Category: Short Film

Short Film Spotlight: Paper Airplanes

A teen boy’s spiritual and sexual awakenings coincide in the poetic 17-minute short Paper Airplanes.

Santiago Cabrera stars in the film at Mateo, a young man who is living with his casually overbearing aunt while grappling with the loss of his mother.

In this vulnerable state, he finds himself unexpectedly connecting with the spiritual realm. Suddenly he’s being followed by the ghost of Enrique (Alex Orellana), a recently deceased classmate, who is rumored to have killed himself after his parents discovered that he was gay.

Comforted by Enrique’s spectral presence, the two grow increasingly closer. But is Mateo really experiencing supernatural visions – or is this his mind’s way of dealing with his own grief and repressed desires?

A meditative film from Ecuadorian writer-director Rob Mendoza, Paper Airplanes is a thoughtful and romantic queer ghost story, as well as a coming-of-age fable about growing into your own skin and learning to say goodbye.

Watch the trailer for Paper Airplanes below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Go on tour with the drag wrestling collective ‘Chokehole’ in this fabulous documentary

Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers do Deutschland tells the story of how one disenfranchised group of queer performers defeated all the odds to create a wildly compelling theatrical show.

One hot summer night in New Orleans, a popular drag collective decided to stage a wresting night. Dressing as their vibrant alter-egos, they proceeded to beat the living daylights out each other while the audience collectively lost their minds. That night, the wrestling collective ‘Chokehole’ was born.

From Yony Leyser, the filmmaker behind Desire Will Set You Free and Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution, this new 22-minute documentary follows the group as they take their show to Germany.

The film observes the artists both in and out of drag, sharing their larger-than-life and theatrical alter egos while displaying the unique vulnerabilities that lie behind each character. This film explores their loud, vibrant personas alongside their heart-breaking personal stories – and the adversity they’ve had to overcome.

We learn how each character copes with love, sex, transitions, post-trauma and socioeconomics while getting a glimpse into their fantastical, vividly realized world – which is as much an escape for the artists as it is for the audience.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers do Deutschland below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Angelo

Twenty-something Angelo (Eduard Galiá) is suffering from a severe case of heartbreak after his longtime girlfriend leaves him for another man. Now he’s forced to find a new version of his life without her in an unfamiliar city.

Just when he thinks all hope is gone, he meets up with Marco (Sergio Pérez), an old school friend. When the two end up in bed together and a cautious, but passionate sexual encounter begins, it reawakens Angelo’s spirit and gets him to start questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.

Shot over only four days with a mix of both digital film and 16mm, this lovingly-crafted 27-minute short is both uplifting and incredibly sexy.

Writer-director Collen Demerez set out to make a film about the parts of discovering your sexuality that can be very healing, instead of destructive like we’ve seen a million times in movies before.

Watch a teaser trailer for Angelo below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Sperm Friends

The short Argentine comedy Sperm Friends concerns two queer couples, three bottles of wine and one slightly awkward proposal.

Partners Andrea and Carla (Belén Castroagudín and Verónica Mayorga) are looking to become parents, but they’ve been running into a lot of issues when it comes to sperm donation.

The pair think they’ve finally come up with the perfect solution. They decide to ask Hernan and Facundo (Alberto Verla and Gastón Filgueira), their best gay friends, to be their donors. They’re even excited by the prospect of co-parenting with another couple. But they’re going to have to jump through a lot of hoops to get the men to agree.

What was supposed to be a relaxing couples’ night turns into an increasingly absurd evening of negotiation.

From director Ramiro Velasco, Sperm Friends is a cute, sweet-natured short about four friends who have the potential to build the family of their dreams… if they can just get themselves to agree on anything.

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