Category: Performing Arts

The controversial horror-comedy ‘Ticked Off Trannies with Knives’ comes to Dekkoo

Controversial even before it first screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010, where GLAAD condemned the film for what it perceived as a negative portrayal of transgender people, director Israel Luna’s Ticked Off Trannies with Knives has garnered a wild reputation befitting of its exploitation roots.

Fashioned in the style of a sleazy 1970s pulp film, this uproarious slasher/revenge saga features some seriously not-to-be-fucked with characters, finger-snapping one-liners, vicious straight male villains and enough beatings, stabbings and kung-fu style ass-kicking to satisfy even the sickest of viewers.

It all begins in a small Dallas nightclub where a group of performers and friends are assaulted and left for dead. Following these traumatic events, a trio of surviving trans women come together to exact revenge on the men who brutally attacked them.

Inspired by the exploitation genre as a whole, particularly I Spit on Your Grave and the 1984 Linda Blair vehicle Savage Streets, Ticked Off Trannies with Knives is not for the faint of heart and certainly not without its shocks and provocations, but we invite you to judge the film on its own merits.

Ticked Off Trannies with Knives is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Alan Cumming is exceptional in the thought-provoking generational drama ‘After Louie’

An award-winning gay drama featuring a knockout lead performance by Alan Cumming, After Louie explores the contradictions of modern gay life and history through Sam, a man desperate to understand how he and his community got to where they are today.

As an AIDS activist and member of ACT UP in the ’80s and ’90s, Sam witnessed the deaths of far too many close friends and lovers. Battle-wounded and struggling with survivor’s guilt, Sam now resents the complacency of his former comrades and derides what he sees as the younger generation’s indifference to the politics of sex and death.

When he meets Braeden, a seductive young man played by Zachary Booth, during a late-night outing at the bar, he quickly is able to lower Sam’s guard. As the pair become increasingly intimate, an intergenerational relationship blossoms between them – one capable of reawakening Sam’s artistic soul and reviving his wilted heart.

Through this unconventional romance, Sam is finally forced to deal with the trauma that informs his past, his present and the pair’s unknown future.

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

Mismatched roommates become unexpected allies in the sly British dramedy ‘Makeup’

When two people are brought together from completely different walks of life, it can make for awkward circumstances, especially when they both have their secrets.

Making his feature debut, writer-director Hugo Andre also stars in the film Makeup as Sacha, an introverted French food critic who travels to London. Moving into a rented room in a house belonging to Dan (Will Masheter), a well-respected stockbroker, they fall into a classic “Odd Couple” dynamic.

As time goes on, Dan attempts to hide his aspirations of becoming a burlesque dancer from those who perceive him as an alpha male. Despite their differences, Sacha and Dan soon become pillars of support in each other’s lives.

A winner of 15 different awards at film festivals around the globe – including ‘Directorial Debut by a Young Film Maker’ at the London International Film Festival – Makeup is a stirring drama about the unlikely friendship that forms between the hidden personalities of two distinct characters.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Many Happy Returns

André (Vitor Rocha) is about to turn twenty-five years old. Extremely worried about his future – and about the uncertainties of life in general – he’s not even able to celebrate.

At his birthday party, before blowing out the candles, he wishes for time to stop passing. To his great surprise, his wish comes true. The next morning – and over the next several – he finds that the day has repeated. It’s still, perhaps always, his twenty-fifth birthday once again.

Suddenly André finds that he has eternal youth, the absence of problems and the liberty to do just about anything he wants without the fear of consequences. When he learns, however, that time has stopped passing only for him, what seemed to be a dream come true morphs into a nightmare.

Now he must go back in time – one last time – and correct his past while learning how to enjoy the present without worrying too much about the future.

Taking obvious inspiration from Groundhog Day, Many Happy Returns is a clever short musical comedy about learning to appreciate the time you’re in – no matter how old you may be.

Watch the trailer for Many Happy Returns below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Check out the short works of filmmaker Tristan Scott-Behrends this month on Dekkoo!

This month, we’re shining a much-deserved spotlight on the short film work of auteur writer/director Tristan Scott-Behrends.

His films – funny, eclectic and packed with bold visual style – have been making a splash on the queer film festival circuit since the debut of Curtain Down in 2017. A 25-minute short, he wrote, produced and stars alongside Margaret Cho in this love story from director Emett Casey. The film takes a surreal but tender look at gender, identity and aging as our lead character is forced to choose between art and love.

Only Trumpets, his directorial debut, following an outsider navigating love and sex in the digital age, made it’s world premiere at the 2018 Outfest Film Festival, where it was selected as ‘Best of the Fest.’

Our four-film collection also includes The Man of My Dreams, which follows two gorgeous, magnetic male lovers as they traipse around the streets of New York City enmeshed in a dreamy romance.

Finally, Lilac Lips, Dutchess County, a reimagining of Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus, stars Joey Hardy Gray as nymph-like protagonist, navigating the complexities of relationships in a maze of his own making.

Exploring themes of identity, gender, isolation and sexuality in the most delicious ways possible, Tristan Scott-Behrends is a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on. While he’s currently hard at work developing a script for a feature film version of Only Trumpets, you can now enjoy some of his most stylish and provocative shorts right here on Dekkoo.

Don’t miss the acclaimed gay romantic comedy ‘Perfect Endings’ – a new Dekkoo Exclusive!

Following up his crowd-pleasing, critically-acclaimed 2014 romance The Way He Looks, Brazilian writer-director Daniel Ribeiro returns with the endearing, sexy and far more grown up sophomore feature Perfect Endings.

Perfect Endings stars Artur Volpi as João, a struggling filmmaker who is fresh off of a 10-year-long relationship and ready to dive back into single dating life.

With the support of his hilarious besties, João rides the oh-so-relatable rollercoaster of emotions as he tries to find himself and his voice as a filmmaker while navigating the ups and downs of hook-up culture and rebound romance.

João begins to take charge of his destiny, intermingling the scenes from his dating life into his screenwriting and swiftly blurring the lines between the two. But can we really write our way to a perfect ending? Or do we have to surrender to serendipity? His earnest search for fulfillment through love and creativity’s battlefield leads us on a heartwarming journey to an unexpected, sweetly satisfying and very erotic ending that lives up to the title.

Watch the trailer for Perfect Endings below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo!

A queer filmmaker visits a sleepy seaside village in the French rom-com ‘My Life with James Dean’

Still pining for his ex-boyfriend, aloof filmmaker Géraud (Johnny Rasse) has travelled to a seaside town along the North Coast of France to present his newest experimental feature.

The only person keen on seeing Géraud’s new film, however, is Balthazar (Mickaël Pelissier), the local theater’s young projectionist, who becomes increasingly more smitten by the handsome director.

With charm, sex appeal, a fondness for slapstick humor and a subtle homage to the films of Eric Rohmer, this sophisticated romantic comedy from writer/director Dominique Choisy follows several different characters through hotel rooms and nearly empty movie theatres across Normandy as they go to ridiculous extremes in the name of passion. With great reserves of optimism and hope, they keep chasing their romantic feelings, even when the results aren’t entirely what they expected.

Watch the trailer for My Life with James Dean below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘This is Ballroom’ takes a backstage look at the Brazilian drag and queer performance scene

Conceived in New York during the 1960s, when two Black queens left the white-dominated pageant contests behind to create their own scene, ballroom culture has long been a space of freedom, expression, and transgression.

Some fifty years later, the ballroom scene in Brazil is thriving, with houses across the country teaching the art of shade.

Directed by queer Brazilian artists Juru and Vitã, This Is Ballroom stages a real-life ball in a city warehouse. Riotously soundtracked, the film only pauses for breath to illuminate the lives of its trans-led cast. Away from the glitz of the dance floor, these interviews reveal simmering racial and gender tensions.

Capturing the spirit of a new, emerging generation, This Is Ballroom celebrates this energetic subculture as a bounteous and transformative space for queer people of color.

Watch the trailer for This is Ballroom below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Studio One Forever’ takes a deep dive into a unique time and place in queer history

From 1974 to 1993, Studio One and its adjoining live music venue, The Backlot, became symbols of hope and community for gay men during tumultuous times.

Amidst the rise of gay rights, disco’s heyday and the devastating AIDS crisis, the club offered sanctuary from rampant homophobia and police oppression. Studio One was where legends like Chita Rivera and Eartha Kitt performed, and rising stars like Roseanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell ignited their careers.

Through personal accounts, the new documentary Studio One Forever delves into the nightclub’s history, examining how the backdrop of a progressing gay liberation clashed with 1980s conservatism and the escalating AIDS nightmare.

A testament to an important era, this unique and insightful new doc from director Marc Saltarelli immortalizes the club’s legacy for future generations.

Watch the trailer for Studio One Forever below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and producer Lenni-Kim stars in the new drama series ‘Fem’

An acclaimed queer drama series from creator Maxime Beauchamp, Fem stars Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and music producer Lenni-Kim as Zav, a 16-year-old hyper-pop musician who dreams of breaking through in the music industry.

Alongside this ambition, Zav is also questioning their gender identity. These self-explorations raise concerns about their relationships with family, as well as the repercussions from others in their Franco-Ontarian community.

Consequently, Zav starts using social media to anonymously embrace their femininity, vent about their dysphoria and, perhaps most productively, start sharing their art with the world.

As time goes by, however, Zav begins to realize that they can’t keep their reality – and their talent – a secret forever.

Catch up on all the drama and maybe even find your own hyper-pop alter ego with Fem. The ten-episode first season is now available on Dekkoo. There is also a second season in the works now. Watch the trailer below.