Short Film Spotlight: Slashr

Every Grindr user’s worst fears are brought thrillingly to life in writer-director Amir Moini’s Slashr.

Nathan Mohebbi stars in this 12-minute horror short as Ashkan, an attractive young man taking a solo trip to the mountains of Big Bear. Looking to clear his head in the aftermath of a breakup, he rents an isolated cabin with lots of opportunity for snowy sightseeing.

Encouraged by his best friend Ricky to engage in some frisky rebound sex, he also downloads a Grindr-inspired gay hookup app called Torso.

Though he’s not emotionally ready to throw caution to the wind and hop into bed with a stranger, he cruises the app and starts a conversation with a faceless admirer… whose persistence becomes alarming and whose physical distance, as listed on the app, keeps getting closer… and closer… and closer.

Heavy on suspense and spooky atmosphere, Slashr marks Moini as a director to watch. You could easily imagine him using this film as the opening of a feature-length horror flick – something in the vein of Scream, but with a decidedly queer point of view.

Watch a short trailer for Slashr below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

The provocative queer punk classic ‘Fögi is a Bastard’ gets a brand-new HD restoration

Set in Zurich during the early 1970s and boasting a killer soundtrack that includes the likes of punk legends The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, Fögi is a Bastard is an unflinchingly honest depiction of teenage infatuation and obsession from director Marcel Gisler.

Vincent Branchet stars as Beni, a sensitive 15-year-old romantic who has become completely besotted by Fögi (Frederic Andrau), the super-sexy front man to a local punk outfit called The Minks.

The wide-eyed, seemingly innocent Beni – who begins his courting of Fögi with lovingly penned letters – is welcomed into the gay punk musician’s world of partying and playing gigs. However, as Fögi slowly drifts from an ambitious music career to the addictive world of drugs, a wedge forms in their relationship.

Soon enough, Beni has become a submissive “dog” in their relationship and also begins supporting his lover through sex work.

With its raw depiction of urban life, ghettoized youth, working class angst and kinky gay male sex without compromise, Fögi is a Bastard is a must see for fans of coming-of-age cinema with alternative queer teen sensibilities and aesthetics.

Originally released in 1998, the film has been given a brand-new restoration by the cult distribution label Altered Innocence. It’s now available to stream on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

A weekend of mischief becomes a battle for survival in the stylish British thriller ‘B&B’

A gay couple pays a price for exercising their rights in this award-winning thriller from writer-director Joe Ahearne.

Sean Teale and Tom Bateman star in B&B as partners Fred and Marc. A year before the main events of the film, they were denied a room at St. Jude bed and breakfast by its fundamentalist Christian owner Josh (Paul McGann). They took the matter to court, won a discrimination suit and have now returned.

Though Fred would happily take the victory and move on, Marc is excited to rub some salt in Josh’s wound – insisting on sleeping as a married couple in the home of a man who has made his resentment known.

Events take a deadly turn when another guest, with far more sinister intentions, arrives. Marc and Fred’s weekend of fun turns into a suspenseful battle for survival.

With plenty of twists and turns, this clever Hitchcock homage will keep you guessing to the bitter end.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Pipes

Fast-paced and visually inventive, Pipes, an impressively animated black and white short from co-directors Jessica Meier, Kilian Feusi and Sujanth Ravichandran, is packed with deliciously funny incident.

The 4-minute, dialog-free film follows an anthropomorphic cartoon bear who works as a plumber and is tasked with fixing the pipes at a kinky gay nightclub.

Shocked at the hedonistic display of gay pleasure on the dance floor, a fear of the unknown soon takes him over. His mind wanders down a kaleidoscopic rabbit hole of gay panic where pipes become body parts and body parts become pipes before he comes to his senses and realizes that there was never anything to be afraid of in the first place.

Cleverly-crafted, the film builds a bizarre cartoon world you won’t soon forget. If you’re never seen an animated alien do poppers before, you’re in for a weirdly specific treat!

Check out the poster for Pipes below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo. And, despite the cuddly characters and the positive message, be warned that this film is for grown-up viewers only.

Take a trip back to the ’80s with the hilarious high school drag comedy ‘First Period’

Featuring an impressive ensemble – which includes many sketch and improv ringers who got their start at The Groundlings in Los Angeles – First Period is a hilarious, candy-colored drag tribute to 1980s teen comedies… and the films of John Hughes in particular.

Cassie Glen (Brandon Alexander III), a new girl at school, arrives with the goal of finding a hunky boyfriend and finally becoming popular. Running afoul of the school’s top-tier mean girls, she decides to befriend Maggie (Dudley Beene), a social outcast and sometimes literal coat rack.

Together, these two new besties become convinced that the best way to reach their goal of becoming popular is to enter – and win – the annual talent show and steal the bitchy girls’ himbo boyfriends along the way.

Writer-director Charlie Vaughn did his ‘80s movie homework, tipping a hat to iconic flicks like Pretty in Pink and lesser-known cult favorites like Teen Witch while adding a dash of Romy and Michelle for good measure. The result is campy, funny and often surprisingly poignant as it delivers the tried and true message that being yourself is always the best course of action.

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

A man attempts a turbulent journey out of the closet in the moving drama ‘El Houb (The Love)’

Having spent decades hiding his sexuality from his family, Moroccan-Dutch businessman Karim (Fahd Larhzaoui) decides to come clean after his father catches him in bed with a man.

Caught up in a panic over the thought of coming out to his traditional Muslim parents (Slimane Dazi and Lubna Azabal), he barricades himself in their closet… literally.

As he feverishly revisits his childhood memories, negotiates a budding romance with a new Ghanaian boyfriend (Emmanuel Boafo) and wages a long-delayed battle royale to uproot his family’s conservative attitudes, a series of darkly hilarious and unflinchingly frank conversations begin – and the family is finally forced to confront the truths that have so long been avoided.

Loosely based on the theater work and actual experiences of lead actor and co-screenwriter Fahd Larhzaoui, El Houb (The Love) cascades through time. Director Shariff Nasr manages to straddle a line between uproarious comedy and heartbreaking drama while examining family dynamics, cultural taboos and hard-won self-acceptance.

Watch the trailer for El Houb (The Love) below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

‘Teenage Kicks’ navigates a sweat-soaked journey through the minefield of adolescence

In the final moments of his 17th year, Mik’s world will come crashing down.

His plans to run away and escape the hold of his migrant family have been brutally undone by the accidental death of his older brother. Only Mik knows the events that led to this tragedy – and as far as he can see there is only one person to blame: himself.

He’s suddenly torn between his desire to head north and start a new life with his best friend and secret crush Dan and the sense of obligation he has to his broken family. Can he fill the shoes of his adored sibling or is he somehow inherently toxic and destined to bring ruin upon everyone he loves?

Featuring exceptionally brave performances from lead actors Miles Szanto and Daniel Webber, Teenage Kicks is a bold and unflinching coming-of-age drama.

Directed by award-winning Australian filmmaker Craig Boreham, the film takes viewers on a sweat-soaked journey through the minefield of adolescence as Mik searches for a way through his guilt – and explosive sexual awakening – to find the man he’s meant to be.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Rough Trade

Drew Lint, the writer-director behind the sexually-charged 2018 queer thriller M/M, first made a splash on the international film festival scene back in 2014 with this dialog-free 17-minute mind-bender.

The visually inventive Rough Trade stars Matt O’Connor as a nameless sex-worker credited only as ‘The Stud.’ With long hair and angelic beauty, he spends his nights cruising neon-lit streets looking for potential clients.

When he’s picked up by a mysterious man with a fetish for branding, he realizes that he’s about to embark on a particularly challenging date. Welcomed into a cult-like community full of similarly young and handsome leather-clad men, he must decide whether to go back to the streets or start a whole new life within this potentially dangerous underworld.

Evoking the films of David Lynch, Lint leaves much to the viewer’s imagination, but teases us with just enough provocative imagery to keep our eyes glued to the screen.

Watch a short teaser for Rough Trade below. The full short film is now available on Dekkoo.