Paul arrives at a sun-drenched Mediterranean seaside resort looking to enjoy a few quiet moments by the water. Then he sees him: a muscular, tanned stranger whose presence immediately captures his attention.
What begins as a passing attraction gradually becomes something much more consuming.
Set against the gorgeous Mediterranean coast, A King, Gazing at the Sea explores that uniquely charged space between looking and longing—when desire for someone you barely know begins to take on a life of its own.
A King, Gazing at the Sea was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and screened at Frameline47, San Francisco’s international LGBTQ+ film festival.
Chauvin turns a deceptively simple encounter into a dreamy meditation on gay desire. Sun, sea, skin, stolen glances and fantasy combine to create a film that feels both intimate and slightly dangerous—the kind of attraction where you’re never quite sure whether you’re watching someone or imagining an entire world around them.
Discover More Gay Short Films on Dekkoo
If A King, Gazing at the Sea leaves you wanting more, explore Dekkoo’s growing collection of gay short films from around the world, featuring stories of romance, desire, identity, sex, friendship and queer life.
There’s something uniquely bittersweet about the end of summer. The days begin to shorten, friendships are about to be interrupted by everyday life, and experiences that felt as though they might last forever suddenly have an expiration date.
Set along the coast of Brittany, The Blue Shelter follows Arthur, a teenager approaching the end of a summer spent with friends. He isn’t ready to leave. Caught between melancholy, desire and the stirrings of first love, Arthur longs to remain on the beach and inside this fleeting moment just a little longer.
Then night arrives.
Arthur’s emotions begin to transform the world around him as mysterious nocturnal creatures emerge, pushing the film beyond a traditional gay coming-of-age story and into something more dreamlike. Fantasy and reality begin to overlap as Arthur confronts desire, uncertainty and the difficult necessity of moving forward.
A Gay Coming-of-Age Story With a Fantastical Edge
At just 26 minutes, The Blue Shelter creates a remarkably evocative world.
Rather than explaining every feeling Arthur experiences, Piette allows atmosphere, landscape and fantasy to do much of the storytelling. The beaches of Brittany become more than a backdrop. They’re part of the emotional world Arthur desperately wants to preserve.
The film’s combination of queer coming-of-age storytelling and fantasy also sets it apart from more conventional romantic shorts. What begins as a wistful story about the end of summer gradually moves into the realm of magical realism, where Arthur’s emotions seem capable of reshaping the world around him.
From France to the International LGBTQ+ Film Festival Circuit
Before arriving on Dekkoo, The Blue Shelter traveled the international film festival circuit.
The film was selected for the 2024 BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival and competed at Finland’s Tampere Film Festival. It was also selected for the short-film competition at Queer Lisboa.
Shot with an emphasis on atmosphere and the natural beauty of the French coast, the film moves effortlessly between the warmth of a fading summer day and the mysterious world that emerges after sunset.
It’s a fitting visual language for a story about a young man caught between two places himself: between friendship and romance, fantasy and reality, and adolescence and whatever comes next.
When First Love Feels Like the End of the World
There’s an intimacy to The Blue Shelter that makes its fantasy elements feel surprisingly natural.
Arthur isn’t facing some enormous external crisis. He simply doesn’t want this moment of his life to end.
It’s a feeling that anyone who remembers an intense first crush—or the particular freedom of a summer spent with friends—can recognize.
But in Arthur’s world, those feelings don’t remain entirely internal.
They follow him into the night.
And that’s where The Blue Shelter becomes something much stranger, more sensual and more memorable than the traditional coming-of-age story its opening moments might suggest.
Some of the most memorable gay films tell enormous stories in remarkably little time. Takanakuy, a powerful short film now streaming on Dekkoo, does exactly that, exploring young love, masculinity, family and tradition against the striking backdrop of the Peruvian Andes.
At just 18 minutes, Takanakuy is a reminder of why gay short films can be such an exciting part of LGBTQ+ cinema. Without the luxury of a feature-length runtime, filmmakers must quickly establish a world, introduce characters we care about and leave audiences with something meaningful to consider long after the credits roll.
Takanakuy accomplishes all three.
A Tender Relationship in an Unforgiving World
Fausto and Chaska share a tender moment in Takanakuy, now streaming on Dekkoo.
Set in a traditional community high in the Peruvian Andes, Takanakuy follows two teenage boys, Fausto and Chaska, whose tender relationship exists within a culture where expectations surrounding masculinity, family and tradition loom large.
Their connection ultimately leads to a confrontation with Fausto’s macho father during the community’s annual Takanakuy festival.
It’s an especially potent setting for a coming-of-age story about two boys discovering their feelings for one another. The tenderness between Fausto and Chaska is placed against a world in which masculinity can be expressed through strength, aggression and confrontation.
That contrast gives the short film much of its emotional power.
Love, Masculinity and Tradition
Tradition and masculinity collide with young love in Takanakuy.
At its heart, Takanakuy isn’t simply a story about forbidden young love. It’s also about the expectations that are handed down from one generation to the next.
Fausto’s relationship with his father brings those ideas directly into conflict.
What happens when a young man’s emerging identity doesn’t fit the version of masculinity his family expects from him? And what happens when affection and vulnerability are treated as weaknesses rather than strengths?
Those questions have appeared throughout LGBTQ+ cinema for decades, but Takanakuy places them within a specific cultural setting that gives the story its own distinctive identity.
Rather than separating its gay characters from their surroundings, the film allows sexuality, family, community and tradition to collide.
Gay Stories From Around the World
One of the great strengths of international LGBTQ+ cinema is its ability to show just how universal queer experiences can be — while also revealing the enormous differences in how those experiences are shaped by culture.
The circumstances surrounding Fausto and Chaska may be uniquely their own, but the emotions at the center of Takanakuy are instantly recognizable: the excitement of young attraction, the fear of being discovered and the desire to be accepted for who you are.
It’s exactly the kind of storytelling that makes international gay cinema so important.
Dekkoo has always sought out LGBTQ+ films from around the world, giving audiences an opportunity to discover stories and filmmakers they might never encounter through mainstream streaming services.
And short films are a particularly important part of that mission.
Why Gay Short Films Matter
For decades, LGBTQ+ film festivals have provided a home for short films that might otherwise struggle to find an audience. They’re also where many exciting new filmmakers first have the opportunity to experiment, take risks and tell stories that larger commercial productions might overlook.
Streaming has given these films another life.
Instead of disappearing once their festival runs end, gay short films can continue finding audiences around the world.
If you’re drawn to gay coming-of-age stories, international LGBTQ+ cinema or short films that explore the complicated intersection between love, family and cultural expectations, Takanakuy deserves a place on your watchlist.
And if you’re looking for your next short after Takanakuy, explore Dekkoo’s collection of gay short films and discover stories from LGBTQ+ filmmakers around the world.
Some memories fade with time. Others live forever on tape.
Acclaimed French short film 1992, from writer-director Anthony Doncque, is now streaming on Dekkoo, the streaming service dedicated to gay films and series from around the world.
Set against the backdrop of the early 1990s, 1992 follows Martin (Louis Duneton), a 17-year-old who experiences much of the world from behind his Hi8 video camera. He records his room, his surroundings and the seemingly ordinary moments of his everyday life. One subject is conspicuously absent from his recordings: his father.
Then Martin meets Dominique (Matthieu Dessertine), a 23-year-old monitor at his high school, and suddenly his camera — and his attention — have a new focus.
A Gay Coming-of-Age Story Before the Digital Age
There is something particularly intimate about watching Martin experience attraction and sexual discovery in a world before smartphones, social media and dating apps.
His Hi8 camera becomes both a barrier between himself and the world and a way of understanding it. Through Martin’s lens, 1992 explores infatuation, desire, adolescence, complicated family relationships and the uncertainty that accompanies discovering your sexuality.
For LGBTQ+ viewers who remember growing up before queer life was readily accessible online, Martin’s story may feel especially familiar. There was no endless stream of information or community waiting on a phone. Attraction could feel private, confusing and enormously consequential.
That distance between then and now is part of what makes 1992 such a fascinating gay coming-of-age film — and another distinctive entry in Dekkoo’s growing collection of gay movies from around the world.
An Award-Winning French Gay Short Film
1992 marked Anthony Doncque’s first narrative short film as a director and went on to appear at numerous international film festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest and BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
At the center of the film are committed performances from Louis Duneton as Martin and Matthieu Dessertine as Dominique. Their relationship gives the 25-minute film its tension, tenderness and provocative edge.
Rather than romanticizing adolescence, Doncque allows Martin’s experiences to remain complicated. 1992 is interested in the awkwardness and uncertainty of sexual discovery as much as the excitement of it.
The result is a short film that feels intensely personal — almost as if we’ve discovered one of Martin’s old videotapes and pressed play.
For more bite-sized queer cinema, explore Dekkoo’s extensive collection of gay short films, featuring LGBTQ+ filmmakers and stories from around the world.
Where Can You Watch 1992?
If you’re searching for where to watch 1992 online, the film is now available to stream on Dekkoo.
Dekkoo is home to hundreds of gay movies, series and short films from filmmakers around the world, including acclaimed international LGBTQ+ cinema and Dekkoo Originals.
