Category: Pride

Short Film Spotlight: Mab Hudel

Enys (Chris Jenkins) is what you would call a ‘man’s man.’ He’s a capable farmer with a hot dad-bod who takes care of his family, can chug down a pint with the best of them and, as team captain, is something of a legend at his local rugby club.

At the start of the sexy and charming new short film Mab Hudel (translated as The Magical Son), he’s tired, hungover and generally out of sorts. With all of his responsibilities mounting, he’s had little time to spend with Hikka (Rick Yale), his secret boyfriend.

On top of everything else, there is a major rugby final coming up… and Hikka just happens to be captain of the dreaded rival team. On the field, in the heat of the moment, it becomes apparent that their love affair may not have been as secret as they thought it was.

A crowd-pleaser at film festivals around the globe, Mab Hudel was filmed in South West England using entirely Cornish dialog, offering a glimpse into a region not often captured on film.

Mab Hudel also marks the directorial debut of Edward Rowe, an up-and-coming actor who starred in the films Bait and Enys Men, two recently-released British indies from acclaimed director Mark Jenkin. You can also catch his acting work on high profile series like The Witcher, C.B. Strike and House of the Dragon. We’re excited to see where he goes next as a filmmaker.

Watch a short trailer for Mab Hudel below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Two young men from different worlds come together in the tender new romance ‘Liuben’

Set in a Bulgarian mountain village, where prejudice simmers, Liuben follows a summer romance that develops between two young men from very different worlds.

Twenty-seven-year-old Victor (Dimitar Nokolov) has a nice life in Madrid with his partner, Jose (Ramón Esquinas). But after returning to his childhood home in Bulgaria for his grandfather’s funeral, he decides to stay for the summer.

While reconnecting with his father and their village’s way of life, he unexpectedly finds love in the form of Liuben (Bojidar Iankov Asenov), an eighteen-year-old Roma boy. Despite their differences, and the conflicts around them, Victor and Liuben find refuge in each other.

Liuben, which has its world premiere at Guadalajara International Film Festival last June, is a bit of a groundbreaker. Not only is it the first openly gay film from Bulgaria, but it casts Roma actors, who are usually absent from Bulgarian cinema, in the film’s lead roles.

A poetic romance from writer-director Venci Kostov, Liuben tells the heartfelt story of two lovers who are condemned to be strangers in their own land.

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

The nude musical revue ‘Naked Boys Singing’ has come to shed its clothes on Dekkoo!

Imagine inviting ten gorgeous, intelligent, creative and completely naked men into your living room for an evening full of entertainment! That’s what you get with Naked Boys Singing, a superb filmed performance of the famed musical revue.

After 2,500 performances worldwide since 1998, they staged the piece for the cameras to give audiences an opportunity to see this wonderful review in the comfort of their own homes.

Originally released in 2007, the film is back to slay on Dekkoo. With catchy songs strung together like Christmas lights, we’re confident that musical theater queens will love this film as much as we do.

Perfect for parties, (or family gatherings if your family is into nude gay men) Naked Boys Singing has more adorable naked men than the latest CockyBoys movie – and you can actually watch this one with your sister. It’s a wonderful musical cast made up entirely with hot naked men… what’s not to love?

Click the link below to watch the original (not safe for work) trailer for Naked Boys Singing below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Oscar nominee Colman Domingo stars in the profoundly moving 30-minute drama ‘North Star’

Colman Domingo, Malcolm Gets, Laura Innes and Kevin Bacon make up the primary cast of this astounding 30-minute short film that challenges the meanings of freedom, faith and family.

A winner of countless awards at film festivals all around the globe, North Star is easily one of the most acclaimed gay short films ever made.

Domingo, who also produced the film, stars as James, a rural rancher who makes incredible sacrifices to care for his dying husband – all while his zealot sister-in-law attempts to impose her will and a pair of televangelists peddle shame, fear, and division as the cornerstones of faith.

A deeply personal film by writer-director P.J. Palmer, based on his own experiences of being in same-gender, multi-cultural relationships, North Star is a profoundly emotional drama that will linger with you love after the credits roll.

Watch a short teaser trailer for North Star below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A weekend of mischief becomes a battle for survival in the stylish British thriller ‘B&B’

A gay couple pays a price for exercising their rights in this award-winning thriller from writer-director Joe Ahearne.

Sean Teale and Tom Bateman star in B&B as partners Fred and Marc. A year before the main events of the film, they were denied a room at St. Jude bed and breakfast by its fundamentalist Christian owner Josh (Paul McGann). They took the matter to court, won a discrimination suit and have now returned.

Though Fred would happily take the victory and move on, Marc is excited to rub some salt in Josh’s wound – insisting on sleeping as a married couple in the home of a man who has made his resentment known.

Events take a deadly turn when another guest, with far more sinister intentions, arrives. Marc and Fred’s weekend of fun turns into a suspenseful battle for survival.

With plenty of twists and turns, this clever Hitchcock homage will keep you guessing to the bitter end.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Pipes

Fast-paced and visually inventive, Pipes, an impressively animated black and white short from co-directors Jessica Meier, Kilian Feusi and Sujanth Ravichandran, is packed with deliciously funny incident.

The 4-minute, dialog-free film follows an anthropomorphic cartoon bear who works as a plumber and is tasked with fixing the pipes at a kinky gay nightclub.

Shocked at the hedonistic display of gay pleasure on the dance floor, a fear of the unknown soon takes him over. His mind wanders down a kaleidoscopic rabbit hole of gay panic where pipes become body parts and body parts become pipes before he comes to his senses and realizes that there was never anything to be afraid of in the first place.

Cleverly-crafted, the film builds a bizarre cartoon world you won’t soon forget. If you’re never seen an animated alien do poppers before, you’re in for a weirdly specific treat!

Check out the poster for Pipes below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo. And, despite the cuddly characters and the positive message, be warned that this film is for grown-up viewers only.

A man attempts a turbulent journey out of the closet in the moving drama ‘El Houb (The Love)’

Having spent decades hiding his sexuality from his family, Moroccan-Dutch businessman Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) decides to come clean after his father catches him in bed with a man.

Caught up in a panic over the thought of coming out to his traditional Muslim parents (Slimane Dazi and Lubna Azabal), he barricades himself in their closet… literally.

As he feverishly revisits his childhood memories, negotiates a budding romance with a new Ghanaian boyfriend (Emmanuel Boafo) and wages a long-delayed battle royale to uproot his family’s conservative attitudes, a series of darkly hilarious and unflinchingly frank conversations begin – and the family is finally forced to confront the truths that have so long been avoided.

Loosely based on the theater work and actual experiences of lead actor and co-screenwriter Fahd Larhzaoui, El Houb (The Love) cascades through time. Director Shariff Nasr manages to straddle a line between uproarious comedy and heartbreaking drama while examining family dynamics, cultural taboos and hard-won self-acceptance.

Watch the trailer for El Houb (The Love) below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

‘Every Act of Life’ celebrates the career and friendships of legendary playwright Terrence McNally

Through six groundbreaking decades in the theatre, four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally became a living legend, both on stage and off.

He launched the careers of some of Broadway’s biggest stars, was a pioneer in the fight for LGBTQ rights, triumphed over addiction, found love and inspiration at every age and continually showed the power of art to transform society.

Featuring interviews with Nathan Lane, Patrick Wilson, Edie Falco, Rita Moreno, Christine Baranski, F. Murray Abraham, Bryan Cranston and many more, Every Act of Life is an intimate and illuminating documentary that celebrates McNally’s life and relationships while examining his incredible legacy of work.

Watch the trailer for Every Act of Life below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Survivors speak out in director David France’s riveting documentary ‘Welcome to Chechnya’

With searing urgency and uncommon bravery, the eye-opening documentary Welcome to Chechnya shadows a group of activists who risk unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ purge raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic.

Since 2017, Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has waged a depraved operation to “cleanse the blood” of LGBTQ Chechens, overseeing a campaign to detain, torture and execute them. Operating without the sanction of the Kremlin, activists take matters into their own hands.

In this riveting and deeply affecting piece of work, David France, the acclaimed, award-winning director behind How to Survive a Plague, uses a remarkable hands-on approach to expose this atrocity and tell the story of an extraordinary group of people literally putting their lives on the line to confront evil and make not just Chechnya, but the whole world a better place for the LGBTQ community.

Watch the trailer for Welcome to Chechnya below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Station In-Between

Swiss actors Peter Fischli and Carlos Leal star in the tender and visually lush short film The Station In-Between as Theo and Louis, two gay men with little in common who are compelled to go on an emotional journey together.

Louis’s husband, who was also Theo’s best friend, was recently killed during a homophobic attack. The pair are traveling by train to Paxmal, a spiritual peace monument in the Swiss Alps, to scatter their beloved friend and partner’s ashes.

Along the way, almost as if by fate, they meet a variety of memorable characters. Some confront them with traumas of the past, while others remind them of the good things in life and the beauty that surrounds them even in the darkest of times.

Gorgeously crafted by director Sven Schnyder, this touching and compassionate 19-minute short film is an ode to unexpected friendships, as well as life, death and everything in between.

Check out the poster for The Station In-Between below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.