Category: Short Film

Short Film Spotlight: With Thelma

A gay couple gets a crash course in parenting in the charming 14-minute short With Thelma.

When a volcano erupts in Iceland, it strands Vincent’s brother and sister-in-law overseas. Until planes start flying again, someone will need to take care of Thelma, their 2-year-old daughter – who has been staying with a no-longer-available family friend in Paris.

The task falls to Vincent and his partner Jean, who enjoy a pretty typical urban gay lifestyle and worry about their ability to manage a toddler. But when Thelma arrives, they rise to the occasion – learning all about the responsibilities of fatherhood through trial and error.

By the time Thelma’s parents are ready to return, the prospect of breaking up their makeshift family proves far more emotional than either of them expected.

Featuring incredibly funny performances from lead actors Jean La Peltier and Vincent Lecuyer – not to mention Thelma Balboni as the scene-stealing titular 2-year-old – With Thelma is a lovingly-crafted ode to all the joys and pressures of parenthood.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Outside the Aquarium

Artist Alex Mello wrote, directed and stars in Outside the Aquarium, a romantic, funny and thoughtful 25-minute short about the experiences of a Black gay artist living in Germany.

Jonas (Mello) is a painter who is getting ready for a major new exhibition. At the start of the film, we meet him in a state of romantic bliss. He’s deeply in love with Lukas (Julius Dombrink), his partner. During breakfast, Lukas tells Jonas about a strange recurring nightmare that stems from his anxiety over being fetishized by the white gay community over his racial features.

Jonas can relate – maybe more than Lukas even knows. The film unexpectedly flashes back to a time before the pair met, when Jonas was still searching for love in addition to professional success. Following him through the course of one evening, we get to feel what it’s like to walk in his shoes – meeting his self-centered, casually-racist agent and joining him for an exceedingly uncomfortable hook-up with a demented bottom who views interracial sex like the ultimate taboo.

We then get to witness the moment when Jonas and Lukas first met, which gives the beginning of the film and their loving relationship a whole new – and much deeper – perspective.

Directed with heart and inventive visual flair, Outside the Aquarium marks Mello as a unique and playful artist worth keeping an eye on.

Watch the trailer for Outside the Aquarium below. The full short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Jean Fell in Love

A pulse-pounding and ultimately heart-warming 20-minute short from French writer-director Romain Roellet, Jean Fell in Love follows events that take place during the final weeks of a heated rugby tournament.

Jean (Simon Rerolle), the star player of his team, is on the cusp of earning a much-coveted trophy. When he meets Ayoub (Tristan Zanchi), a newcomer from an opposing team, the spark between them is immediately apparent.

The pair make plans to get together for a walk through the park the following day. When Ayoub kisses Jean for the first time, however, they’re inconveniently spotted by Greg (Pierre Louis Laugérias), a less-then-supportive teammate whose over-the-top homophobia betrays a not-so thinly veiled jealousy.

News soon travels to the locker room, where Jean is forced out of the closet before he’s ready. Finally faced with the truth, he decides that it’s time to start winning on his own terms.

With terrific performances, a charming romance at its core and lots of hot athletic flesh on display, Jean Fell in Love is ready to make you swoon and break a sweat.

Watch a short trailer for Jean Fell in Love below. The film is now available to watch on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: I Am Not Afraid

In today’s political climate, making a gay-themed film in Russia is an incredibly brave act. Writer-director Vladimir Beck has done just that with I Am Not Afraid, a thoughtful coming-of-age short about a young man who is looking to muster up a little bravery of his own.

Illarion Marov stars in I Am Not Afraid as Misha, a quiet high school teen who tries to cover up his sensitivity with an air of aloofness. He’s been exploring his sexuality during sleepovers with Philip, his much more confident best friend played by Mark Eidelshtein.

When it becomes clear that Philip will be moving away to Germany with his family, it stirs up some deep emotions that Misha is not ready to face. Their seemingly strong friendship starts coming apart at the seams once Philip senses Misha’s turmoil, but is unable to get the truth out of him.

At a party where a female classmate starts showing some aggressive interest in Misha, everything comes to a head. Suddenly, Misha is forced to either show his true feelings in front of all of his classmates or openly betray the boy he secretly loves.

Packed with emotion and featuring tender performances from the two male leads, I Am Not Afraid is a heartfelt examination of young love as well as a rare glimpse into the way Russian teenagers feel about – and are affected by – LGBTQ+ issues.

Watch the trailer for I Am Not Afraid below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Director Jared Watmuff’s award winning short film ‘Hey You’ packs a shocking and tragic punch

In April of 2017, over 100 different people were reportedly abducted, tortured and murdered by authorities in Chechnya as part of a heinous crackdown against the LGBTQ+ community. Some of these people were directly targeted and entrapped using dating apps. Ongoing prosecutions, mysterious disappearances and additional waves of attacks continued soon after.

Hey You, a shocking, but deeply important 4-minute short film from writer-director Jared Watmuff, explores this topic head-on.

At the start of Hey You, it seems that we’re watching an ordinary connection transpire between two men on Grindr. Soon enough, however, we realize that we’re seeing the experiences of two men from very different places – and how their simple pursuit of companionship plays out in wildly divergent ways.

A winner of numerous awards at film festivals around the globe, Hey You exposes how, with the convenience of social media and dating apps, our hard-fought rights and freedoms can be taken for granted – and how, for many others, the fight for those freedoms is far from over.

We do feel the need to warn you that the film contains scenes and imagery that most viewers will – and should – find deeply disturbing. This film does not shy away from the tragic reality of the situation.

Watch a short trailer for Hey You below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Things You Think I’m Thinking

An award-winning short film from director Sherren Lee, The Things You Think I’m Thinking stars Station Eleven regular Prince Amponsah as Sean, a gay man struggling with emotional insecurities and body image issues as he embarks on his first date with another man since being badly scarred and losing both his arms in a house fire.

Though Sean and his new date Caleb (played by Jesse LaVercombe, the film’s screenwriter) hit it off while flirting at the bar, things get tense when they return to Sean’s apartment and Caleb tries to take their budding relationship into the bedroom.

The two soon realize that they need to communicate honestly – and not, like on so many dates before, assume what one another are thinking.

LaVercombe wrote this 14-minute short as a tribute to Amponsah. An accomplished Canadian stage actor, The Things You Think I’m Thinking marked his first film role after returning to the stage in 2016, following his own real-life injuries in a 2012 apartment fire.

The film went on to win multiple awards – including the Jury Prize for Best International Short Film at Outfest in 2018, a Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Canadian Film Festival and the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2018 Inside Out Film and Video Festival.

Watch a short teaser clip from The Things You Think I’m Thinking below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.