Category: International Film

Now Available: Beyond the Walls

From director David Lambert, Beyond the Walls is a wonderfully acted and taut romantic drama about two outsiders whose quick-moving affair faces some serious complications.

Paolo (Matila Malliarakis) is a gangly, long-haired man-boy, older than he looks. He lives with his stern, untrusting girlfriend, Anka (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin) who is sure he will soon give in to his homosexual urges.

Rugged Albanian-immigrant bartender Ilir (Guillaume Gouix) works in a neighborhood bar. After a night of partying with friends, Ilir takes a drunken Paolo to his place to recover. A sexual relationship begins, but Paolo’s girl, tired of his infidelities, throws him out.

Now, the two young men slowly open up and begin an intense, romantic affair. When one is arrested for drug possession and imprisoned – and the other is tempted into a relationship with another man – the stress threatens their nascent love.

A serious drama about intimacy, separation, manipulation and trust, Beyond the Walls is made all the more remarkable by the two lead actors’ positively fearless performances.

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

New This Week – 7/22/22

Did you know that we have a weekly YouTube show called The Dekkoo Digest that discusses all the films added to Dekkoo that week. It’s a helpful guide to learn about the films we’re programming. Plus, our host Ross is cute as a button!

Check out the latest episode and be sure to visit out YouTube channel every Friday for new updates. Or, you can just check back here. We’ll be sure to link to them.

New This Week – 7/15/22

When Paulo, a young pianist, meets Ilir, a bass player, they quickly fall in love. The pair soon end up living together, but when Ilir leaves town for a concert and ends up in jail, their relationship faces almost insurmountable obstacles. From prolific writer-director David Lambert, ‘Beyond the Walls’ is a heartbreaking examination of the thrills, sacrifices and disappointments of falling in love. Watch ‘Beyond the Walls’ on Dekkoo!

During a seaside vacation, ten-year-old Remi finds himself becoming increasingly fascinated by Stephane, the father of one of his friends. This confusing new feeling proves quite powerful. Nobody seems to know what Remi is going through…least of all his handsome new crush. ‘The Swimming Trunks’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!

A conservative professor at a Christian college goes undercover, passing himself off as a gay man in order to stop the launch of a homeless shelter for LGBTQ youth in his small town. But as he gets closer to the local gay community, he sets out on a journey of truth and compassion, learning that life and love are not as black and white as he once thought. Stream ‘At the End of the Day’ now on Dekkoo!

A loner and a star athlete form an unlikely bond at their Irish boarding school in the uplifting Handsome Devil

With bright red hair, a smart mouth and a penchant for sexually-ambiguous pop music, Ned, played by Fionn O’Shea, has always been bait for the bullies at his rugby-obsessed Irish boarding school.

Determined to keep a low profile and weather another year with minimal abuse, Ned is pleasantly surprised when he develops a special friendship with his dashing new roommate Conor, played by Nicholas Galitzine, a rugby virtuoso who shouldn’t have trouble fitting in, but harbors a few big secrets. Ned encourages Conor’s passion for music, but when their pursuits start to take Conor’s focus away from rugby, their friendship is discouraged by the administration.

A funny and observant coming-of-age tale from Irish novelist and filmmaker John Butler, Handsome Devil offers a touching reminder about the importance of loyalty, bravery and making sure that your voice, no matter how different, is heard.

A true heart-warmer, Handsome Devil earned raves from critics when it debuted back in 2017. The Observer called it “a warm, reassuring hug of a film that should be shown to every confused kid trying to piece together their identity.” Film Ireland called it “a satisfying examination of masculinity… presenting an encouraging message for teenagers to not be bound by stereotypes if it feels unnatural to them.”

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

New This Week – 7/8/22

***A DEKKOO EXCLUSIVE***

A deeply emotional new romance from writer-director David Hastings, ‘You Are My Sunshine’ follows the lifelong relationship between Tom and Joe (played by Steve Salt and Jack Knight as young men and by Ernest Vernon and Charles O’Neill as the characters in their twilight years). The film follows them from their first meeting in the 1970s, when the world refuses to accept their love, through to their heartbreaking final days, decades later. ‘You Are My Sunshine’ is available now, exclusively on Dekkoo!

Roberto, a mature widower, and Félix, a young photographer, explore a complex attraction to each other. In the process, they face anxiety, their fear of abandonment, and the emotional paralysis that drowns them. Stream ‘Amphore’ now on Dekkoo!

Mateo is an intelligent boy who falls in love with Daniel, but when everyone reveals that relationship, Mateo is at a crossroads, and will have to decide between fighting his adversities, or giving up everything, until his life. Watch ‘Green Butterflies’ now on Dekkoo!

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Coming next week: Two young men – one a needy and lost man-boy, the other a guarded but lonely bartender – embark on a fun, intense relationship… only to see it threatened when one is imprisoned for drug possession.

Now Available: Let My People Go

A charming and hilarious fusion of gay romantic comedy, Jewish family drama and French bedroom farce, director Mikael Buch’s Let My People Go follows the travails and daydreams of a lovelorn young mail carrier named Ruben, played by “Call My Agent” and Knife+Heart star Nicolas Maury.

Though born and raised by a Jewish family in France, Ruben is now living out a fairytale fantasy with his gorgeous Nordic boyfriend in Finland – where he got his MA in “Comparative Sauna Cultures.” Unfortunately for him, a series of mishaps and a lovers’ quarrel exile the heartbroken Ruben back to Paris and his zany family just before Passover.

Now he’s stuck, forced to regress in the company of his ditzy mom, played by Almodovar goddess Carmen Maura, and his aging lothario father, played by Truffaut regular Jean-François Stévenin.

Co-scripted by Buch and renowned arthouse auteur Christophe Honoré, the writer-director behind Dans Paris, Love Songs and Sorry Angel, Let My People Go both celebrates and upends Jewish and gay stereotypes with wit, gusto and style to spare. The result is deeply heartwarming, fabulously kitschy and hysterically funny.

Watch the trailer for Let My People Go below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Enfant Terrible

When 22-year-old Rainer Werner Fassbinder stormed onto the stage of a small, progressive theatre in 1967 Munich and seized the production, nobody suspected that this brazen young rebel would go on to become one of the most important post-war German filmmakers. But that’s exactly what happened.

His immense catalog of work is still unparalleled. Fassbinder, who lived hard and died at the young age of 37, crammed no fewer than 40 feature films, two dozen plays and an epic 16-hour miniseries into his brief, but intense lifetime. Many of his films were breakout hits at the most renowned film festivals in the world and continue to both inspire and polarize audiences, critics and filmmakers today.

His open bisexuality, radical views and self-exploitation, as well as his longing for love, made him one of the most fascinating directors of all time.

Co-writer/director Oskar Roehler and lead actor Oliver Masucci bring the unabashedly queer iconoclast to life in Enfant Terrible – and it’s not always pretty. The film takes an unflinching look at some of Fassbinder’s wildest and most notorious moments, unafraid to examine them through a more contemporary lens, but never losing sight of what made him such a mad cinematic genius in the first place –  albeit a highly controversial one.

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

New This Week – 7/1/22

Fionn O’Shea and Nicholas Galitzine star in this touching comedy about two boys at a strict Irish boarding school who are forced to share a room. Though one is a bullied loner and the other the star athlete of their rugby-obsessed school, they form an unlikely bond – until it’s tested by those around them. ‘Handsome Devil’ is available now on Dekkoo!

Examining a psychological clash between two queer men with differing backstories, writer-director C.J.Arellano’s clever new horror short follows a gay man who suspects that his coffee-loving boyfriend maybe a demon in disguise. Stream the short film ‘Griffica’ now on Dekkoo!

***EPISODES 25, 26, AND 27 NOW AVAILABLE!***

Scott, a mild-mannered gay writer in Los Angeles, gets wrapped up into a world of bad boys and their crime-filled past after being adopted as their “Daddy Scott”, whether he likes it or not. Watch the final episodes of ‘Bad Boy’ now!

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Coming next week: A brand-new release the tells the story of one gay couple’s love as it stands the test of time. 

New This Week – 6/24/22

***SEASON 2 IS HERE!!***

The Dekkoo-original series ‘Here Comes Your Man’ follows Aaron living his own version of the 21st century gay experience. Along for the ride are his friends and lovers who are all exploring their own ambitions, relationships and dreams in modern day Los Angeles. Both seasons are available to stream now!

Fernando is a teenage boy living in the traditional countryside of São Paulo. With the insurmountable peer pressure to lose his virginity, he ends up engaging in a sexual encounter with an older man he met online. The hook up doesn’t go as expected. ‘Self’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo.

During Passover, Reuben, a French-Jewish man living in Finland with his Nordic boyfriend, finds himself back in Paris with his zany family after a lovers’ quarrel. ‘Let My People Go’ celebrates and upends Jewish and gay stereotypes with wit, gusto and style to spare. The result is deeply heartwarming, fabulously kitschy and hysterically funny.

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Coming next week: A film that offers a touching reminder of the importance of loyalty, bravery, standing up for yourself and making sure that your voice, no matter how different, is heard.

Pride Month Spotlight: Proud

In 1981, love was forbidden. In 1999, starting a family seemed impossible. By 2013, everything had changed.

From French filmmaker Philippe Faucon, the award-winning director behind Fatima, this amazing new three-part cinematic event takes us through each of these years.

Proud tells the stories of Charles (Frédéric Pierrot), Victor (Samuel Theis) and Diego (Julien Lopez), three generations of men, all from the same family, who represent the seismic social changes that took place within the LGBTQ community over the course of just three decades.

A three-part episodic cinema event, Proud offers up a chronology of tolerance and a portrait of one family through changing times. Cahiers du Cinema called it “one of the most exciting series of the year.” Le Parisien called it “A series that defends the fundamental rights of gay people.”

Watch the trailer for Proud below. All three installments are available now on Dekkoo.