are all on hand to lend their talent to this powerful true story.

Deeply romantic, even in its tragic denouement, Holding the Man is keenly in touch with the lived experience of its characters, offering a loving tribute to those we lost during the AIDS crisis while celebrating a relationship that blossomed and endured in the face of prejudice and adversity.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Dylan Dylan

A gorgeously-crafted 16-minute short film from French writer-director Sylvain Coisne, Dylan Dylan is a profoundly emotional relationship drama set in the aftermath of a devastating loss.

Matthieu Dahan and Vincent Marie star as Yanis and Hugo, a married gay couple who are coping with the recent death of their four-year-old son. Though both men are in great pain, they deal with their grief in different ways.

It remains to be seen whether or not the tragedy will ultimately bring them closer together or widen the gulf that seems to be growing between them. As the pair try to regain some sense of normalcy, the outside world interferes with their grieving process in cruel and insensitive ways.

As Yanis and Hugo realize they have become the victims of a hateful, homophobic act of vandalism, they also find themselves the interest of a pair of documentarians whose motives are not entirely clear.

Dylan Dylan offers no easy answers or pat resolutions – there never are any in the face of such tragedy. Instead, the film tackles the grieving process with compassion and unflinching honesty.

Check out the poster for Dylan Dylan below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Sublime

How do you avoid losing something precious when it’s the very thing tearing you up inside?

Whether he’s writing music with his garage band buddies, having dinner with his family or sneaking off into the woods with his girlfriend, 16-year-old Manu (Martín Miller) is never quite present. He’s consumed by a secret that’s been eating him up inside.

In his dreams, Manu and his best friend Felipe (Teo Inama Chiabrando) lie in bed together, staring longingly into one another’s eyes while inching closer and closer together. Though they never kiss, the desire is clear. That desire simmers beneath the surface of writer-director Mariano Biasin’s moving new coming-of-age drama Sublime.

Featuring beautiful cinematography, an exceptional soundtrack and palpable chemistry between lead actors Miller and Inama Chiabrando, this award-winning new film follows one teen whose affection for his best friend can only stay suppressed for so long.

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