Male Shorts: International V5 (2023)

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Talking To My Mother

A young Asian American man struggles for both personal happiness and the love of his mother.

Mitraa

The film Based on the short story written by the renowned writer and novelist Vijay Tendulkar, set in the time of the struggle for Independence, is based on the life of a lesbian.

Kill Boksoon

At work, she's a renowned assassin. At home, she's a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That's easy. It's parenting that's the hard part.

Three Nights a Week

When young Baptiste meets Cookie Kunty, a young Parisian drag queen, he feels compelled to start a new photographic project.

Walk on Water

Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country, during which Axel challenges Eyal's values.

Paradise Now

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Billy Elliot

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

All About My Mother

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

Bad Education

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school.

Brokeback Mountain

In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.

B.

The true story of B.: Torn between a cold relationship with K. and her feelings for another woman, shy and insecure B. is heading for a disaster. For too long she has suppressed her desire and lived a lie. But is it really too late for B. to follow her heart?

Desert Hearts

While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.

Everything Is Illuminated

A young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II—in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.

Summer Storm

Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.

Mala Noche

Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.

Last Call in the Dog House

The Dog House is a legendary New York dive bar, owned by an extraordinary family. Three people, from different back grounds, enter at closing time on separate nights, carrying the world on their shoulders; but by the time each of them leaves after "last call", their souls are saved, while two of them realize how connected they are. Last Call at the Dog House is a unique and uplifting gay spiritual film that packs an emotional punch.

Bend It Like Beckham

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

My Own Private Idaho

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

7 Virgins

Tano is 16-years-old and is already sitting in jail. In 48 hours he’s a free man and off to the wedding of his brother. In the two days he recounts his neighborhood in a section of Sevilla.

Fire

In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.

Sodom

20-year-old Will is on his stag-do when, handcuffed to a lamppost, he is rescued by Michael. The attraction between the two men is immediate. But back at Michael's apartment, Will is sent into a tailspin of shame and confusion.

Aban

Under constant pressure from her ex-husband, Nazanin should turn their child - Aban, nine years old - away from a very driven feminine taste. One day, Aban goes to the hospital thinking of undergoing life-changing surgery.

Mothers, Lovers and Others

This ensemble drama explores a number of interweaving relationships, all grappling with polyamory and sexual expression, amid the personal and societal expectations faced by each character.

Wild Awakening

Toni and Emma are brother and sister who owns a stable farm. Ramon and his son, Aaron works for them. Toni is openly gay and loves to party, Emma has a crush on Aaron who is a closeted gay who is afraid that his father might find out, but his father also has a secret.

Requiem for a Dream

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Strange Fits of Passion

The hilarious tale of a sexually-curious, romantically-frustrated bookstore clerk on a mission to lose her virginity. In between encounters with other people, she returns to the one person she can trust and truly relate to, her gay friend Jimmy, whose faith in love is being shaken by the revelation that his boyfriend has been unfaithful.

Velociraptor

During the end of the world, two best friends walk around their city, talking about their sex lives, and one of them reveals they are still a virgin.

Transamerica

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Freed

After two years in jail, Issa is about to get out when he meets Gaëtan, a young inmate who has not served his sentence yet.

Por Nosotras

Serena fights for the rights of others, but not for her own. When her best friend Marina confesses she's in love with her, Serena is forced to face her own fears, her mental health, and the prejudices of those around her.

No Touching at All

Toshiaki is a young gay man. On the first day of work, he meets Yosuke in the elevator. Yosuke is Toshiaki's new boss. Toshiaki is attracted to Yosuke. Toshiaki can't be honest with his feelings about it due to a traumatic incident from his past.

School Trip

The class of a normal German school travel to a small village in Poland near the sea where no action of any kind can take place. Due to this fact they focus on themselves. Especially one girl, Isa, has to choose between two boys who are fighting against each other. Then a final "test" is made to come to a decision... a test with final results.

Charlatan

Born in the early 20th century, herbalist Jan Mikolasek became rich and famous after curing countless diseases with unorthodox means. A true emblem of Czechoslovakia before World War II, the healer became even more appreciated during the Nazi occupation and the communist regime. Each regime appreciates his skill and protects him. But how much will it cost him to maintain his status in a new political change?

A Good Child

Follows Jia Hao, a drag queen, who returns home to care for his mother with dementia, leading to healing and self-discovery through deception.

Let Me Hear It Barefoot

Student dropout Naomi befriends happy-go-lucky Maki, who lives with his blind adoptive mother Midori. When Midori becomes seriously ill and is hospitalized, Naomi and Maki send her tapes from an imaginary trip around the world. Their relationship grows while recording, but they only dare engage in rough, painful horseplay.

The Houseboy

Distraught after he overhears his two 30-something lovers talking about finding a new "toy" to replace him, young Ricky looks for love through a series of random sexual encounters while house-sitting for the couple over the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, he contemplates suicide. But when Ricky meets a compassionate new friend, he may be experiencing the sparks of real love in this compelling and sexy gay drama.

Albino

Yashima is a woman who works as a plumber. She is also uncomfortable with her own sexuality. One day she visits a home for a job and meets Kyu. Yashima senses Kyu's eyes watching her. They become intimate, but a dark secret is soon revealed.

Footing

One winter morning, a father and his son go for a jog. Along the way, we understand that a gap has grown between Marco, a Parisian who has come to spend a few days in the countryside, and Jean-Claude, a retired policeman who doesn't talk much. Their love is present, but barriers and modesty hold them back from expressing it.

Savage Fire

In the city of Cajamar, in the middle of ruined nature, lonely characters deal with the police, rodeos and mysterious fires.

Boys On Film 16: Possession

Golden boys, teen lust, self-conscious dolls, chance encounters, a vengeful creature, holiday romance, hidden sexuality — Boys On Film celebrates it's (not so) sweet sixteen with an astonishing selection of the latest international gay short films. Volume 16: Possession features ten complete films: Kai Stänicke's "Golden" with Christian Tesch and Maximilian Gehrlinger; Christopher Manning's "Jamie" starring Sebastian Christophers and Raphael Verrion; Kai Stänicke's "B." starring Susanne Bormann and Andreas Jähnert; Blake Mawson's "PYOTR495" starring Alex Ozerov; Charlie Francis's "When A Man Loves A Woman" starring Tommy Jay Brennan, Jemima Spence, and Diane Brooks Webster; Anthony Schatteman's "Follow Me" starring Ezra Fieremans and Maarten Ketels; Jake Graf's "Chance" starring 'ABS' and Clifford Hume; Andrew Keenan-Bolger's "Sign" starring John McGinty and Preston Sadleir; Oliver Mason's "Away With Me" starring Chris Polick and Lee Knight; and "We Could Be Parents" by Björn Elgerd.

Musical Utena ~ Bud of the White Rose

The 2018 Revolutionary Girl Utena musical, marking the 20th anniversary of the series, ran from March 8-18th at CBGK! Theater in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Hair

Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.

Far from Heaven

In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.

As Good As You

Jo's world is thrown into utter disarray when her wife Amanda passes away and she starts chasing a dream that she and Amanda had once shared - starting a family together. Jo asks her late wife's brother, Jamie, to be her sperm donor and craziness ensues.

The Pier Man

Theo is a young docker languishing in his native port. His life flows at the monotonous rhythm of cargo ships passing by. Through his encounter with Giuseppe, a disillusioned sailor ashore for a while, Theo will gather the courage to face the waves to escape his dull existence by trying to get into Giuseppe's gruff crew.

Broken Gardenias

Jenni, an orphaned semi-savant, and a street hustler named Sam, steal a car and head to Los Angeles to find Jenni's father whom she hasn't seen or heard from since she was six years old.

Winter

Nico's father, with whom he has a distant relationship, comes to town for medical reasons. Nico must hide his homosexuality in addition to his new life as a drag queen.

Cabaret

Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force.

Water Lilies

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

My Best Part

Jérémie, a young man reaching a breaking point on all fronts, decides to leave behind Paris and return to Limosin, to the home of his intrusive mother.

Boys Feels: I Love Trouble

Whether it's playing games in a military zone, cheating at school tests, crossing borders for cheap thrills or doing whatever it takes to make illicit money - these boys know that with every risk, they move closer and closer to an irreversible jeopardy. Deftly exploring masculinity and peer-pressure, these five coming-of-age tales from France, the Netherlands and Lithuania from burgeoning new filmmakers demonstrate that sometimes young hearts can run dangerously free. The short films are: Gotta (2015); The Last Day of School (2019); Tree House [Cabane] (2016); Gameboy (2014); Pollux (2018).

Jim

Jim, a gay priest, invites a sex worker over for the night. The encounter changes Jim’s life forever, but not as he expects.

The Poet and the Boy

Trapped in routine, a Jeju poet finds himself drawn to a boy—and to emotions he’s never dared name.

Service

A struggling family owns a Filipino porn theater where prostitutes conduct their business.

Torch Song Trilogy

Arnold Beckoff is looking for love and acceptance, but as a gay man working as a female impersonator in 1970s New York City, neither come easily. After a series of heartaches, Arnold believes he has found the love of his life in Alan, and the couple make plans to adopt. But when tragedy strikes, Arnold's life is shaken to its very core, leading to a confrontation with his overbearing mother, who has never approved of her son's lifestyle.

The History Boys

The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.

Praying for Us

Núbia finds herself confortable in the systemic conventions of her religion, much to the disappointment of Cecília, who challenges her to rethink her priorities.

No Regret

Su-min is an orphan trying to balance work in a factory with study at an art college and an evening job. One night, a rich young businessman makes an advance on him during one of his driving jobs.

It's My Party

Nick, a gay, HIV-positive architect, begins to display severe symptoms of AIDS and makes preparations to kill himself before he is unable to function normally. He arranges a party to reconnect and say goodbye to his closest friends and his confused parents. But when his ex-partner, Brandon, a television director who left Nick when he was diagnosed with HIV, shows up, what was supposed to be a celebratory event becomes much more difficult for everyone.

The Living End

Two HIV-positive young men — a semi-employed film critic and a hot hustler — tear off on a cross-country crime spree.

Girl Picture

Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö support each other unconditionally. They want to live adventurous lives, loaded with experiences and passion. Emma on the contrary has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens whole new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. Three Fridays is all it takes to turn their worlds upside down.

Mountains of the Moon

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.

The Purple Sea

Nothing - not her father, not the church - can stop unruly Angela from being with her childhood best friend turned great love, Sara. Based on a true story, Viola di Mare, presents a uniquely engaging portrait of family, community and gender roles in a 19th century Italian village.

The Boys in the Band

A witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael's demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game, unleashing dormant and unspoken emotions.

Denied

Troy, a recent high school graduate, is in love with his best friend Merrick, but Merrick isn't willing to be in a relationship with him. Troy is forced to deal with Merrick's selfishness, his own aching heart, and his unfulfilling life.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

A girl born with enormous thumbs in the repressive era of the 1950s learns to turn her quirks into assets.

My Place is Here

Marta, a single mother promised to an older farmer in the aftermath of WWII, forges an unlikely friendship with Lorenzo, the village's openly gay "wedding planner." In the conservative backdrop of rural Southern Italy, Lorenzo introduces her to a hidden community of gays, sparking Marta's journey to challenge societal prejudices. In the first year of women's suffrage in Italy, Marta navigates her evolving role as a woman, breaking barriers and finding her place in a changing world.

Middle Man

Davie has just started a new job in a call centre which provides communication services for deaf people. But just as Davie gets caught up in a heated tiff between lovers Nathan and Paul, his new 'stringent' bosses show up for an inspection.

The Boy

Haunted by the fear of becoming a "one-hit-wonder author," João grows increasingly anguished over his inability to produce a follow-up to his acclaimed debut novel. The young writer realizes he must break free from his self-imposed routine and venture beyond his comfort zone. In this pursuit, he forms an unlikely friendship with Breno, a free-spirited motorcyclist whose lifestyle couldn’t more different from João’s own. Their bond may just hold the key to unlocking the inspiration João needs to finally write his second book—and redefine his legacy.

The Graffiti Artist

Adrift in the lush, nocturnal urban landscape of THE GRAFFITI ARTIST, Nick (Ruben Bansie-Snellman) is a post-modern urban hero asserting his anarchistic agenda on the endless maze of virgin exterior walls that comprise downtown Seattle and Portland. For this iconoclastic young visionary, the vast wall surfaces of deserted alleys and train yards are at once a daunting symbol of capitalist oppression and a texturally rich, seamless tableau ripe for exploitation to amplify his artistic dialectic of anger and rebellion.

Demolition

An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.

Marilyn

Marcos and his family work as ranch hands. While his father and brother handle the heavier tasks, Marcos stays home, close to his mother. Each one has their future laid out before them, yet Marcos bides his time waiting for Carnival, the one moment where he can let his true self out to shine. The sudden death of his father leaves his family in a very vulnerable situation. The ranch owner hounds them to go away, while Marcos’s mother pressures him to take over the work in the fields. Nicknamed Marilyn by the other teenagers in town, Marcos is a target for desire and discrimination.

Styx

Long-term partners Marc and Adrien live a seemingly perfect existence close to Lake Constance. Only whilst Marc is content to spend his days working for the local ferry service, Adrien yearns for the bright lights of Berlin and the clubs in which he hopes to realize his dream of becoming a musician. Yet life has a way of turning out not as you expect and here events culminate on a lengthy ferry crossing, one that sees Marc soon to spot Adrien onboard, complete with a one-way ticket and a car packed full of his belongings. Suffice to say that the stage is set for a traumatic farewell.

Dungarees

Transgender Blake and cisgender Cane hang out, play video games and grapple with their insecurities. This is their love story.

Bolero

The film follows four families, with different nationalities (French, German, Russian and American) but with the same passion for music, from the 1930s to the 1960s. The various story lines cross each other time and again in different places and times, with their own theme scores that evolve as time passes. The main event in the film is the Second World War, which throws the stories of the four musical families together and mixes their fates. Although all characters are fictional, many of them are loosely based on historical musical icons (Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Herbert von Karajan, Glenn Miller, Rudolf Nureyev, etc.) The Boléro dance sequence at the end brings all the threads together.