Title – ‘Tomcat‘
Director – Handl Klaus
Starring – Lukas Turtur, Philipp Hochmair
Release Date – 2016
Title – ‘Amias‘
Director – John Giordano
Starring – Joren Seldeslachts, Celine Verbeeck, Marco Bellusci
Release Date – 2013
______________________
Heya! It’s a great week on Dekkoo as we’ve added ‘Tomcat‘, a brilliant, beautiful, and moving portrait of a gay relationship at the edge – so to speak. It won the Teddy award for best feature film in 2016 and in a little bit I’ll talk more about the Teddy in case you’re unfamiliar with it.
But first! It’s always good to start with a short film before diving into the main course and this week we’re bringing you ‘Amias‘ from John Girodano. It’s a lyrical short film that deals with one man’s confusion between the woman he cares for and the man he loves. The music in the film really takes you on a meaningful journey through his splintered mind and it’s the perfect set-up to the intense relationship drama of ‘Tomcat‘.
‘Tomcat‘ comes to us from Austria. Written and directed by Handl Klaus ‘Tomcat‘ delves into the relationship between Andreas and Stefan. It seems they have everything: money, friends, love, but one day everything they took for granted comes tumbling down after an act of random violence changes the dynamic of their relationship. I don’t want to reveal what the act of violence is, but it proves that even small amounts of hurt can become amplified beyond control.
Since I can’t really delve into the film dynamics due to spoilers it’s the perfect time to talk about a prestigious award you might not know much about – The Teddy. Every year during the Berlinale festival the best LGBTQ feature, short, and documentary films are awarded grand prizes by an independent jury that solely focuses on the queer films presented at the Berlinale. Started in 1987 by Wieland Speck (current president of the Panorama section of Berlinale) and Manfred Salzgeber (filmmaker and founder of Edition Salzgeber – a German film distribution company) the Teddy award is now the most famous prize for a queer film at a major film festival. Since its inception it’s awarded prizes to many now-famous filmmakers like Todd Haynes, Pedro Almodovar, Gus Van Sant, and Francois Ozon.
At Dekkoo we have quite a few Teddy award-winners – ‘In The Name Of‘, ‘Raging Sun, Raging Sky‘, ‘Absent‘, and ‘The Bubble‘ just to name a few! You can check out the full list of winners here.
Enjoy!
____________________________
Watch ’em with: A lover you can cry with.
Mix it with: Lots of alcohol.
____________________________
Discover great gay stories. 