Skip to main content

Being at Home with Claude (Canadian French)

This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...

Gay Short Films : 92

Sweet Curse (South Korea)
Ha-jun is always popular with his friends for his handsome looks. Min-woo, a close friend who is jealous of Ha-jun, summons a devilish ghost, but the ghost who fell in love with Ha-jun spends a hot night with Ha-jun every day. Looking at Ha-jun who looks happy after all, Min-woo is planning another curse.

Past Youth (China)
Lin Qin Nian and Li Guang are classmates and, to many others, they're besties who share everything. However, only they themselves know the changes and undertow in their hearts. When Li Guang starts dating another schoolboy, Lin Qin Nian decides to distance from him despite still having strong feelings. As the college entrance exam approaches, are they one step closer to the young adult they dream to become? Weird and odd film.

Johnny (France)
Single gay guy meets Johnny at a bar who is a troubled, lonely, alcoholic, moody and tormented. An unusual friendship develops between the two, where the guy wants more from the friendship but clearly Johnny wants to maintain the boundaries. It was a weird film.

La Tana (Italy) [The Den]
A man vacations with his wife and son, and bumps into an old friend who asks him to restart a game they started a long time ago. One of the more hot and sensuous gay short films I have seen in a while.

How to Die Young in Manila (Philippines)
A young boy braves the streets of nighttime Manila to meet an anonymous hookup. Thinking one of them is a hookup, he trails a pack of young hustlers who then draw him into their strange world of death and desire. A weird film about human connection, this one had their from the famous "Gameboys" series. The short was weird but I was happy to see the couple.

Cinco Minutos Por Dia (Brazil) [Five Minutes a Day]
Two men are working in a kiosk and taking advantage of the shift change to get to know each other. They may show themselves to be indifferent to one another but there maybe something brewing between them secretly.

Bomgay (India)
BOMgAY is 6 vignettes based on the collection of poems by gay Indian poet R Raj Rao, who features and reads his poems here. The vignettes are interspersed with text that frames the film within a nascent gay political articulation. I had been looking for this for a long time and so happy that I finally got to see this.

The Novelist - Spring Life (Japan)
This story takes place about 2 and half years after their first encounter. Kijima moved from Tokyo to his parents' house where his sister and her husband live, and Kuzumi, who was a university student, got a job and works in Tokyo as a member of society. The two, who had only communicated by letters, reunited in the countryside where Kijima lives.

Mummy Brown (Canada)
Tyler, a young gay man who is HIV positive, must deal with the demons of his past when he is confronted by a mysterious woman. This was totally a weird film.

Scarborough Ahoy! (UK) 
A straight woman and a gay man cruise their way across north-east England in this Tennessee Williams-inspired short. Not very interesting.


NattÃ¥get  (Sweden) [The Night Train]
Oskar is on the night train, heading home after an interview in Stockholm. With a long night ahead of him, he makes eye contact with Ahmad. For the first time he meets the gaze of someone who feels the same desire as he does. They meet in the toilet & the kiss happens. A beautiful and very sensual gay teen love story.

Bonhomme (France)
Anthony, a rugby player of 19 years old, is used to challenge his friends. But one evening, they challenge him to kiss the new waiter. An unexpected love follows but will Anthony be prepared to get his heart broken?  A very beautiful and sentimental story about first love and friendship.

Fotos Privadas (Brazil) [Private Photos]
A sweet couple invite a third person over for the night, who brings a lustful energy to spice things up. But it also makes the couple question their own relationship. A very realistic and contemporary approach to relationships between men complete with sex, and the emotional crisis after a threesome.

Villdyr (Norway) [Wild Beasts]
A film about friendship, winter games and atraction with its profound, seductive ambiguity. In the middle of the winter in Northern Norway and surrounded by a wild group of kids, a young boy's impulses are affected by his attraction to his best friend.

Millimeterle (Switzerland)
4 young teenagers are playing games around the pool, measuring their power and proving themselves is part of the boys' everyday life. Even for the 13-year old gentle-natured Yannik. Until his best friend's upcoming sexual curiosity suddenly puts him in a threatening situation. Where is the line between game and reality and what happens if that line is crossed?

Straight A (USA)
Struggling with maintaining his same-sex long term relationship a secret and keeping up with his image of being the perfect straight A son, Alex must face his father and tell him the truth about his sexuality.

Junk (UK)
A gay teenager desperately attempts to hold on to the only companion he has left. A rough, dirty, and realistic take on the breaking point of a relationship between two boys living on the streets.

Must Be Painful (Czech Republic)
Danny, a Czech student, and his Spanish boyfriend go on a trip to the Czech countryside. At the railway station they meet a couple of locals who do not know Danny understands them, so they start to make sarcastic comments. It does not take long until this situation generates a conflict, the outcome of which is devastating for both couples.

Comments

Sailor Maan said…
Thanks Golu for these shorts, some were really good. Namely the immeasurable, nattaget and bonhomme. They were able to create remarkable atmosphere in such short formats. I have good memories of straight A too.
Johnny was too weird for me.
Now I want to find How to die in Manilla, Sweet curse and Bomgay.
Golu said…
Definitely look out for "How to die in Manilla".
Apparently it has been made by film makers as a pilot to get finances to make a full length feature film. Lets see how that goes.

Popular posts from this blog

The Tuxedo (Thai Series)

When I saw this series with 8 episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, I thought, good: Finally someone has come to senses and made a show which is not stretched out and they have tried to squeeze in a decent storyline in a good small episode format. But unfortunately, despite a decent premise on hand, the clunky writing, bad screenplay and an extreme tasteless portrayal of mental illness makes this show, not a fun watch. By the time it finishes, you just want to laugh off at the entire absurdity of it all. Aioun is talented tuxedo designer and very much in demand but he has handful of clients and he builds suits only for people who he feels a connection to. One night when his younger brother is about to get mugged, he is helped by a total stranger named Sichol. Since he tears his suit in the fight and has an interview the next day, Aioun gifts him a suit form his design as an expression of thanks. Sichol's interview is for. Personal assistant of a man named Nawee, a wealthy heir to h...

Heartstopper: Season 2 (Web Series) (UK)

Heartstopper Season 1 was a universal hit. You could not have read one bad review or heard from anyone who has seen the show not liking it. It was the kind of series that is easy to love, with sweetness exploding out of every scene without overwhelming you. So naturally, when Netflix greenly Season 2, expectations were naturally high and the same happened with me. I didn't know what to expect, but I had high expectations of this very very sweet teenage love story. And with eagerness and being a little late to the game by a few days, here I am, pouring my t thoughts down having just finished one of the most anticipated shows of the year. The second season also has 10 episodes and has all of our loved ones from the original season. The show continues from where it had left off in Season 1. Charlie and Nick are a couple and only their very close circle of friends know about it. This includes Charlie's best friend Tao and his trans best friend Elle. The center of the show is still ...

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...