Category: Short Film

Short Film Spotlight: Far From Water

Prolific Brooklyn-based director Josh Cox adds to his growing collection of well-crafted queer indie shorts with the evocative 5-minute film Far From Water.

Jarid Dominguez and Lucas Nealon star in the film as two unnamed male friends who are enjoying a trip to the beach together.

From the very beginning, as soon as the pair start playfully stripping off their clothes to go swimming, the sexual tension is palpable.

When they end up sharing a furtive, short-lived make-out session in the dunes, it shakes their relationship to the core and forces them to examine what the future may have in store for them.

With minimal dialog and only a sliver of a running time, Cox is able to pack a whole lot of emotion into this observational coming-of-age tale. The characters may not say a whole lot, but the way they behave with one another – both before and after their romantic encounter – manages to speak volumes.

Watch a brief teaser for Far From Water below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Sacrament

Set in the 1950s, Sacrament stars Abel Benitez and Rin Iverson as Belford and Winston, two young men on a camping trip outside their rural, religious hometown.

As the story begins to unfold it becomes abundantly clear that two men are attracted to one another, something which is forbidden by their conservative community.

What soon follows is a dark night of the soul for Belford, as he enters into a terrifying, anxiety-induced nightmare and tries to reconcile his religious faith with what his heart truly desires.

Gorgeously shot in black and white, this provocative 9-minute short from writer-director Jack Hessler uses horror imagery and religious allegory to convey complicated feelings about sacrifice, religious intolerance and repressed desires.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Bubble Gum

Shooting in black and white, writer-director Karina Grinstein pays tribute to classic silent films while giving them a modern spin with her 12-minute short film Bubble Gum.

Channeling Buster Keaton, Mariano Rojo stars as David, a single 23-year-old who finds himself deeply unsatisfied with his love life. Everywhere he looks, David seems to find happy couples in his line of vision, but he just can’t seem to find the right match for himself.

When he spots a potential female suitor on the streets, he makes great efforts just to avoid her. Despite her advances, she’s clearly not the one. But when he accidentally bumps into an attractive, bearded young professional, something about their passing moment together feels entirely different.

Though they quickly part ways, it seems that his whole world suddenly has more color – both literally and figuratively. When the two young men happen upon each other once again, it becomes clear that the feelings are mutual.

Watch the trailer for Bubble Gum below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.

A young actor is put in an uncomfortable position in the short film ‘Go Crazy with Crazy’

Struggling actors have to jump through all kinds of hoops in search of their big breaks. Too often, however, as the #MeToo movement proved, they’re asked to go to unreasonable lengths.

Based on a wild true story, director Ayana Barber’s 9-minute short Go Crazy with Crazy follows a young gay actor who is put in a deeply uncomfortable position.

Justin Garascia, who also wrote the screenplay, stars as the actor in question. After meeting and falling into bed with a promising young director named Joey (Jimmy Brooks), he’s closer than ever to landing the lead role of a meth-addicted gay porn star in a potentially groundbreaking indie film.

But when he’s asked to partake in a very unusual audition process, the young man takes to Google and discovers something fishy about the director. Not willing to compromise his integrity or his safety, he attends the audition ready for a fight – aiming to finally set the record straight and send an unforgettable message about the consequences of catfishing.

Watch a quick teaser trailer for Go Crazy with Crazy below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.