Category: New This Week

A legendary entertainer and pioneer gets her due in the documentary ‘Miwa: A Japanese Icon’

Male actor Akihiro Miwa came to prominence in Japan back in 1968 while playing the glamorous heroine of the film Black Lizard.

A legendary entertainer and a pioneer of gay activism, Miwa popularized androgyny as a fashion statement, fusing the masculine and the feminine into a new generation of aesthetics. This evolved into performing as a woman and living off-stage as a man.

With glitter, wit, evening gowns and enchanting storytelling, Miwa: A Japanese Icon, the celebrated new documentary from director Pascal-Alex Vincent, looks back over a 50-year career and a fascinating life in Japanese music, film and television.

Having sold millions of records, Miwa continues to fight for gay rights, among other issues. Miwa: A Japanese Icon reveals the life story of this wonderful performer and unapologetic social critic.

Watch the trailer for Miwa: A Japanese Icon below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

An Australian teen discovers his sexuality in the tender coming-of-age drama ‘Sunflower’

Set in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Sunflower follows Leo (Liam Mollica), a seventeen-year-old who leads a seemingly typical life.

While he’s hanging out with his friends, bickering with his Italian family at the dinner table, going to school or making out with his new girlfriend Monique (Olivia Fildes), he’s also guarding a secret he’s been too afraid to confront – a hidden truth buried deep within.

As Leo grapples with his inner turmoil, he finds himself unexpectedly drawn to his best friend Boof (Luke J. Morgan) and a quiet, introverted boy at school named Tom (Daniel Halmarick). These newfound feelings force Leo to confront his true desires and bring him closer to accepting his identity.

Everything changes after a high school gathering when rumors about Leo’s sexuality begin to circulate – shattering his once stable world. Faced with the fear of rejection from those closest to him, Leo must navigate the uncertain waters of acceptance and love.

A masterfully-crafted feature-length debut from Australian writer-director Gabriel Carrubba, Sunflower is a vibrant, sexy and deeply affecting portrait of one young man who finds hope – and himself – in the face of adversity.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Center Lights

An experimental 7-minute short from Argentine writer-director Cristian Franco-Tuñon, Center Lights is a melancholy, but incredibly sexy examination of gay male desire, longing and fantasy.

As night falls, a lonely young man – smoking a cigarette and clad in a pair of skimpy white briefs – watches the world go by from his apartment balcony.

The countless city lights, flickering on and off, blend together with the people on the streets – suggesting the vast array of encounters the outside world has to offer. Our protagonist, however, is only interested in the alluring man who lives next door.

Though he suspects that his feelings will not be reciprocated, something is calling on him to take a chance. Later that night, he works up the courage to confront his feelings – and the man in question – directly.

Watch an evocative short trailer for Center Lights below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Seed Money’ looks into the life of legendary gay porn producer and philanthropist Chuck Holmes

As the head of Falcon Studios, Chuck Holmes became one of the most influential gay figures of the 20th century, his work viewed by millions of men at a time when most cinematic representations of gay life were either blatantly homophobic or strictly relegated the art house.

Starting in the early 1970s, Chuck revolutionized the newly legal gay porn industry, assertive in his belief gay men deserved positive representations – and that quality gay films would help them change their sense of self.

He fought legal battles and personal demons, surfacing in the late ’80s as a major contributor to the growing gay rights movement — only to find that the community he helped create now thought of him as a liability.

Through extensive use of film footage, archival material and interviews with Chuck’s friends, lovers, activists and fellow adult filmmakers, the groundbreaking feature-length documentary Seed Money follows the sensational story of Chuck’s incredible rise, his cultural and philanthropic contributions to gay culture and his struggle to achieve respect – even in death.

Watch the trailer for Seed Money below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A filmmaker shares the final years of his elderly gay uncle in the moving documentary ‘Much Ado About Dying’

When filmmaker Simon Chambers receives a call from his elderly gay uncle – who states, gravely, that he thinks he may be dying – he takes it as a summons.

As it turns out, eccentric Uncle David, a retired, Shakespeare-obsessed actor living alone in a cluttered, mouse-infested house in London, is being dramatic… sort of.

For the next five years, Chambers both cares for and documents him, through all of his performative exuberance, anarchic charisma and mood swings, as various people, including a sexy young hustler, possibly try to take advantage of the precarious situation.

As their lives become encumbered by hospital visits, a house fire and Britain’s inadequate eldercare system, the young filmmaker – also single and queer – reflects with aching honesty on what may await him in the years to come.

A must-see documentary by turns both joyously funny and achingly sad, Much Ado About Dying is a thought-provoking study of what it means to live – and die – with dignity.

Watch the trailer for Much Ado About Dying below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Repetition

Mexican writer-director Tania Karenni examines addiction and sobriety with the intense 15-minute short The Repetition.

Unfolding almost like a horror film, the story follows Daniel, a vulnerable single man played by Ernesto Siller. With only a few days sober, he’s at a turning point in his life. He must now choose between letting go of the addictions that torment him or continuing to escape his loneliness through them.

Daniel has tried again and again to rebuild himself, but the shadow of alcohol and toxic relationships always end up catching him. With a party raging next door to his apartment and a knock at the door from an alluring, but unwanted visitor, he turns to a text chain for support, but their encouragement may not be enough to keep him on the right path.

When he finally opens the front door and gives into temptation, he’s given a stark reminder of the demons that he’s been trying to keep at bay.

Skillfully acted and directed, The Repetition is a hard-hitting study of one man’s hard-fought effort to improve his life and learn to start taking things one day at a time.

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

Watch the first season of the sexy gay comedy series ‘Open to It’ – available now on Dekkoo!

From writer, director, creator and star Frank Arthur Smith, Open to It is a queer indie comedy series about a loving gay couple who experiment with becoming a hot gay throuple! They soon find, however, that threesome sex and open relationships come with more complications than limbs.

The couple in question are Cam and Greg (Frank Arthur Smith and Tim Wardell). Looking to liven up their sex life by adding a third, they audition Princeton, an alluring young twink (played by Boy Culture: Generation X star Jason Caceres). He may be demanding and manipulative, but could he be the one? Or is it hot bartender Kenny (Todd Lien), who has all the right equipment, but only seems interested in one of our heroes?

On top of their indecision, Cam and Greg must also contend with a pair of loveable, but incredibly nosy neighbors, who never seem to stop intruding with questions, advice… and snacks.

Following a classic sitcom structure, Open to It explores polyamory in a hilarious, completely non-judgmental way, showing that consent and communication can facilitate any relationship format.

Whether you’re single, coupled or throupled, you can dive into all the action of Open to It on Dekkoo. All six episodes of the first season are available now. Check out the trailer below.