The gay boxing drama ‘Punch’ tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation

Up-and-coming New Zealand actor Jordan Oosterhof stars in the gay sports drama Punch as Jim, a seventeen-year-old boxer from a small town. Something of a golden boy, Jim is preparing for a fight that will elevate him to an early professional status.

All bets are on his climb to success. But his father, Stan, a demanding coach and a notorious alcoholic played by Tim Roth, is treated like a joke. He has given everything to see his son gain professional status and escape the brutality of his small world.

As Jim begins to rethink why he is fighting in the first place, his life tangles with Whetu, a razor-tongued, gay Maori boy played by Conan Hayes, who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.

Along with his dog, Whetu cobbles together a fragile glamour and dreams of leaving town to become a musician. As Jim stumbles towards discovering what it really means to be a gay man, he is forced to see that strength has little to do with heroism.

Gorgeously crafted, powerfully acted and deeply romantic, Punch tells a hard-hitting story about love, loyalty and liberation.

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

Short Film Spotlight: Yet Another Family Drama

Yet Another Family Drama, a darkly emotional 20-minute short from Bulgarian writer-director Diana Petrova, follows a mother and son who begin hashing out their relationship conflicts at an extremely inopportune time.

Georgi (Delyan Iliev), drunk and naked, is in the middle of a tryst with a hot, young one-night-stand (Plamen Kanev) when his estranged mother (Stanka Kalcheva) drops by his apartment to crash the party and deliver some shocking news.

Though he’s hidden his sexuality from her in the past, Georgi is in no mood to walk on eggshells. The two begin to hash out their grievances, despite the presence of Georgi’s lover, until their argument reaches an operatic crescendo.

Using surreal imagery to convey the tense dance between this dysfunctional mother and son, Yet Another Family Drama goes far beyond the simple premise laid out by the title.

Check out the poster for Yet Another Family Drama below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

A man searches for his soulmate in the romantic short-form comedy series ‘Geomapping Love’

Created by writer, director, actor, radio columnist and Canadian television personality Simon Boulereese, based on his novel of the same name, Geomapping Love is a short-form romantic comedy series about looking for love in all the wrong places.

Through a succession of sexual conquests, we accompany Simon in his disappointments, emotions and disarrays in his search of a soul mate – or at least a really good one-night stand.

His quest takes him to the four corners of Montreal and, each time, he leaves a little piece of his dignity behind.

Underneath all of these encounters lies a deep loneliness and a need to feel desired. Will he finally be able to find love in the age of smartphones and dating apps? And will he ever discover the true identity of ‘Felix,’ the mysterious virtual paramour to whom he’s grown most attached?

Catch up on all the sexy, heartfelt and deeply intimate action with Geomapping Love. All ten episodes of the first season are available now on Dekkoo. You can watch the trailer below.

Short Film Spotlight: Shiba San and Meow Chan

Shiba San and Meow Chan, a 30-minute Taiwanese short film from director Chung-Chieh Chiang, revolves around two brothers, both stars of a hit children’s show – in which they perform as a dog and a cat, respectively.

Their show, having swept through the nation capturing the eyes and hearts of kids, has brought them great fame and media attention. Though radiant on stage, both actors have something else on their minds.

Shiba San has been secretly in love with a married man while Meow Chan misses his remarried mother and finds himself desperately searching for reasons why she left him.

Their journey will lead the two stray siblings to confront their emptiness that comes with very public success.

Mixing cuteness and melancholy, Shiba San and Meow Chan is a touching story of two brothers coming of age under intense scrutiny.

Watch the trailer for Shiba San and Meow Chan below. The short film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Born for You’ tells the incredibly moving true story of Italy’s first adoptive gay parent

From Italian director Fabio Mollo, Born for You tells the beautiful and touching true story of Luca (Pierluigi Gigante), a gay, single, Catholic man who, in 2017, adopted Alba, a child with Down syndrome who had been left in hospital shortly after being born.

Thirty heterosexual families rejected her before the court decided to entrust her to Luca. With this new precedent set, the legal foster care register for single gay men was inaugurated in Italy.

Luca may have been the first single gay parent in Italy to successfully adopt a daughter, but this was not a charitable gesture or a fight against the system… he simply wanted to start a family.

Beautifully shot and powerfully acted, the film weaves between Luca’s present-day struggles and flashbacks to his youth, creating a deeply intimate portrait of love, loss and the fight for equality and acceptance.

Born for You is a profound reflection on the transformative and triumphant power of love and the potential of LGBTQ+ families everywhere.

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

A new documentary examines the life and legacy of photographer George Platt Lynes

George Platt Lynes began his career photographing celebrities – and it’s those portraits, along with his extravagant fashion work, that he’s best remembered for today.

George’s heart, his passion and his greatest talent lay elsewhere, however – in his work with the nude male form. This work, sensuous and radically explicit for its time, has only recently been discovered for the revolution that it represents – a man capturing his fantasies as a gift, as well as a window into a future that Lynes’ camera saw coming before anyone else did.

From visionary art director Sam Shahid, the riveting and informative documentary Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes features a stunning collection of photography from the 1930s through the 1950s, uncovering the lesser known side of the artist’s life – including his gifted eye for the male form, his long-term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.

Watch the trailer for Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes below. The documentary is now available on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Under the Crescent Moon

From the outset of Under the Crescent Moon, it’s clear that there is something going on between high school besties Abdul and Jerryl.

Constantly flirting and finding excuses to playfully touch one another, the two young men are inching ever closer to finally admitting their true feelings.

The problem lies in the societal and religious expectations that surround them. Abdul, who comes from a conservative Muslim family, feels deeply that his love for Jerryl is a direct affront to Allah – and his strict father, who has taken ominous notice of the boys’ affection, would likely agree.

An emotional 15-minute short film from the Philippines, Under the Crescent Moon tells a tender and ultimately heartbreaking coming-of-age story about young love.

Watch a quick trailer for Under the Crescent Moon below. The short film is now available on Dekkoo.

Brace yourself for Pierre Creton’s acclaimed, sexually-charged fever dream drama ‘A Prince’

In the blissful and forbidding French countryside, an enveloping, cross-generational saga unfolds between an attractive young gardening apprentice and the three much older men who are training him – all of whom become instrumental in his professional tutelage as well as his sexual coming-of-age.

Inspired by memories of his own teenage years, outsider artist and real-life farmer Pierre Creton isn’t afraid to confront taboos while crafting this truly unusual, austere gay drama.

Unfolding at a deliberately slow pace, A Prince fuses together science, sensuality and meditation – culminating in the most sexually-charged film about horticulture you’re ever likely to see.

Winner of the Best French-Language Film Prize in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, A Prince offers up a singular vision of a quietly eroticized natural world. Placing it at number two on his list of the Best Films of 2023, John Waters called it “slow, spooky and poetically fucked up – in other words, perfect.”

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