Category: Performing Arts

‘Throuple’ is now available to rent or buy on Dekkoo and all other major VOD services!

The acclaimed new queer rom-com Throuple is now available to rent or buy on Dekkoo, as well as all other major VOD providers!

Gay singer-songwriter Michael is hopeless when it comes to expressing himself. When he meets Georgie and Connor, a married couple, their nonchalant hook-up turns into a night of vulnerability that none of them expected.

As the couple challenges him to open up about his feelings, Michael ignites a new flicker of excitement in their marriage. His world is soon thrown into chaos, however, when everyone in his social circle begins making life-altering decisions that leave him feeling abandoned. He must decide whether to finally open up and go after what he wants or watch his dreams slip away.

From director Greyson Horst and screenwriter/star Michael Doshier, Throuple is a colorful and sexy new rock n’ roll romance about one man’s journey to live and love openly… while creating a few new songs along the way.

Watch the trailer for Throuple below. You can rent or buy the film right now on Dekkoo, Amazon and various other VOD services. It will be available to Dekkoo subscribers later this year.

Short Film Spotlight: Intermission

Life imitates art in Intermission, a 25-minute drama from Spanish writer-director Arnau Vilaró. The film follows David (David Selvas), a middle-aged actor who is preparing to star in a new stage production.

After rehearsing a dramatic monologue about nostalgia and melancholy, he receives an unexpected phone call that sends him on a journey of his own. Though we don’t immediately know why, David is suddenly compelled to seek out a former long-term partner named Gerard.

The news he has to share, concerning a mysterious matter set in motion years prior, has the potential to change both of their lives… as long as it’s not too late.

Deliberately paced and packed with mystery, Intermission is a stylish drama about aging, self-reflection, and the relationships that make us who we are.

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

‘The Summer with Carmen’ is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo!

The playful gay comedy The Summer with Carmen follows actors, writing partners, and best friends Demos and Nikitas (Yorgos Tsiantoulas and Andreas Labropoulos) as they spend a sweltering day together at a nude beach in Athens.

Nikitas, fed up with only being considered for stereotypical queer roles, becomes determined to create his own opportunities in the Greek film industry by directing his first feature.

As the two friends soak up the sun, they begin to brainstorm a screenplay idea based on the colorful events of a previous summer – a life-changing period that involved a devastating break-up and a dog named Carmen.

Taking a fresh, rule-breaking perspective on storytelling, writer-director Zacharias Mavroeidis has devised a clever ‘film within a film,’ playfully shifting between timelines while delivering a funny and poignant look at queer romances, friendships, and intimacy – not to mention pet ownership – all set against multiple steamy Greek summers.

Watch the trailer for The Summer with Carmen 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 star-studded new documentary explores the life of legendary fashion icon Antonio Lopez

The riveting documentary Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco doubles as a time capsule of Paris and New York City between 1969 and 1973 – as viewed through the eyes of Antonio Lopez, the dominant fashion illustrator of the time.

A native of Puerto Rico who was raised in The Bronx, Antonio was a seductive arbiter of style and glamour. Beginning in the 1960s, he brought elements of the urban street to a postwar fashion world desperate for change and diversity.

Counted among Antonio’s discoveries – and muses of the period – were iconic beauties such as Grace Jones, Jessica Lange and Jerry Hall, as well as Warhol Superstars Donna Jordan, Jane Forth and Patti D’Arbanville.

Antonio’s inner circle was also comprised of his romantic and creative partner, Juan Ramos, makeup artist Corey Tippin, photographer Bill Cunningham, and rival designers Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint-Laurent.

All these characters and more come together in this acclaimed film from director James Crump, creating a vivid portrait of Lopez and the revolutionary fashion world he helped create.

Watch the trailer for Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Give

The profoundly emotional 16-minute short film Give offers up a multi-layered account of the passionate romance that develops between Adam (Brian Mittelstadt), a contemporary composer-pianist, and Patrick (Joel DeCandio), a classical singer.

The pair were brought together by their respective gifts for music. Adam finds comfort with each stroke of the piano while Patrick’s singing voice commands attention from everyone within earshot.

When they play together, their connection is palpable, filling each day with both ordinary and extraordinary moments. Once their love crescendos, however, Adam is forced to process his feelings of loss and betrayal the only way he knows how.

Writer, director and composer Kenya Gillespie, who created Give as a thesis project for the Film and Media Production MFA program The University of Texas in Austin, uses a lyrical and contemplative score and snippets of poetic voiceover to support Adam and Patrick’s dreamlike memories. With minimal dialogue, the film uses music as a heartbeat.

Watch the trailer for Give below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo. Director Kenya Gillespie’s 2019 short, Jeremiah, is also available now.

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.

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.

D’Arcy Drollinger’s ‘Shit & Champagne’ delivers high-kicking, ass-whooping comedy!

When the drug-lords of the underworld kill your fiancé and your sister – and the cops stand idly by and do nothing – there’s only one thing left to do… dance!

Writer-director D’Arcy Drollinger’s tribute to female empowerment and the low-budget exploitation films of the 1970’s, Shit & Champagne delivers high-kicking, ass-whooping comedy.

After her fiancé, Rod (Mario Diaz), and her half-sister, world renowned calf model Brandy (Steven LeMay), are both brutally murdered, Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White (Drollinger), a divorcée and exotic dancer from the wrong side of the tracks, uses all the right moves to single-handedly take on ‘Mal-Wart,’ the largest sex, drug and back-to-school clothing ring in the country.

But when her best friend becomes addicted to booty bumps and is forced to work as a Mal-Wart brand discount prostitute, Champagne has no other choice than to go undercover and infiltrate the corrupt organization.

Using an arsenal of disguises, a plethora of kung-fu moves and a cornucopia of one-liners, Champagne dances her way down the fast and furious road to revenge.

Adapted from Drollinger’s wildly successful stage show, Shit & Champagne is fiendishly fun, offering up wall-to-wall slapstick and camp thanks to the unwavering comic timing of triple threat writer, director and lead actress, as well as an impressive supporting cast of all-star drag talent.

Watch the trailer for Shit & Champagne below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything’ takes viewers on an intimate trip through Southern Decadence

The action-packed documentary To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything follows the lives of drag queen extraordinaires Laveau Contraire and Franky Canga as they prepare for Southern Decadence, a weekend of queer celebration in New Orleans.

During this behind-the-scenes journey, we meet a rich community of Southern artists who proudly challenge social norms and the boundaries of self-expression.

Showcasing the diversity of New Orleans while teaching a poignant lesson about knowing your worth, this new film from director Stuart Sox provides a personal perspective from the performers as well as the producers, as Laveau strives to create more opportunities for BIPOC performance artists.

From drag queens to burlesque performers and everything in between, To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything is a lively portrait of a nearly 50-year tradition and the diversity community that pulls it together year after year.

Watch the trailer for To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.