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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...

Gay Short Films : 117

Escaping the Fragile Planet (Greece)
A few hours before the world ends, two men have an unexpected encounter, while a strange pink fog is spreading throughout the city. Their romantic affair will only last for a day. But in a broken world filled with fear, sharing a few intimate moments seems to be enough for them to feel safe, against the upcoming end.

Do People Think We're Gay? (USA)
Just about a 5 min short film, it shows 2 apparently heterosexual guys who live together and sleep in the same bed going about their day doing random things on a day together like shopping, eating and wondering if people around them think they are gay. The surprise ending does bring a smile to your face in a funny yet relatable sort of way.

Lipstick (India)
This Malayalam film from 2014 is a candid portrayal of the life of a youth who has sexually been used by his childhood friend since he was a little boy. Since then he has been addicted to his pal and to what he learned from him on that day.  The friend is now married to a woman and still also finds trans prostitutes for his sexual appetite. The story makes its turn when he found the real identity of himself in this prejudiced society and now he needs to take a stand for himself.

The Man Who Loved Me (India)
Aarav is about to propose to his girlfriend. But he gets a call by his best friend, Martin, to a mysterious hideout where the Martin reveals that since the drunken night they slept together, he has deeply been in love with Aarav. He tries to make Aarav feel guilty and kiss him and Aarav dismisses him and escapes. But the real twist awaits Aarav at the mall. Can his secret be kept intact?

You Free Tonight? (UK)
When a 16 year-old Archie starts exploring his sexuality, he stumbles across a dating app, hoping to find teens like him but he has countless bad sexual encounters only until he is trapped in a toxic cycle of hookups of his own creation.  Few years later when he goes on an actual date, and because of his pre-assembled idea of what dating is, he assumes the date is asking for a hook up, making him eventually realize he is gravely mistaken. Understanding he is fundamentally doing the wrong things, he faces the truth that he is stuck in his own ways. Brilliant film.

Mars exalté (France) [Mars Exhalted]
Follows a man as he sleeps, enveloped in the darkness. He is beautiful, naked, and it is hot. A city at dawn. Traffic is flowing like red and white blood cells. The sun rises and the façades of the skyscrapers begin to sparkle. Again I dont understand the point of this short film :(

Auganic (Canada)
During sex with his husband Nick, Kailan discovers that his semen turns into pure gold. This phenomenon attracts attention in the medical research field and yields a tempting offer for monetary compensation if Kailan takes part in an usual experiment. This new-found ability causes tensions between him and Nick, and ultimately, Kailan must decide if he will keep this golden opportunity private or use it to save his marriage.

My Queer Samsara (Canada)
is a critical look at a constructed social identity that hides underneath it a gnawing want; a need to ‘go back home’ and be fully accepted into the bosom of our very first loves, the ones who were supposed to take care of us, our families. An extremely odd film IMO

Under The Waters (India)
When a sexual transgression is inflicted upon a pubescent boy by an older teenage male, the two silently ricochet between anger and longing, fear and denial while on a beach vacation with their families. This short empathetically captures the mess of excitement, confusion, and fear felt during the first teenage brushes with desire.

Flowers & Bottoms (Greece)
An unidentified man sits in a dark room and watches an obscure film titled "Flowers and Bottoms", a surrealist story about longing and loss, in the age of cyber roulette; which ha nothing but asses and flowers next to it. Why did we even need this short film? Absolute waste.

The Letter Men (UK)
Based on the real love letters written by Gilbert Bradley to his sweetheart, Gordon Bowsher during WWII. Exchanged between 1938 and 1941, the letters were uncovered in 2015 and represent the largest known collection LGBTQ love letters from that time period. Using text from the actual letters, The Letter Men follows the two men as their fight to keep their love alive in the face of war and loss.

Aγορι Μου (Greece) [My Boy]
A heartfelt story about love, loss, and lust, inspired by true events. A letter was discovered by chance on the streets of Athens, stirring a deep emotional upheaval in the one who found it. The letter is entirely real, sent by a soldier to his companion he secretly has a fling with. Good intentions but somehow I couldn't connect with it as much as the one above. 

Notti Bianche (Italy) [White Nights]
A short film that presents two young men who were brought together by accidental forces of circumstances when one of them is forced to leave his apartment while the other wants to move in. One is gay, the other is straight leading to a beautiful kiss in the end. An interesting twist to the original Dostoyevsky's story.

Non Sens (France) [Our Senses]
The start of summer is approaching. Arthur, a 20-year-old student, sees his best friend from college, Tony, preparing to leave for Canada. The idea of ​​finding himself far from Tony suddenly awakens a much deeper attachment in Arthur. He will have to succeed in confronting his feelings and the views of others before it is too late.

Emerald City (USA)
Set against this desert wonderland is the story of two handsome hitchhikers, both looking for a better future. Two men who are the least likely men to be anything. One is deeply spiritual, the other a cynic about religion, fun and outgoing. Yet, after meeting up with other campers, the two find themselves inseparable and longing for deeper meaning. What starts as a friendship grows into something more.

Muscat (Canada/Morocco)
Samir, a 16-year-old fisherman, discovers his attraction towards men when he meets Louis, a tourist traveling Morocco with his wife. When Louis faces the worst, Samir is the only one who can help him. Sadly, Samir's brother lies to the cops to protect his family honor and rumors about his brother liking men. An honest image of a teenager struggle agains sexual impulse, from look, self satisfaction, voyeurism. I loved this film.

Miles (Australia)
Two young men, a young woman; Lifelong friends are involved in a love triangle but not all of them are aware of it. Embarking on a road trip, they start the process of untangling their feelings for one another. At one stage the two men head out to a cliff leaving the girl asleep in the car and one of the men begins to demand to know where the other one stands with him. The girl soon turns up to find the two guys locked together in a fairly intimate moment.

Stay Lost (USA)
When a young man leaves work, he mets a hippy musician on the street and they strike an unlikely friendship. The hippies takes the young man to a gay commune where they both have a wonderful time leading to kiss and sex. A chance meeting with a nomadic musician sets an aimless and depressed young man’s life on an entirely new trajectory.

The Eighth Day (USA)
Noah and Jonah are gay Jewish husbands and new parents to a baby boy. When Noah and Jonah's parents arrive at their home expecting a traditional bris for their grandson, Noah and Jonah are forced to reveal that they had something very different in mind for their son: no circumcision. A really funny film !

Ticker (UK)
Howard drives his partner Joseph from their farm to hospital to undergo high risk surgery. The unexpected discovery of an old mix tape in the glove compartment sees the masculinity of their forty-year relationship start to yield. Its nice to see some representation of the older generations of the gay community.

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