Category: Short Film

Exploring Grief: The Journey in Warm Smooth Mean

An emotional and gorgeously shot 14-minute drama from director Jess Maldaner and screenwriter Mark Allen, Warm Smooth Mean concerns a grieving son digging into his famous father’s mysterious past.

The short film follows Hunter Nelson (William McKinney), a brooding young man troubled by the suicide of his father, River Nelson. Before his death, River was one half of a legendary country western duo called Silent Station.

When Hunter receives an unexpected royalty check from his father’s work, he embarks on a journey to find the mysterious Jerry Lee McCoy (Cameron Dye), his father’s former bandmate, and pass along the money.

Finally coming face to face with Jerry, Hunter is surprised to find himself rudely rebuffed. He sets forth attempting to break down the older man’s defenses and to finally get some answers about what was behind his father’s untimely passing years ago.

Check out the poster for Warm Smooth Mean below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo!

A man looking down, wearing a dark denim jacket, with soft light coming through a window in the background. The image features text that reads '20 YEARS AGO TODAY COUNTRY LEGEND RIVER NELSON LEFT US... WARM SMOOTH MEAN'.

Short Film Spotlight: Solitude

Young Zeph’s (Jael Saran) relationship with his best friend and secret crush, Sol (Da’Von J. Solomon), is called into question as the pair spend increasingly more time together preparing for an art exhibition.

Desperate to save her son, Zeph’s mother Augustine (Marlo Stroud) stages an ambush to confront him. Events soon take a grim turn, forcing Zeph to question how he will reconcile who he really is with the person he’s pretending to be for the sake of his disapproving family.

A 17-minute short from Atlanta-based writer-director Knial Saunders, Solitude is a deeply affecting vignette, following the burgeoning sexuality of a queer black teenager who is forced to make the painful choice of conforming to family expectations or finally reaching out for romantic love and self acceptance.

Check out the poster for Solitude below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

An actor discovers the seedy underbelly of L.A. in the short gay classic ‘The Blue Boy’

An aspiring young actor discovers the seedier side of Los Angeles in director Ray Vecchiola’s provocative 25-minute short film The Blue Boy.

Matt (Carlo Angelo), a 20-something, leather jacket-clad hunk, insists that he’s straight, but has been working in gay porn to pay the bills. Frustrated with his cocaine-addled girlfriend Diane (Susan Nichols), he starts spending more and more time within the scene.

He soon forms a connection with a wealthy older benefactor (Scott McKinley), who teaches him about the finer things in life in exchange for sexual favors.

Becoming increasingly more confused about his identity, Matt ends up burning bridges with almost everyone in his life, finding himself with fewer and fewer places to turn.

The Blue Boy was originally released to LGBTQ+ film festivals back in 1997. With shades of Cruising and Boogie Nights, the film is a fascinating artifact of an earlier time in the depiction of sex work in cinema.

Long thought to be lost, The Blue Boy is now available for new audiences to discover on Dekkoo. Watch a short clip from the film below..

Short Film Spotlight: The Cutest and Funniest Animals In The World

70-year-old Jorge (Paulo Goya) is one of the most capricious and dedicated janitors at the Paradise Motel, except for one single detail: he secretly records audio of the guests from within their rooms.

Jorge derives great pleasure from this illegal act, particularly when the recordings are of a sexual nature. He also sells the recordings to Alberto (Wilson Rabelo), an elderly client driven by a similar fetish. Furthermore, he delights in the excitement the material can provoke while inventing specific details and effectively controlling the narrative of younger people’s sex lives.

As the two men explore their passions and descend deeper into a shared fantasy world, their fascinations grow increasingly morbid.

A bold short from Brazilian filmmaker Renato Sircilli, The Cutest and Funniest Animals in the World attracted attention during its run at film festivals for its provocative, boundary-pushing narrative and for its frank representation of the sex lives of two 70-year-old gay men.

Watch a short trailer for The Cutest and Funniest Animals in the World below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Ruins

Poetic and deeply mysterious, Ruins is a supremely sexy 14-minute short from French writer-director Benoît Duvette, following two nameless young men (Paul Lecomte and Simon Royer) whose forbidden love has sent them running from society at large.

Set in a misty lakeside forest, the film finds two unnamed teen boys on the run. We don’t exactly know why, but it isn’t hard to guess that their feelings for one another are intense.

In the hollow of the night, alone, their pains and their fears eventually come to the surface.

Playing out like a dream sequence, Ruins is a sensual, atmospheric, and incredibly homoerotic coming-of-age short about the literal and figurative pain of youthful longing and desire.

Watch a short clip from Ruins below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Golden Boys

The short film Golden Boys follows Scott, Dylan and Carter (Steven Yaffee, Kristopher Turner and Andre Kim), three longtime friends on an unexpected bender who end up back at their old private school looking to cause trouble.

After breaking in, they immediately revert to being teenage boys – racing wheelie chairs, spiking the faculty coffee and drunkenly photocopying their asses.

The night begins to sour for Scott, though, when he is reminded of the fervent and confusing friendship he once had with Dylan. Haunted by the physical chemistry that they once shared, Scott recalls a time when they seemed right on the brink of exploring their romantic attraction. Neither he nor Dylan, however, could bring themselves to fully explore their feelings.

In the unforgiving light of those regrets, Scott grapples with the somber events that have brought him and his friends back together, and comes face to face with the true consequences of having been the school’s Golden Boys.

Watch a brief clip from Golden Boys below. The full 8-minute short is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: I Think I’m Gay?

Zach (Matt Tagtmeyer) finds his life turned completely upside-down when performance anxiety in bed leads to a life-shattering accusation: his girlfriend Amy (Rebecca Goldstein) suddenly thinks he’s gay.

Wondering if she might be right, Zach enlists the help of friends Drew, Kyle and Sandy (Aaron Jung, Matt Jennings and Victoria Mele), who make it their mission to bring out a side of him he never knew he had.

Brimming with fiery one-liners, oodles of side-eye sass and a madcap premise, I Think I’m Gay?, a delightfully funny short comedy from Los Angeles-based writer-director Matt Chupack, goes straight for the funny bone and doesn’t disappoint.

Check out the poster for I Think I’m Gay? below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Debut

The 28-minute short Debut follows Philip (Hannes Fohlin), a young man who dreams of becoming a model.

At a casting call, he gets the rare opportunity to be photographed alongside a well-known model named Sebastiaan (Karl-Henrik Franzen) – and there is clearly a spark between them.

During the photo shoot, Philip pushes his limits more and more in order to keep the photographer’s interest. Soon the alluring young men find themselves losing control of the situation, as Philip is doing everything he can just to be able to stay in front of the camera.

From screenwriter Veronica Zacco and Swedish director Anette Sidor, Debut is a sexy and provocative short about art and desire, featuring seductive performances from the lead actors.

Check out Debut today – the short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Poz

From Danish co-directors Christian Edvard Halberg and Helle Rossing, the short film Poz follows a lost young man who is looking for meaning in all the wrong places.

At the beginning of the film, Oliver (Max Raundalf Laursen), a troubled 20-something, arrives at his sister’s apartment on her birthday with the sole intention of pestering her.

When he asks whether she would be willing to take care for him in the event that he gets ill, the moment goes by mostly unnoticed. But a deeper, murkier truth lies beyond the question.

Oliver has been engaging in deliberately risky sexual behavior with a variety of men. When an HIV test comes back negative, he’s devastated to find himself healthy. Skipping his sister’s birthday party, he ventures out into the night, looking to finally catch hold of the virus he’s been seeking.

Stylishly constructed with haunting sound design, Poz is an intense and confrontational short film, following one young man on a misguided journey.

Poz is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Boychick

In sunny suburbia, a loud-mouthed Jewish mother (Andrea LaBella) incessantly nags and humiliates her shy, gay, teenage son (Ben Lang) – who she calls her Boychick.

Meanwhile, in the classroom, Boychick can’t seem to stop ogling a hunky male classmate. If only Boychick had the courage to face up to his desires.

As if by magic, along comes his idol, a pop star by the name of Ashley Hart (Lindsey Girardot). She arrives just at the right time, ready to give our lonely, long-suffering protagonist the hip-strutting, hair-flicking confidence he desperately craves.

Originally released in 2001, this crowd-pleasing 12-minute comedy from writer, director and producer Glenn Gaylord won over 14 different awards at LGBTQ+ festivals.

Boychick is finally back to slay once again! The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo!