Category: International Film

Short Film Spotlight: Jay

From Taiwanese director Szu-Wei Chen, Jay is a darkly funny and casually disturbing 14-minute drama that isn’t afraid to explore a particularly cringe-worthy taboo.

The film follows the titular character, a mysterious 13-year-old boy Jay, played by Nick Wang. Reaching a pivotal moment of sexual awakening, the teen finds himself suddenly fascinated by his toned and attractive older brother. Spying on him at every opportunity, including during a sexual encounter with a girlfriend, Jay’s curiosity morphs into an all-consuming obsession.

Playing out with very little dialog, the film gets its point across mostly through eerie suggestion. The story plays out mostly through visuals and emotions thanks to Wang’s lead performance – which, while somewhat stoic, conveys everything we need to know about this youngster’s misguided affections.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Jay below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: 5 Minutes Too Late

From Romanian writer-director Dan Chisu, 5 Minutes Too Late is a gripping drama based on true events.

A cinema in Bucharest screening a controversial film about a lesbian couple becomes the epicenter of a radical, far-right, anti-gay protest. During the incident, a young man is physically attacked and brought to the hospital in a coma.

Complicating matters are inconsistencies in the police reports, in which they claim the attack on the young man took place before their arrival. The accuracy of their claim is called into question when security footage shows the ambulance arriving after the police, and leaked footage belonging to a bystander reveals the captain making homophobic comments to one of the anti-gay protesters.

A battle over competing narratives ensues between the stubborn, arrogant captain and an equally stubborn, idealistic investigative reporter who is just looking to unveil the truth.

As each party attempts to gain the upper hand over the public narrative, the officer and the reporter engage in questionable tactics in an effort to thwart each other. Meanwhile, a young man clinging to life becomes increasingly forgotten amid their political struggle.

Watch the trailer for 5 Minutes Too Late below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Now Available: A Queer Country

Harriet and Lisa, one of whom is gay and Jewish while the other is neither, began their journey in Israel last year.

The pair integrated themselves into the LGBTQ community in Tel Aviv and saw the difference between life there and in Jerusalem, where not long ago the Pride march had to be held indoors due to violence from the ultra orthodox community. They have since made very intimate and established relationships within the community and returned in the Summer of 2014 to continue their fascinating journey into a country which is continually diverse and complex.

Israel is a haven for the Jewish people and also, increasingly, a haven for the gay community. It’s governed by Orthodox civil law and yet it hosts the world’s biggest gay pride. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement say this is a cynical marketing ploy, not a political awakening.

Investigating these claims, A Queer Country takes us on an extraordinary journey into Israel’s bohemia and the social revolution that’s challenging the foundations of the Jewish state.

Watch the trailer for A Queer Country below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Lose Your Head

Lured by Berlin’s reputation as city with a pulsating night life, young Luis, played by Fernando Tielve, leaves his boyfriend behind to travel there – eager to indulge in drugs, sex, partying, music and mindless fun.

Somewhat innocent and certainly naïve, the wide-eyed Luis is quickly sucked into the dizzying whirlwind of the club scene where he meets up with a strange bohemian crowd, does coke and hooks up with Viktor, played by Marko Mandic, a domineering Ukrainian immigrant with his own set of hidden problems.

After he meets a couple looking for a missing man who bears a striking resemblance to him, and after Viktor becomes more menacing, Luis gives in to paranoia as a sense of deteriorating reality begins to overcome him.

A gritty gay drama, Lose Your Head is a complex, “Alice in Wonderland”-like tale of a young man methodically driven out of control.

Watch the trailer for Lose Your Head below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Provocative filmmaker Bruce LaBruce returns with the 1970s-set thriller Saint-Narcisse

The latest film from Bruce LaBruce, Canada’s reigning “King of Kink,” Saint-Narcisse follows Dominic (Félix-Antoine Duval), a young man with a fetish… for himself. Nothing turns him on more than his reflection, with much of his time spent taking Polaroid selfies.

When his loving grandmother dies, he discovers a deep family secret: his lesbian mother didn’t die in childbirth and he has a twin brother, Daniel, raised in a remote monastery by a depraved priest, held captive against his will! The power of destiny brings together the two beautiful, identical brothers, who, after being reunited with their mother Beatrice, are soon embroiled in a blasphemous web of sex, revenge and redemption.

Set in the early 1970s and the afterglow of sexual liberation, Saint-Narcisse is a love letter to the psychosexual thrillers of that era. Elegant visuals are combined with LaBruce’s notorious punk provocations in “a wild ride that’s enjoyable in all its B-movie glory while also titillating the intellect” (The Hollywood Reporter).

Watch the trailer for Saint-Narcisse below. The film is available now on Dekkoo.

Now Available: Eastern Boys

The critically-acclaimed Eastern Boys follows the cautious relationship that develops between a single man and a much-younger sex-worker.

Arriving from all over the Eastern Bloc, the young men who frequent the Gare du Nord train station in Paris are scraping by however they can, forming gangs for support and protection and living in fear of being caught by the police and deported.

When a bourgeois, middle-aged man named Daniel (Olivier Rabourdin) approaches a boyishly handsome Ukrainian immigrant named Marek (Kirill Emelyanov), he learns the young man is willing to do anything for some cash.

When Daniel brings the young man home, it leads to an alarming and dangerous home invasion. But once the men are able to spend some time alone together, they end up forming an unexpectedly profound relationship. The drastically different circumstances of their lives ultimately reveal hidden facets of the city they share.

Presented in four parts, this absorbing, critically-acclaimed drama from director Robin Campillo (“The Returned,” BPM (Beats Per Minute)) is centered around relationships that defy easy categorization, in which motivations and desires are poorly understood – even sometimes by those to whom they belong.

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