Category: International Film

Two former lovers reunite in paradise in the colorful new romance 8 Years

The debut feature of Spanish writer-director JD Alcázar, 8 Years is a sexy and bittersweet gay romance set against a gorgeous, sun-soaked tropical paradise.

Jose and David (Miguel Diosdado and Carlos Mestanza) were once deeply in love. For seven years, their romance grew and blossomed, through highs and lows – before they ultimately broke up.

Months later, haunted by memories of their past, the former couple visit the island of La Palma, where they originally met for the first time. Wanting to celebrate what would have been their eighth anniversary, they plan to explore new places together with the hopes of forging a friendship out of the dying embers of their old love.

But Jose and David didn’t expect the complicated emotions that would awaken between them throughout a journey full of enigmatic characters and sublime landscapes.

Watch the trailer for 8 Years below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Brothers

Filmed in both France and Russia in 2015, Brothers is an frenetically-paced dark comedy about one gay couple’s alarming and deeply absurd existential crisis.

When boyfriends Damien and Francois attend a brunch, they’re dismayed to learn that the host doesn’t think they look like a couple. Wondering what that could possibly mean, Francois begins to spiral.

When the pair take an impromptu sightseeing vacation to Moscow, they fear being persecuted for their sexuality and decide to tell people that they are brothers. When strangers begin informing them that they don’t look like brothers, Francois’s frantic emotions lead him down an increasingly dangerous path.

Directed with great pathos by Robert Ly, Brothers offers up a strange and bleakly funny cautionary tale about caring too much what other people think.

Brothers is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: The Phantom of the Sauna

The Phantom of the Opera gets a proudly gay reimagining in this playful new feature film from Spanish writer-director Luis Navarrete.

Nestor Goenaga stars in The Phantom of the Sauna as Javi, a young rent boy in need of work. When he arrives at his local bathhouse, his first priority is not to find a quick encounter, but gainful employment. What he doesn’t anticipate discovering within the establishment’s steamy, illicit walls, however, is love… and murder!

A true unadulterated pleasure from start to finish, The Phantom of the Sauna is a clever, colorful and gloriously exuberant gay musical – replete with a drag queen chorus who revel in celebrating the joys of the male body… and hot gay sex.

Come for the boys and stay for all of the extra cheeky fun!

Watch the trailer for The Phantom of the Sauna below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Gift

A mysterious, sexually-charged 17-minute short film from Brazil, The Gift follows Zeca, played by Luiz Felipe Bianchini.

Opening with his narration, we learn that he is lonely – searching night after night for a lover who has yet to appear. When he cuts out of work to buy his sister a birthday present, he instead meets up with Lino, an attractive stranger played by Fabricio Licursi.

The two men share a strange sexual encounter in an empty apartment. Later, when Zeca arrives at his sister’s birthday party, he gets an unexpected surprise of his own.

Filming in a spare, naturalistic style, director Daniel Wierman breaks up scenes of mundane, day-to-day activities with sublimely-staged eroticism. The Gift doesn’t offer much in the way of narrative – if anything, the film ends up leaving audiences with more questions than answers – but it does an excellent job presenting the feelings and deep interior worlds of the characters.

Watch a short, tension-filled trailer for The Gift below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the achingly beautiful gay romance A Moment in the Reeds

Taking a break from his studies in Paris, Leevi (Janne Puustinen) returns to his family’s summer cottage in Finland to help his father with renovations.

When the dad, a bitter man, unreconciled to his wife’s death and to his son’s sexuality, is called to the city on business, Leevi is left alone to supervise Tareq (Boodi Kabbani), a Syrian refugee trying to forge a new life.

As Leevi and Tareq get to spend some private time together, things take an unexpected turn.

From director Mikko Makela, A Moment in the Reeds is a sexy romantic drama, unfolding like a summer flower, drifting placidly along on a current of natural beauty and eroticism.

As Leevi and Tareq share their hopes and their bodies, the film lets us intimately observe every lovely and telling moment. The film artfully reveals the clash of cultures and dreams that transpire during this summer idyll – one that will alter the character’s lives forever.

Watch the trailer for A Moment in the Reeds below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Santa & Andrés

Set in Cuba during the 1980s, Santa & Andrés follows two outsiders who form an unexpected bond.

Eduardo Martinez stars as Andrés, a provocative openly gay novelist who has been banned from writing another word by the Cuban government. With a political rally coming up, they intend to keep Andrés under close scrutiny in order to prevent him from communicating with the press. Enter Santa, played by Lola Amores. She is sent to Andrés’ countryside home to watch over him for the next three days.

Despite their mutual distrust and suspicion, the pair find themselves quietly questioning their allegiances and ultimately coming to understand one another.

In a case of “life imitating art, imitating life,” the film was banned in Cuba and pulled from the Havana Film Festival shortly before it was set to premiere, despite the fact that writer-director Carlos Lechuga had been selected as an award recipient.

Though it’s set nearly 40 years ago, Santa & Andres delivers a thoughtful and still completely relevant rumination on the notions of political censorship, hatred and intolerance.

Watch the trailer for Santa & Andres below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.