Category: New This Week

A backyard birthday party takes some wild turns in the clever indie comedy ‘Turtle Hill, Brooklyn’

Smart, funny and true to life, Turtle Hill, Brooklyn takes a look at a young couple navigating the ins and outs of romance, relationships, friendship and life in the big city while throwing an eventful party in their small Brooklyn yard.

Boyfriends Mateo and Will (Ricardo Valdez and Brian W. Seibert) invite a large collection of friends over to their apartment to celebrate Will’s 30th birthday. Their guests – an eclectic mix of men and woman, both gay and straight – start drinking and mingling while engaging in conversations that cover a wide variety of taboo topics.

As the party progresses, a few unexpected visitors drop by to make things awkward. Soon enough, the piñata isn’t the only thing getting punched.

As tempers rise and the alcohol continues to flow, it’s revealed that Will and Mateo have each been keeping some scandalous secrets that may threaten the foundation of their seemingly loving relationship. Not even a dip in the backyard kiddie pool can cool things down.

Reminiscent of other and alcohol-fueled party movies like The Anniversary Party and the gay classic The Boys in the Band, Turtle Hill, Brooklyn is a winning Obama-era indie that manages to do a whole lot with a low budget, a small setting and a charismatic cast.

Watch the trailer for Turtle Hill, Brooklyn below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Cure

Renal (Nikita Kochnev), a 17-year-old from Russia, is suffering at the hands of his abusive father (Aleksandr Dzuba), who feels his son does not live up to typical masculine ideals.

After a particularly violent incident, Uncle Dayan (Oleg Kamenshikov), his father’s well-meaning, but woefully ignorant brother, swoops in looking to save the day. In an effort to make a man out of Renal and prove his masculinity, he brings the shy, introverted teen to a small brothel where he can pay to lose his virginity.

Though he’d never dare say it out loud, Renal isn’t particularly interested in the sex workers that are offered to him.

A heartbreaking 12-minute drama from Ukraine-based director Taisia Deeva, The Cure features very little dialog, but manages to convey a lot of emotional subtext about growing up gay and struggling against the oppression of homophobia and toxic masculinity in modern-day Russia.

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

Based on Makoto Takayama’s novel, ‘Egoist’ is a sexy and heartfelt drama about love and family

Kosuke (Ryôhei Suzuki), a fashion magazine editor in his mid-thirties, revels in the blessings of his comfortable lifestyle. When he hires Ryuta (Hio Miyazawa), a personal trainer, in order to get into shape, he ends up getting far more than he bargained for.

The two young men begin falling in love, but when Kosuke discovers that Ryuta has been secretly working as an escort to provide for himself and his mother, the two men strike a financial agreement.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Kosuke and Ryuta’s mother grow closer and must confront a new future together.

Sensual, beautifully rendered, and featuring rich and nuanced performances from the three lead actors, Egoist is a haunting romantic drama infused with warmth and energy.

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

Take a sexy trip through São Paulo with the winning workplace comedy ‘Body Electric’

Body Electric is a warm-hearted, understated debut feature from Brazilian writer-director Marcelo Caetano. The film follows Elias (Kelner Macêdo), a carefree young man who migrated from Northeastern Brazil to São Paulo, works as an assistant designer in a clothing factory.

Elias’s daily life is divided between his job and the ephemeral encounters he shares with men. With the arrival of Fernando, an African immigrant, he starts to look at the production line with a sudden renewed interest.

With the holiday season approaching, work intensifies, and he finds himself increasingly trapped within the factory. As the distance between his professional and personal life closes in, he starts to explore his desires, invigorated by the freedom offered through his companions.

Against the warnings of his superiors, Elias takes to socializing into the night and sleeping with his co-workers.

An erotic tale of identity and sexuality, Body Electric captures the beauty and delicate excitement of sexual awakening, as seen through the intense color and vibrancy of modern-day São Paulo.

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

A gay artist tries turning tragedy into opportunity in the moving Polish drama ‘All Our Fears’

Triggered by an unexpected tragedy, a religious artist and gay activist tries to get his local community to grieve together in the emotional drama All Our Fears.

Dawid Ogrodnik stars in the film as Daniel, a well-respected young artist from the Polish countryside who finds himself torn between small-town values, urban art galleries, the Catholic church, and his gay identity.

When a queer friend commits suicide after suffering a homophobic attack, he becomes determined to redeem his community with the ultimate work of art – a deeply personal interpretation of ‘The Stations of the Cross.’

All the while, he’s slowly, carefully, and secretly building a relationship with Olek (Oskar Rybaczek), a younger local lover who is not yet ready to embrace his sexual identity.

Based on real events, All Our Fears tells the moving story of one brave man, raised in the countryside and engaged in the activities of the Catholic Church, who attempts to peacefully merge the important aspects of his life while refusing to accept hate and intolerance.

Watch the trailer for All Our Fears below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘The Sons of Tennessee Williams’ charts the evolution of the Mardi Gras drag scene

Paying homage to monumental queer documentaries like The Queen and Paris is Burning, director Tim Wolff’s film The Sons of Tennessee Williams interweaves archival footage with contemporary interviews to chart the evolution of drag and politics in the gay Mardi Gras scene.

Having come of age in New Orleans in the 1940s and ’50s, gay krewe members reminisce fondly of being inspired by the opulence of the Mardi Gras festivities, a hotbed for decadence and dress-up.

Seven years before the first rock was thrown at Stonewall, the gay krewes began throwing lavish balls as a sendup of their straight society counterparts and have since become a powerful force in city politics.

Members, many of them now in their seventies and eighties, discuss the importance of creating safe spaces at a time of police crackdowns in gay clubs, gaining a seat at the political table, the toll of AIDS and Hurricane Katrina on the community, and the importance of passing on the torch to a younger generation.

With oversized wigs and lavish costumes, these unlikely political activists strut their stuff with style, grace, and an eye toward the future.

Watch the trailer for The Sons of Tennessee Williams below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A troubled teen finds love in the emotional Canadian indie ‘Beneath the Skin’

Writer and co-director Aaron Ellis also stars in the sensitive gay indie Beneath the Skin as Joshua, a young man who is forced to move to Canada to live with his estranged father after his living situation falls apart.

Once there, Joshua meets Jay (Justin Liles), a local tattoo artist who fled the violent actions of his parents back home in Alabama.

Both young men, abandoned and lonely in their own way, find themselves falling for one another… until a pair of high school brats intrude on the boys’ growing relationship.

Originally released in 2015, this quiet, sensual romance is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Though it’s not a very well-known film, it won numerous awards at film festivals when it originally screened. It’s worth checking out if only for the two leads, who share a magical chemistry in the film – and will leave you both swooning and reaching for the tissues.

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