‘Hidden Kisses’ is now available to stream on Dekkoo!
Category: International Film
New This Week – 6/1/18
Nathan, 16, lives alone with his father Stephane. A newcomer in high school, he is invited to a party and falls in love with Louis, a boy in his class. They find themselves out of sight and kiss each other, but someone takes a picture of them. Soon, the photo is published on Facebook and a storm overtakes their lives as they face bullying and rejection. ‘Hidden Kisses’ is now available to stream on Dekkoo!
Two friends, just beginning to explore their sexual identities, reveal intimate details of their lives. Is it curiosity, braggadocio or flirtation? Stream the gay short ‘Summer’ now on Dekkoo!
Manchester’s famed queer hub Canal Street comes to life in this documentary series that focuses on the exploits of people who ‘live, work and play’ around the village. Binge watch ‘Queer Street’ now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week:Â “…The film examines – with a joyous vibe – the exploring of one’s identity and sexuality through fashion and partying” – Vague Visages
DEKKOO DISPATCH 070 – ‘SHORT FILM ROUNDUP!’
Title – ‘Protect Me From What I Want‘
Director – Dominic Leclerc
Starring – Naveed Choudhry, Elliott Tittensor
Release Date – 2009
Title – ‘Prora‘
Director – Stephane Riethauser
Starring – Swen Gippa, Tom Gramenz
Release Date – 2012
Title – ‘Nightswimming‘
Director – Dominic LeClerc
Starring – Linzey Cocker, Tim Dantay, Harry Eden
Release Date – 2010
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Hey there! The dispatch was away for a couple weeks while I was out scouting for the best in queer cinema at the Cannes Film Festival to bring to Dekkoo, but I’m back! We’ve been adding some great short films to the Dekkoo universe lately and I wanted to feature three of them in this week’s dispatch:
‘Protect Me From What I Want‘ is a really sexy and romantic film from the UK (one of two in this week’s dispatch). I’d seen it before a few years ago when it first came out, but watching it again was a much more intimate experience than I remembered it being. The story revolves around Daz and Saleem. One night they meet while cruising each other on a busy street. Daz is clearly the more experienced of the two and tries in vain to get Saleem to kiss him. After Daz continues to initiate sex Saleem runs away and we get to briefly see his very traditional Indian family giving us the cue that not only is Saleem nervous about having gay sex, but he’s also tormented anti-gay pressures from his family. Eventually Saleem seeks out Daz once more and they go to Daz’s house where Saleem finally submits to Daz’s charms. But what happens once the experience is over? Can Daz hold onto someone so conflicted with their inner desires?
‘Prora‘ takes us on a journey through the ups and downs of young friendship when sexual desire enters the picture. Prora’s title is the name of the setting of the film – a beach resort built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939. It was envisioned as the affordable holiday destination for the everyday German laborer. After the war began in 1939 construction stopped and was never completed. The location choice by director Stephane Riethauser is really fantastic. The beautiful outside area contrasted by the bare, distressed interior of the buildings is a great metaphor for the two boy’s friendship throughout the story. The story is really very simple. Two boys – one French, Matthieu and one German, Jan are having a carefree Summer holiday near Prora. One day while drinking they decide to explore the inside. There Jan eventually shows his same-sex attraction to Matthieu which causes… friction to say the least.
‘Nightswimming‘ is a bit of an erotic puzzle. Also hailing from the UK this film explores the nature of repressed desires and inter-generational experimentation. Two young kids break into a swimming pool. On patrol is an older gentlemen who hears the commotion and goes to investigate. Upon finding the handsome boy with his apparent girlfriend he takes pity on them and grants their request to stay overnight. Over the course of the night he observes the two of them playing around and becoming intimate. The boy is obviously showing off a bit especially since at one point he calls out for the guard in jest so the guard can witness him stripping off the girl. Eventually the two separate and the boy starts talking to the guard. The conversation starts with the incredibly funny line “I’ve run out of fags. Got any?”. There’s also an incredibly sexy shower scene with full frontal nudity so if that’s your thing get on that!
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Watch it with: Your gay short film loving friends!
Mix it with: White wine.
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New This Week – 5/18/18
After his boyfriend Norberto breaks up with him and runs away to Iceland, heartbroken Bruno decides to set out to find him. He soon meets Arnau, a handsome local tour guide in Reykjavik, who is determined to help Bruno in his exceedingly idealistic search. Their trip will become a grieving process for them both, until they reach the remote island of Grimsey. There, Bruno will have to learn what love really means in order to move on with his life. ‘Grimsey’ is a available to stream exclusively on Dekkoo, months before its release on DVD!
Prora, on the Baltic Sea. Mysterious, endless. In this deserted former Nazi holiday camp and communist military complex, teenagers Jan and Matthieu embark on an adventure that puts their friendship at risk. Watch ‘Prora’ now on Dekkoo.com!
A look at the many roles played by eclectic 77-year-old actor/activist George Takei, whose wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7-million Facebook fans and counting. ‘To Be Takei’ is available to stream now on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week – AÂ studied examination of how one man folds jarring events into the everyday fabric of his life.
New This Week – 5/4/18
Prepare yourself for an open and honest conversation between fathers, their sons, and the boy next door. Binge the gay series ‘Honest Men’ now available on Dekkoo!
Two young men – one sighted, one blind – see the world and their bodies in different ways. Unexpectedly, they find a connection beyond the visual in the collision of taste, touch and sound. The connection is sensual, and within it they each find something new. Watch the gay short film ‘Neon Skin’ on Dekkoo!
Two young men spend the night together after meeting the previous evening in a notorious gay club. The next day, however, the host wakes to find the boy he picked up bewildered and confused, unable to remember his name or anything about his past. Lacking any type of identification or obvious clues, the boys begin to search for the truth among fragments of memories that may or may not prove reliable. Watch ‘Boy Undone’Â weeks before it’s release on DVD only on Dekkoo!
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Coming next week: A brand new Dekkoo-original series!
One Great Gay Shot – ‘Boy Undone’ (2017)
One Perfect Gay Shot – ‘Al Berto’ (2017)
New This Week – 4/20/18
It’s the summer of ’75 in Sines, Portugal. Al Berto, the writer, embodies an entire moving generation. He and his friends exude youth, eccentricity and hope for the future – but right after the fall of Portugal’s dictatorship system, the country is not yet ready for his love story. ‘Al Berto’ is now available on Dekkoo two months before DVD!
A funny, sincere, slice of life about a couple just trying to figure it out. Mateo and Will invite their friends over for Will’s 30th birthday. After a few surprise visitors, they get through the day, but realize that doubting your partner isn’t nearly as scary as doubting yourself. Stream ‘Turtle Hill, Brooklyn’ now on Dekkoo!
A small-town loner’s fascination with the new kid in town leads him into something much more sinister than he could ever have imagined. Watch the gay short film, ‘Bugcrush’ now on Dekkoo.
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Coming next week:Â From the Award Winning filmmaker Tadeo Garcia comes a love story for our time.Â
New This Week – 4/13/18
Set in Sri Lanka, where old colonial laws permit the imprisonment of gay and lesbian people, ‘Frangipani’ tells the story of two young men and one woman entangled in a lustful – and incredibly dangerous – love triangle.
Twelve year old Erik goes swimming with Sofie and her dad. Sophie wants Erik as a boyfriend but he seems to pay more attention to her dad. Watch ‘ Breath’ now on Dekkoo!
Co-written and directed by stand-up comedian Jason Stuart, ‘Mentor’ follows a middle-aged gay Jewish man and a straight, starry-eyed kid who form a friendship while trying to make a name for themselves in the cold, hard business of Hollywood.
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Coming next week: A film about Portuguese poet Alberto Raposo Pidwell Tavares arrives on Dekkoo weeks before DVD!
DEKKOO DISPATCH 066 – ‘SHORT FILM ROUNDUP!’
Title – ‘Turn It Around‘
Director – Niels Bourgonje
Starring РValentijn Av̩, Tonko Bossen, Timo Dries, Faye Gunther
Release Date – 2017
Title – ‘Breath‘
Director – Margien Rogaar
Starring – Yannick de Waal, Moo Miero, Roeland Fernhout
Release Date – 2007
Title – ‘It Gets Better?‘
Director – Stephen Riscica
Starring – Gys de Villiers, Luka Fric, Samuel Ashkenazy, Adam Davenport
Release Date – 2016
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Three short films – Three snapshots of queer life at three different points in a gay man’s life. I’ve been focusing too much on features lately so this week I decided to take a glance backwards at some of the short films that have been added to Dekkoo’s catalog. I found three recent additions that speak of love at different stages in life and they’re all exquisitely crafted! I’d recommend starting from young to old. In this case from ‘Breath‘ to ‘Turn It Around‘ to ‘It Gets Better?‘.
‘Breath’ is an heartwarming poetic coming-of-age short film from The Netherlands. Infused with a warmth you can only get from shooting on real film, ‘Breath‘ focuses its camera on 12-year old Erik. He’s fascinated by the world around him and constantly observes his surroundings with the remnants of child-like awe. His friend Sophie invites him to the beach where he meets her handsome and playful father. Clearly Sophie has a bit of a crush on Erik, but Erik has his eyes on her father. Margien Rogaar definitely has an eye for colors, occasionally flashing us with bright swatches of color reminiscent of scenes from ‘Beginners’ by Mike Mills. The whole film felt like falling into a dream for me – a dream that put me in the shoes of my childhood self and reminded me of what having a crush at that age was like.
Ten years later in the same country Niels Bourgonje created ‘Turn It Around‘. A film set squarely in the post-‘It Gets Better’ world with the coming out process being awkward rather than difficult. In the short 15-year old Bram is attending a house party with his girl crazy friends. We can tell immediately that he’s your typical closeted gay teenager – lazily reacting to girls his friends point out as ‘hotties’. But then Bram spots Florian at the party and immediately falls for him. In the span of just ten minutes we’re witness to the beginning of a really adorable love story. If you can only watch one of these shorts make it this one! Soooo cute and heartfelt.
Lastly we enter old age with ‘It Gets Better?‘. Getting older is something very few people (especially gay people!) want to happen to them. This feeling is programmed into us from a very young age where being attractive and youthful is prized above almost everything else. Slowly, but surely more narratives are changing that view point and ushering the values of old age corresponding to wisdom and insight into the cultural consciousness. In this short we meet an older man who’s watching an ‘It Gets Better’ video on the internet. In the video we see a teenager repeating the same monologue we’ve heard a million times before, but it’s affecting this man differently. Instead of being calmed by it he’s agitated by the teenager’s words. After drinking a heck of a lot of wine we finally hear what’s on his mind. Gys de Villiers (who is actually a pretty famous South African actor) is unbelievably compelling as the anonymous older gay man who tries to impart some of his wisdom (and melancholy) to a jaded modern culture.
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Watch it with: A friend or two!
Mix it with: A glass of white wine.
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Discover great gay stories. 