Short Film Spotlight: Never Too Old

Directed by Morgan Martini and written by Rolando Zee, the 17-minute short Never Too Old is a life affirming testament to love

Florio and Jesse (Gregory Niebel and screenwriter Rolando Zee) have lived together as lovers for over 45 years. Florio had expressed a desire to get married once same-sex marriage had been legalized, but Jesse held firm to his decision never to tie the knot.

Jesse’s mind starts to change when the law does, however, and he proposes. A small, intimate wedding follows. In their married life they will, of course, face the challenges that come with old age, but they will do so as a committed couple.

Entering marriage in their eighties, the two men offer up a testament to hope and a statement of courage and love.

Watch the trailer for Never Too Old below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Studio One Forever’ takes a deep dive into a unique time and place in queer history

From 1974 to 1993, Studio One and its adjoining live music venue, The Backlot, became symbols of hope and community for gay men during tumultuous times.

Amidst the rise of gay rights, disco’s heyday and the devastating AIDS crisis, the club offered sanctuary from rampant homophobia and police oppression. Studio One was where legends like Chita Rivera and Eartha Kitt performed, and rising stars like Roseanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell ignited their careers.

Through personal accounts, the new documentary Studio One Forever delves into the nightclub’s history, examining how the backdrop of a progressing gay liberation clashed with 1980s conservatism and the escalating AIDS nightmare.

A testament to an important era, this unique and insightful new doc from director Marc Saltarelli immortalizes the club’s legacy for future generations.

Watch the trailer for Studio One Forever below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Opposites attract in ‘Norwegian Dream,’ a romantic drama from the frozen shores of Scandinavia

Set in and around a fish factory in Trondheim, Norway, director Leiv Igor Devold’s Norwegian Dream follows two young men with completely different backgrounds and life experiences meet and fall into a cautious flirtation.

The men in question are Robert (Hubert Miłkowski), a hard-working Polish immigrant, and Ivar (Karl Bekele Steinland), the charismatic, adopted son of a wealthy business owner.

Amidst the conveyor belts, an unexpected relationship develops. Robert struggles to save his mother from financial troubles, while Ivar dreams of a life different from what his family expects of him. However, when Robert realizes that his growing bond with Ivar affects his standing among the other Polish workers, who are considering a strike, he begins to distance himself.

Can their growing love compete against the forces conspiring to keep them apart?

A heartwarming romantic drama from the frozen shores of Scandinavia, Norwegian Dream thoughtfully explores themes of cultural alienation, economic inequality, the search for sexual identity and the ways that opposites sometimes attract.

Watch the trailer for Norwegian Dream below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: The Call

At almost 15 minutes, The Call – a moving short film produced in partnership with the UK-based charity Switchboard LGBT+ – is not to your typical advertisement or PSA.

Directed by Jordan Rossi, the film is a carefully balanced work that shows the breadth of support the charity offers, while tenderly touching upon the experiences faced by many young queer people today.

Adam Ali stars in The Call as Amir, a prospective university student struggling with their sexuality. They end up calling Switchboard for advice and connection at three crucial moments.

With each phone call, we see Amir take steps on their own personal journey towards self-acceptance. The film also shows some of the vital work that helpline volunteers undertake daily while exploring contemporary themes surrounding LGBTQ+ culture and unravelling truths about the community from a wide range of topics.

Watch a short teaser for The Call below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Hearstone’ is a beautiful and affecting drama about two boys coming-of-age in Iceland

The years-long friendship between two pre-teen boys is threatened when they strike up romantic relationships with a pair of local girls in this in the affecting and beautifully crafted coming-of-age drama from Icelandic director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson.

Set in a small village in rural Iceland, Heartstone follows Thor and Christian (Baldur Einarsson and Blaer Hinriksson), best friends whose home lives are unsatisfactory, to say the least.

Thor is ruthlessly mocked by his elder sisters, while his mother can’t be bothered to hide her frustration at having to sacrifice her pleasure for the sake of her children. While Thor suffers from absentee parenting, Christian’s drunken and abusive father is, unfortunately for him, all too present. The events that follow threaten to destroy the longest and most meaningful connection of their young lives.

Evincing a real feeling for how kids relate to one another, Heartstone is a piercingly honest portrait of adolescent sexuality that effortlessly and evocatively portrays small-town life in Iceland.

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

A Halloween party takes some wild turns in the gay romance ‘Love Bites’ – a Dekkoo Exclusive!

Just out of their teens, Liam and Anatole (Lyad Smain and Roman Freud) were in the throes of an exciting new relationship… until they had a small fight and Anatole ended all contact.

With Anatole having almost completely disappeared, Liam finds himself confused and heartbroken. He simply can’t accept the breakup. And, since his boyfriend doesn’t reply to his calls or text messages, he decides to sneak into a Halloween party organized by one of Anatole’s friends to try and patch things up.

The wild night that ensues will test the true feelings of both young men while forcing them to confront some hard inner truths once and for all.

Winner of the Memorial Award for ‘Best Love Story’ at the ReelOut Film Festival, Love Bites – originally titled Dracula is in Love – is a winning comedy-drama from French director Lameo Flores. It’s also one of the rare Halloween-set movies that delivers tons of seasonal fun and aesthetics without all those pesky scares.

Watch the trailer for Love Bites below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Love’s Green Patch

Set over a few days during a particularly hot summer, Love’s Green Patch, a 15-minute student film from India, follows best friends Raja and Deva. The pair are so close to one another that they often find themselves sharing a twin bed.

Though their relationship is entirely platonic, they still catch some misunderstanding glances from their fellow housemates.

After rejecting the advances of a local girl, Raja finally feels comfortable enough to come out to his best friend. Though he’s initially supportive, Deva starts to worry what other people will think about their affection for one another.

Breaking away one night, he does some soul searching and realizes that it’s time to make some tough decisions. Most importantly: what color should they paint their room?

Packed with an equal amount of heart and sexual tension, Love’s Green Patch shows that true friendship can weather any storm.

Watch the trailer for Love’s Green Patch below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and producer Lenni-Kim stars in the new drama series ‘Fem’

An acclaimed queer drama series from creator Maxime Beauchamp, Fem stars Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and music producer Lenni-Kim as Zav, a 16-year-old hyper-pop musician who dreams of breaking through in the music industry.

Alongside this ambition, Zav is also questioning their gender identity. These self-explorations raise concerns about their relationships with family, as well as the repercussions from others in their Franco-Ontarian community.

Consequently, Zav starts using social media to anonymously embrace their femininity, vent about their dysphoria and, perhaps most productively, start sharing their art with the world.

As time goes by, however, Zav begins to realize that they can’t keep their reality – and their talent – a secret forever.

Catch up on all the drama and maybe even find your own hyper-pop alter ego with Fem. The ten-episode first season is now available on Dekkoo. There is also a second season in the works now. Watch the trailer below.

Head to the beach with ‘High Tide,’ one of the year’s most acclaimed gay films

Marco Pigossi delivers a brilliantly nuanced performance in High Tide as Lourenço, a Brazilian immigrant whose visa is nearing its expiration.

Heartbroken and adrift after his American boyfriend unexpectedly leaves him, Lourenco finds himself alone in Provincetown. Enveloped by the beauty and magic of the seaside community, he grows distressed by the day as his once hopeful future has dimmed into an emotional and physical state of limbo.

When he meets Maurice (James Bland), a kind, vacationing nurse, they form an unexpected connection. Together, they begin to find acceptance with each other while struggling to reconcile their uncertain futures.

For his feature directorial debut, world-renowned playwright Marco Calvani weaves a colorful tapestry of queer lives intersecting in one of North America’s most iconic gay destinations. Bill Irwin and Marisa Tomei co-star in this acclaimed romantic gay drama.

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