Category: International Film

Opposites attract in ‘Norwegian Dream,’ a romantic drama from the frozen shores of Scandinavia

Set in and around a fish factory in Trondheim, Norway, director Leiv Igor Devold’s Norwegian Dream follows two young men with completely different backgrounds and life experiences meet and fall into a cautious flirtation.

The men in question are Robert (Hubert Miłkowski), a hard-working Polish immigrant, and Ivar (Karl Bekele Steinland), the charismatic, adopted son of a wealthy business owner.

Amidst the conveyor belts, an unexpected relationship develops. Robert struggles to save his mother from financial troubles, while Ivar dreams of a life different from what his family expects of him. However, when Robert realizes that his growing bond with Ivar affects his standing among the other Polish workers, who are considering a strike, he begins to distance himself.

Can their growing love compete against the forces conspiring to keep them apart?

A heartwarming romantic drama from the frozen shores of Scandinavia, Norwegian Dream thoughtfully explores themes of cultural alienation, economic inequality, the search for sexual identity and the ways that opposites sometimes attract.

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

Short Film Spotlight: The Call

At almost 15 minutes, The Call – a moving short film produced in partnership with the UK-based charity Switchboard LGBT+ – is not to your typical advertisement or PSA.

Directed by Jordan Rossi, the film is a carefully balanced work that shows the breadth of support the charity offers, while tenderly touching upon the experiences faced by many young queer people today.

Adam Ali stars in The Call as Amir, a prospective university student struggling with their sexuality. They end up calling Switchboard for advice and connection at three crucial moments.

With each phone call, we see Amir take steps on their own personal journey towards self-acceptance. The film also shows some of the vital work that helpline volunteers undertake daily while exploring contemporary themes surrounding LGBTQ+ culture and unravelling truths about the community from a wide range of topics.

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

‘Hearstone’ is a beautiful and affecting drama about two boys coming-of-age in Iceland

The years-long friendship between two pre-teen boys is threatened when they strike up romantic relationships with a pair of local girls in this in the affecting and beautifully crafted coming-of-age drama from Icelandic director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson.

Set in a small village in rural Iceland, Heartstone follows Thor and Christian (Baldur Einarsson and Blaer Hinriksson), best friends whose home lives are unsatisfactory, to say the least.

Thor is ruthlessly mocked by his elder sisters, while his mother can’t be bothered to hide her frustration at having to sacrifice her pleasure for the sake of her children. While Thor suffers from absentee parenting, Christian’s drunken and abusive father is, unfortunately for him, all too present. The events that follow threaten to destroy the longest and most meaningful connection of their young lives.

Evincing a real feeling for how kids relate to one another, Heartstone is a piercingly honest portrait of adolescent sexuality that effortlessly and evocatively portrays small-town life in Iceland.

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

A Halloween party takes some wild turns in the gay romance ‘Love Bites’ – a Dekkoo Exclusive!

Just out of their teens, Liam and Anatole (Lyad Smain and Roman Freud) were in the throes of an exciting new relationship… until they had a small fight and Anatole ended all contact.

With Anatole having almost completely disappeared, Liam finds himself confused and heartbroken. He simply can’t accept the breakup. And, since his boyfriend doesn’t reply to his calls or text messages, he decides to sneak into a Halloween party organized by one of Anatole’s friends to try and patch things up.

The wild night that ensues will test the true feelings of both young men while forcing them to confront some hard inner truths once and for all.

Winner of the Memorial Award for ‘Best Love Story’ at the ReelOut Film Festival, Love Bites – originally titled Dracula is in Love – is a winning comedy-drama from French director Lameo Flores. It’s also one of the rare Halloween-set movies that delivers tons of seasonal fun and aesthetics without all those pesky scares.

Watch the trailer for Love Bites below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Love’s Green Patch

Set over a few days during a particularly hot summer, Love’s Green Patch, a 15-minute student film from India, follows best friends Raja and Deva. The pair are so close to one another that they often find themselves sharing a twin bed.

Though their relationship is entirely platonic, they still catch some misunderstanding glances from their fellow housemates.

After rejecting the advances of a local girl, Raja finally feels comfortable enough to come out to his best friend. Though he’s initially supportive, Deva starts to worry what other people will think about their affection for one another.

Breaking away one night, he does some soul searching and realizes that it’s time to make some tough decisions. Most importantly: what color should they paint their room?

Packed with an equal amount of heart and sexual tension, Love’s Green Patch shows that true friendship can weather any storm.

Watch the trailer for Love’s Green Patch below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Genetica

A moving 15-minute short from Israeli filmmaker Chen Shahuda, Genetica follows Hemi, a 15-year-old boy who is taking swimming lessons… despite having zero interest in learning how to swim.

In spite of this, he is encouraged to continue with the lessons by his macho conservative father. Returning home one day, he stumbles upon a small dance studio and his finds that his interest is suddenly piqued.

After meeting Dani, a flirtatious a Russian dancer, between classes, the direction in which his heart is pulling him becomes all to clear.

When Hemi’s father discovers, however, that his son has been stealing money for dance classes, his newfound passion is quickly called into question.

Genetica is a bittersweet drama about following your heart, no matter what obstacles may present themselves.

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

Former lovers get a second chance at first love in the tender romance ‘Since the Last Time We Met’

Two men get a second chance at first love in Since the Last Time We Met, a stylish and sexy romantic drama from Argentine writer-director Matías De Leis Correa.

Fifteen years after they last saw one another, Victor and David (Patricio Arellano and Esteban Recagno) are reunited by chance – reviving the clandestine love they shared when they were younger.

Victor could never get over the wound that David inflicted by disappearing so suddenly, and his feelings are made even more complicated now that David is married.

As their lives intertwine once again, the two men struggle with their deep longing for one another, knowing that every time they meet might well be the last.

Since the Last Time We Met tells a heartfelt story of modern relationships, rekindled passions and reconnecting with a lost love.

Watch the trailer for Since the Last Time We Met below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

An Argentine actor navigates the rough waters of New York City in ‘Nobody’s Watching’

From screenwriter Christina Lazaridi and co-writer/director Julia Solomonoff, Nobody’s Watching follows Nico (Guillermo Pfening), the handsome young star of a popular soap opera in his native Argentina.

At the height of a blossoming career, Nico suddenly and mysteriously leaves home to pursue an acting career in New York. But the promise of film work and a permanent visa evaporates as Nico – too blond to play Latino, too heavily accented to play anything else – finds himself working odd jobs and becoming more desperate, socially and financially.

Ultimately, he must confront the real reasons he left Argentina and take steps toward reclaiming a sense of his own worth.

Nobody’s Watching smartly observes the subtle boundaries that define class, race and opportunity in contemporary America, while shining a light on the immigrant experience and the role that perceived failures can play as stepping stones to self-discovery.

Watch the trailer for Nobody’s Watching below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.