Short Film Spotlight: Mikey’s Army

When you are facing a crisis, who goes to battle for you?

In a time when queer kids face unprecedented attacks and hostility from lawmakers, educators and even their own families, writer Eric Ulloa and director Andrew Keenan-Bolger set out to make a short film that puts the beauty – and even magic – of queerness at center stage.

Mikey’s Army stars Markie Aquirre as Mikey Alvarez, a 16-year-old who finds himself at a pivotal moment. He must decide whether or not to be open and honest about his sexuality.

Not quite ready to come out on his own, Mikey unwittingly conjures a trio of guides who appear in an explosion of glitter and glitz. Backed up by a drag queen, an international pop star and an action film heartthrob, he finally finds the courage and confidence he needs to be honest about his feelings.

Featuring a cast of Broadway-regulars like Claybourne Elder and Krystina Alabado – alongside ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ alum Shuga Cain – Mikey’s Army is a thoughtful and touching film that aims to remind us that our differences can be superpowers – and that we’re never alone on the battlefield.

Watch a short teaser trailer for Mikey’s Army below. The 10-minute film is now available on Dekkoo.

An unexpected love triangle forms in Maryam Touzani’s acclaimed romance ‘The Blue Caftan’

Set in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas, The Blue Caftan follows husband and wife Halim and Mina (Saleh Bakri and Lubna Azabal), who run a traditional caftan store, specializing in hand-sewn, made-to-measure garments.

Together, they share a love for the craft, the beauty of fabrics, the history of the artisans and the skills passed down through generations. Most days Halim can be found carefully crafting traditional caftans with detailed embroidery, committing historical significance to each enduring stitch.

Trying to keep up with demand, the pair hire Youssef (Ayoub Missioui), a soft-spoken young apprentice who is eager to learn everything he can from his new mentor. But when Youssef’s interest in Halim takes a romantic turn, it sets up a deeply complicated and unexpected love triangle.

Mina observes the two men with a mixture of jealousy and chagrin as their attraction to one another grows stronger. The dynamics among the three of them begin to evolve in surprising ways that reveal depths of understanding, generosity, and kindness – and illustrate the possibilities of love even under the most difficult circumstances.

With her second feature film, writer-director Maryam Touzani perfectly captures the intimacy and tenderness in human relationships. The Blue Caftan tells a story of unparalleled adoration, one centered on laughter and longing over the popular expectations of love.

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

A group of hunky gay athletes get personal in the short sports documentary ‘Soccer Boys’

Years ago, a group of athletic gay friends in Brazil got together to play soccer. After founding the team, they never could have imagined the popularity that would soon come their way.

There is now an entire gay football league in Brazil, consisting of eighty teams and a legion of fans. They even have national playoffs.

In the short documentary Soccer Boys, filmmaker Carlos Guilherme Vogel focuses his lens on the BeesCats Football Club as they prepare to compete in the upcoming Diversity Cup.

In candid interviews, the players discuss important issues regarding homosexuality in sports and homophobia in contemporary society.

The film closely follows two players on the first gay football team in Rio de Janeiro, who explain how joining the team has changed their lives for the better.

Soccer Boys is a touching tribute to gay athletes, offering inspiring messages about activism, self-realization, gay pride and following your dreams, wherever they may lead you.

Watch the trailer for Soccer Boys below. The full 14-minute documentary 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.

Don’t miss ‘Lie with Me,’ a gorgeous adaptation of French author Phillipe Besson’s celebrated novel

Adapted from a beloved novel by French author Phillipe Besson, Lie with Me tells an erotic, tender and heartbreaking tale of a lost romance that lingers.

Guillaume de Tonquédec stars as Stéphane, a celebrated author who, as a shy, bespectacled teenager (played in flashbacks by Jérémy Gillet), had fallen for Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean), a rough-and-tumble boy from their small picturesque town.

Now, after thirty years away, he returns home for a book tour and meets Lucas (Victor Belmondo), Thomas’s grown son… who is searching for answers about his deceased father.

As Stéphane is flooded with memories of his first love, the mysteries of their relationship are revealed. The film contrasts the wintry present with the sun-splashed summer when the two young men first fell in love.

With a bucolic rural European setting and parallel narratives, acclaimed director Olivier Peyon weaves a timeless tale of love found and lost that will sweep audiences away on Stéphane’s wave of nostalgia – and questions of what might have been.

Even tragic love stories have magical moments… and Lie with Me is full of them.

Watch the trailer for Lie with Me below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Three teen outcasts band together in the Italian coming-of-age drama ‘One Kiss’

Young actors Rimau Ritzberger Grillo, Valentina Romani and Leonardo Pazzagli star in One Kiss as Lorenzo, Blu and Antonio, high school sophomores living in a small city in the North of Italy.

All three teens are outcasts, albeit for different reasons. Antonio is a jock, but gets picked on for his speech impediment. Blu has an unfair reputation in town for being promiscuous due to one prior indiscretion. Lorenzo is not afraid to be open about his sexuality, despite rampant homophobia.

Though they come from different backgrounds, the three share a strong bond and soon band together to fight against their oppressors. However, when Lorenzo starts making evident his attraction to Antonio, petty jealousies threaten to tear the trio apart.

Directed by Ivan Cotroneo, the prolific writer behind Luca Guadagnino’s 2009 international hit I Am Love, One Kiss plays around with the expectations of your typical teen coming-of-age movie. This is a film about friendship and emerging sexuality that isn’t afraid to go deep and show both the brightest and darkest moments of adolescence.

Watch the trailer for One Kiss below. The film is now available 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.

‘Perfect Obedience’ is a hard-hitting religious drama based on a shocking true story

A disturbing coming-of-age drama from Mexican filmmaker Luis Urquiza, Perfect Obedience follows Julián (Sebastián Aguirre Boëda), a naïve thirteen-year-old boy who travels from the arms of his loving family into the austere and secretly sinister halls of a local seminary.

Father Ángel (Juan Manuel Bernal), the institution’s leader, sees something special in young Julián. The priest singles him out as his own personal disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and even giving him a new name. He also teaches him about the concept of ‘perfect obedience,’ the cardinal rule of which is to never question a superior’s authority.

Over the course of one year, the two become unnaturally close, surrendering to the most intense, blissful and contradictory episode of their lives.

Years later, now older and wiser, Julián (played as an adult by Alfonso Herrera) begins to regret their relationship. After leaving the order, he decides to seek justice from his once all-too-powerful religious tutor.

Based on the shocking true story of Marcial Maciel, the “Legion of Christ” founder who was revealed to have a long history of carefully covered-up child abuse, this hard-hitting, award-winning film proves an intense and unforgettable drama, both chilling and heartbreaking in equal measure.

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