This movie was just plain weird. I really went in wanting to like it, but the whole pretentious, overly poetic vibe, combined with this choppy editing that keeps hopping back and forth in these tiny five to ten second bursts, just made it feel dragged out for no real reason, way too self indulgent if you ask me. Honestly this could've been trimmed down to a fifteen minute short and lost nothing. And I still don't get what the deal was with women dancing along the beach while some overwrought, flowery narration plays over the top. The plot creeps along at a snail's pace, slowly building toward some confrontation that you can see coming from a mile away and that just gets duller the closer it gets. By the time it actually happened I'd totally checked out as a viewer, even with two genuinely good looking guys leading the film. The setup itself is pretty basic. Lorena and Diego are trying to settle into a new life in a small town by the coast, both nervously starting fresh ...
Status (Germany)
Two guys meeting up for a casual hookup, and during sex the top quietly takes off the condom without saying anything. Once they're done and the bottom notices the empty wrapper, he drops the bomb that he's HIV positive, sending the other guy into a panic about possible infection. In just five minutes this short manages to show how these kinds of encounters run on consent, and not only consent to have sex but consent around what actually happens during it. But it also shows how in the heat of the moment, honesty and communication can get murky fast, leading straight into conflict. It packs a real punch for something so short.
This short follows Ulises, a young guy working at his parents' flower shop in Madrid. Walking home one night he randomly runs into David, his former hookup and the so called fuckboi of the title, someone he clearly never fully got over after their night together. What starts as small talk turns into a passionate moment between them, leaving the question open of whether they could actually build something real together or if Ulises needs to just let it go and move forward. At its core this short does a great job capturing how differently two people can see the same hookup, since for David it's purely physical, while for Ulises it might be the start of something built on love and trust, but only if they're both actually on the same page about it.
The film centers on fifteen year old Zaid, who lives in Kabul with his mom and little sister. Zaid genuinely loves school, even though his opinions often get labeled as problematic in a city under strict religious rule, where armed men patrol the streets regularly. Still, he's determined to pass his final exams and get into Kabul University. But here's the twist, Zaid, or Zaira, isn't biologically male. His whole life and gender identity have been shaped since childhood by a mother trying to survive the social shame of only having daughters, and now, right as exam season hits, she's decided his time living as a boy is over, announcing an arranged marriage to an older man instead. His younger sister is set to take over as the household's boy, which puts Zaid in serious danger as he tries everything he can to finish his exams no matter the cost. This one's gripping, powerful, and genuinely brave, definitely not a short you'll forget easily.
Adrien is a seventeen year old training to become a professional firefighter alongside others his age at a local fire station. Between the physical training, the classroom work, and all the demanding prep involved, Adrien, who already knows he's gay, starts realizing he's developed real feelings for his trainer, Damien. As those feelings grow stronger, he's left wondering how he fits into a tight knit group where openness and trust are supposed to mean everything. There's a scene where a fellow trainee figures out Adrien's gay but chooses not to out him, which honestly feels like a missed chance to really dig into what it's like being gay in such a hyper masculine world. It's also unclear if the trainer is gay too, since we see him kissing Adrien at a club, but then why is he also bringing Adrien to that same club with a girl? The short has some rough edges, but I ended up liking it anyway.
This short tackles loneliness among gay men, especially the kind faced by guys living in rural areas where meeting other gay men means traveling long distances just for any kind of connection. Set in rural Queensland, it follows a lumberjack in his forties who decides to drive out to a rural gay bar looking for connection, only to find himself feeling completely out of place once he gets there. But just when things seem hopeless, a biker reaches out with friendship and a kind of physical closeness that's been missing from his life for way too long.
This short is centered on a close group of guy friends thrilled to have their missing friend Hicham, a French Tunisian marine, back in their small village after three years away serving. Lucas is the happiest of the group, and it's obvious early on he has real feelings for Hicham, feelings strong enough that he would've joined the military himself back then just to stay close to him. The group spends their time swimming, wrestling around, just enjoying being together. Does Hicham feel the same way about Lucas? Both of them clearly don't know how to put their emotions into words in this hyper masculine world they exist in. This short really captures how unspoken, one sided love can quietly destroy someone from the inside, no matter how hard they try to bury it. As Hicham's short visit comes to a close, years of bottled up emotion finally break through, with Lucas breaking down in tears while his friends comfort him, all of them understanding without saying it out loud that what existed between him and Hicham was always more than just friendship.
This collection was extremely good. I enjoyed all of these 6 films a lot.
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