Category: Short Film

Short Film Spotlight: Center Lights

An experimental 7-minute short from Argentine writer-director Cristian Franco-Tuñon, Center Lights is a melancholy, but incredibly sexy examination of gay male desire, longing and fantasy.

As night falls, a lonely young man – smoking a cigarette and clad in a pair of skimpy white briefs – watches the world go by from his apartment balcony.

The countless city lights, flickering on and off, blend together with the people on the streets – suggesting the vast array of encounters the outside world has to offer. Our protagonist, however, is only interested in the alluring man who lives next door.

Though he suspects that his feelings will not be reciprocated, something is calling on him to take a chance. Later that night, he works up the courage to confront his feelings – and the man in question – directly.

Watch an evocative short trailer for Center Lights below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Repetition

Mexican writer-director Tania Karenni examines addiction and sobriety with the intense 15-minute short The Repetition.

Unfolding almost like a horror film, the story follows Daniel, a vulnerable single man played by Ernesto Siller. With only a few days sober, he’s at a turning point in his life. He must now choose between letting go of the addictions that torment him or continuing to escape his loneliness through them.

Daniel has tried again and again to rebuild himself, but the shadow of alcohol and toxic relationships always end up catching him. With a party raging next door to his apartment and a knock at the door from an alluring, but unwanted visitor, he turns to a text chain for support, but their encouragement may not be enough to keep him on the right path.

When he finally opens the front door and gives into temptation, he’s given a stark reminder of the demons that he’s been trying to keep at bay.

Skillfully acted and directed, The Repetition is a hard-hitting study of one man’s hard-fought effort to improve his life and learn to start taking things one day at a time.

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

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.