Two men get a second chance at love in the romantic drama ‘About Us’

Co-writer and director Thiago Cazado also stars in the film About Us as Diego, a young man who is planning to leave his hometown in Brazil to attend a film school in California – where he’ll be gone for four years.

In order to take this step forward, he will have to leave behind everything he has ever loved… including Matheus (Rodrigo Bittes), a handsome young man with whom he fell madly in love and shared a brief passionate affair.

Ten years later, having returned to Brazil, Diego decides to write a novel about their relationship, using his camera instead of his pen.

This heartfelt biopic shows how passion can increase our motivation in life, but also how making tough choices can affect that passion. Romantic and intimate, filmed with a handheld, fly-on-the-wall intimacy, About Us brings us right into the middle of a tricky relationship – portrayed with aplomb by the two lead actors.

Originally released in 2017, About Us is available once again Dekkoo.You can check out other work from the co-filmmakers right now as well. Cazado’s erotic drama Behind the Trees, co-director Mauro Carvalho’s political thriller The Senator and their joint effort, the 2019 romance Cousins are all available to stream now.

Watch the trailer for About Us below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Havana

Living in Cuba in the 1970s, immigration officer Antonio (Ifeanyi Dike Jr.) earns money on the side by selling illegal visas at exorbitant prices. And that’s not his only secret. He’s also hiding his sexuality.

His hush-hush lifestyle is starting to get the better of him. Afraid of the outside world, he spends most of his time confined within the walls of his small Havana apartment. His only solace comes in the form of visits from Jian (Shaofei Chen), his secret boyfriend. But when Jian arrives one night looking for an illegal visa of his own, and an opportunity to start a new life, it becomes clear that Antonio is not the only person keeping secrets.

An exceptionally well-made short film from accomplished Hollywood production manager Faith Strongheart, Havana uses top-notch talent to tell a bittersweet story about the forbidden queer love and two men’s desperate longing for escape from an unforgiving time and place.

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

A conservative politician keeps a boyfriend on the side in the erotic thriller ‘The Senator’

Brazilian Senator Arthur Alencar leads a double life. To the media and his constituents, he is a conservative champion of morality whose embrace of traditional family values has led to a surge in popularity.

Renan, his younger, long-suffering secret gay lover, gets to see a much different side of the charismatic politician – and it’s not always pretty.

Torn between his politics and his heart, Renan’s predicament intensifies when he starts falling in love with Victor, an ambitious journalist who is determined to expose the senator’s hypocritical life. But as the truth inches closer to the surface, it begins to spell grave danger for everyone involved.

From Brazilian filmmaker Mauro Carvalho, who co-directed About Us and Cousins with collaborator Thiago Cazado, The Senator is a sly and subversively sexy erotic thriller that doubles as a wicked satire of conservative politics.

Check out the poster for The Senator below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A father goes to great lengths to protect his son in the gripping drama ‘You’ll Never Be Alone’

Accomplished Chilean actor Sergio Hernández stars in You’ll Never Be Alone as Juan, the quiet, introverted manager of a mannequin factory who is hoping to be made partner after 25 years of devoted service.

At home, his 18-year-old son, Pablo (Andrew Bargsted), has dreams of stardom, studying dance at a respected art school. In addition to teaching neighborhood children choreographed dance numbers and clubbing with his best girlfriend on the weekends, Pablo’s life revolves around performing, auditioning and occasionally sneaking around to sleep with another boy from the neighborhood.

While Pablo and his widowed, hard-working dad don’t have a whole lot in common, neither seems to let that get in the way of caring for each other. Everything changes, however, when Pablo is brutally attacked by a group of homophobic kids.

With legal action and medical insurance proving costly, Juan makes the desperate decision to start seeking out his own form of justice.

Based on true events, this impressive debut film from musician Alex Anwandter tells a gripping story of betrayal and redemption. You’ll Never Be Alone is a stirring testament to a father’s love and a powerful treatise on Chile’s generational divide.

Watch the trailer for You’ll Never Be Alone below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: One Like Him

A Jordanian man must find a way to tell his childhood friend and first love the truth about what happened twenty years ago, when a single moment changed both of their lives. When he can’t find the words, their conversation repeats, becoming increasingly surreal… until he loses control.

From director Caitlin French McLeod, One Like Him is a stirring 16-minute short about how the past influences the present.

Rooted in love and framed within a queer, Arab lens, the film is about how we grapple with the narratives imposed on us and how we must build our own narratives to express who we truly are – all while overcoming judgement, letting go of internalized shame and turning inwards to look for the answers.

Gorgeously crafted, One Like Him was screened at countless festivals worldwide, including multiple BAFTA and Academy Awards-qualifying events, picking up numerous awards along the way.

Watch a teaser for One Like Him below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘The Prodigy’ is now available to rent or buy from all major streaming platforms!

From the producers behind House of the Devil and The Innkeepers comes a bone-chilling new descent into queer psychosexual horror.

Beau Swartz stars in The Prodigy as Adam, a street hustler who has just about given up on life. At the start of the film, he’s picked up by a mysterious trick whose seemingly sinister intentions go largely unnoticed. Adam can’t even muster up the energy to care about his own fate.

He accompanies this man to his isolated home in the desert and soon finds himself held captive – stuck at the mercy of a psychopath whose dark history prevents him from understanding the difference between reality and his own murderous fantasies. As Adam sits locked away in confinement, he finally begins searching his soul… and finds himself faced with an important decision. Should he give up on life completely… or fight like hell to keep it?

Directed by prolific filmmaker Omar Salas Zamora and co-written by frequent collaborator Calvin Picou (who delivers a truly menacing performance as the titular prodigious psychopath), The Prodigy is an unexpected, genre-bending follow-up to their gritty 2020 drama Adam in Fragments. While that film followed Adam during his earlier days on the streets, you don’t need to have seen it to enjoy or understand this one. Both movies function as stand-alone pieces of work that happen to follow the same character.

The Prodigy finds the versatile filmmaking duo sharpening their horror skills – and ‘sharp’ is the right word. This film is not for the squeamish. If you’re looking for lighter fare, we highly recommend the Dekkoo-originals Here Comes Your Man and Nothing But Flowers, two projects from Zamora and Picou that feature far less bloodshed and a whole lot more gay romance! For those who aren’t afraid to get a little twisted, we can’t recommend The Prodigy more highly.

Watch the teaser trailer for The Prodigy below. The film is now available to rent or buy from all major platforms, including Dekkoo.

Musician Mark Clennon delivers a stunning performance in the gripping gay drama ‘I Don’t Know Who You Are’

After suffering a sexual violation at the hands of a stranger, Toronto-based musician Benjamin (Mark Clennon) must pull together the money for HIV-preventive treatment in the event that he’s been exposed to the virus – while also trying to avoid the man he’s just started dating.

Short of cash and determined to solve the problem himself, Benjamin spends a frantic weekend trying to raise the necessary funds… and he only has 72 hours to do so.

In his first feature, writer-director M. H. Murray filters his own real-life experience through the character of Benjamin, whom he and lead actor Mark Clennon created in their 2020 short film Ghost.

Bracing and unapologetically provocative, I Don’t Know Who You Are is all about inner conflicts forcing themselves to the surface, with an additional level of commentary on how hard it is to simply exist in Toronto without money or status.

The film also features a powerhouse performance from Clennon, a Toronto artist and poet who also serves as the film’s producer and story editor, in addition to writing and performing all of Benjamin’s songs.

Watch the trailer for I Don’t Know Who You Are below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Two-Headed Calves

The 29-minute short Two-Headed Calves follows bride and groom Johannes and Marie (Andreas Hammer and Jennifer Sabel).

At the beginning of the film, a torrential downpour breaks out in the middle of their outdoor wedding reception… and that turns out to be the least of their problems.

The biggest issue is that Johannes has been keeping a secret from Marie for the entirety of their relationship. He’s gay. He always has been, and he always will be. But that hasn’t stopped his meddling, conservative parents from trying to fix what they perceive as a problem.

Working with an unorthodox personal conversion therapist, Johannes momentarily believes he has overcome his own sexuality and can bring happiness to every disapproving person in his life – even if it comes at the cost of his own.

But when everything that can go wrong does go wrong during the wedding, it seems like a sign that he needs to start being open and honest – especially with his new bride.

Using a found footage aesthetic, German director Benjamin Kramme crafts a painfully funny family comedy that also brilliantly skewers the entire notion of conversion therapy.

Watch the trailer for Two-Headed Calves below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘The Harvesters’ explores sexuality, masculinity, and religion in a conservative farming community

The Harvesters follows Janno (Brent Vermeulen), a South African teen from a very particular type of family. His parents are deeply invested in religion, white Afrikaner solidarity and their farm. A sensitive boy, Janno’s interests lie elsewhere.

When his parents decide to bring a troubled, but charismatic kid named Pieter (Alex van Dyk) into the household, a struggle for dominance soon ensues.

As Pieter slyly draws various family members under his spell, Janno begins to sense that he’s being replaced as the favored son. The boys soon start a dangerous fight for power, heritage and parental love that will change both of their lives forever.

A stirring, subtly homoerotic take on the myth of Cain and Abel, The Harvesters explores repressed sexuality, religion and masculinity in the deep South African countryside. The feature-length debut of Greek-African filmmaker Etienne Kallosis, the film offers up tense and pitiless drama about the intersection of familial and cultural dynamics.

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