Sound to Sea (2022)

The Act

In 1965 - the eve of decriminalization for acts of male homosexuality in the U.K. - Matthews, a young gay man at odds with the world, discovers love, sex, and a new family in the backstreets and underground bars of Soho.

Fabiu

80-year-old retiree Arthur lives in a modest council home in Vienna. For quite some time he has lovingly been caring for his seriously ill wife Martha, with only female nurses assisting him. As he finds Fabiu, the new male Hungarian care worker, on his doorstep, his routine is broken. But soon the two men become closer and inside Arthur feelings of desire and suppressed longing start to rise.

Ponyboi

Unfolding over the course of Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past.

Mitosis

Kaveh is an LGBT sculptor. He lives in Iran and lives in isolation because of his sexual orientation. He has a lover named Farhad. Their relationship is not very good. It is Kaveh who is not happy with this relationship, he lives in his workshop because of the repression of LGBTs in Iran. He is making a statue when he suddenly realizes that this statue is talking to him. The words of the statue are not clear and are more like chatter. He breaks up his relationship with Farhad like his previous relationships, because something more than sex requires a relationship. He enjoys being alone more, but now he realizes that Farhad has destroyed the only statue they made together. The whispering sound of the statue increases and every moment Kaveh's mental state is more disturbed, to the point that he works day and night to build that statue. The statue is completed as if the statue is the lost lover of Kaveh. By completing the statue of Kaveh, he becomes a statue.

It Was Dark

Nicolas and Victor are 12-year-old twins who, despite their different characters, have a unique connection. At school, however, their differences cause problems that make them drift apart.

Boys Feels: Stand by Me

During tender years, a companion can guide you through awkward moments when the heart rules the head, or be a partner in crime in the face of danger. Follow these young men through the highs and lows of early learning, when all around us is new, and peer pressure is at its most pervasive. The 6 short films are: It Was Dark [Il faisait noir] (2015); Suspendu (2015); Keep Going (2016); Headbutt (2017); Out of the Blue [Ud af det blå] (2016); Mars Colony (2020).

Baleia

Jonas lives in a seaside town and has to deal with people leaving his town all the time. After his friend Giovanna has to move to the big city, Jonas isolates himself in his room taking turns between reading and watching with curiosity his neighbor, Gaspar, through the window. However, one day he hears a strange, incessant noise coming from his neighbor's house, a noise that seems to be being transmitted by a new girl in town, Sophia.

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese

Due to his indecise nature, Kyoichi, an advertising company employee, repeatedly cheats on his wife. One day, he meets Wataru, an old classmate from university. Wataru reveals that Kyoichi's wife hired him to investigate whether Kyoichi is having an affair. Wataru, who has liked Kyoichi for the past 7 years, takes advantage of the situation and blackmails the salaryman: if he accepts to have a sexual relationship with him, he won't tell his wife about his infidelity.

Single Man Problems: Volume One

Ronnie Maxwell, a self-conscious gay black man, delves deeper into the labyrinth of catfishing while confronting and unpacking past traumas.

Papi Chulo

A lonely TV weatherman strikes up an unusual friendship with a middle-aged Latino migrant worker.

The Art of Being Straight

Twenty-three-year-old John has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly "taking a break" from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy, whose pals incessantly do that kind of "That is so gay" banter that's essentially harmless - unless you're the only gay guy in the room.

Perfect Obedience

The fictional Father Ángel de la Cruz is based on Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, whose long history of child abuse was not addressed until 2006 and only publicly acknowledged in 2009. But director Luis Urquiza chooses to structure his film through the largely uncomprehending, wondering eyes of 13-year-old Julián, who travels from the arms of his loving pastoral family into the austere, hallowed halls of the seminary. Singling out the boy as his intimate disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and redubbing him “Sacramento Santos,” Father Ángel begins Julian’s instruction into the mysteries of “perfect obedience,” whose cardinal rule is: Never question a superior’s actions.

The Devil's Magnificent

Manu, a trans immigrant, must return to her native Chile after 10 years in France. In the days leading up to her departure, Manu’s platonic friend Daniel proposes marriage with the intention of solving her visa issues. Manu strongly considers the offer, but she’s wholly disheartened at the prospect of a life without love, romance, and sex—that is, until she meets a fellow foreigner who instills in her the hope for a romantic future.

The Male Gaze: First Kiss

The Male Gaze is a new series of releases from New Queer Visions that showcases short LGBTQ films from across the world. The first instalment, First Kiss, brings together five shorts that are based around men experiencing romantic and/or sexual interaction with other men for the first time. It takes in films from Sweden, Indonesia, USA, Australia and France giving a rounded look at how similar experiences are depicted across the world. The films are: Naked [Naken] (2013); Pria (2017); Walk With Me (2018), One Night Only (2018); Michel's Mouse [Tapette] (2016).

I Am Yet to Make You a Love Song

Greg and Alessandro are in the bedroom, looking at one another. The feeling of guilt and nostalgia of that moment may forever mark their lives, but it's only a gateway to allow love to walk freely amongst them. They look at one another. They feel one another. They love one another. Regardless of the unrevealed pictures or the unwritten songs.

Drive Me Home

Antonio and Agostino grew up together in a small town in Sicily; they dreamt of living a different life, somewhere else. Now thirty-year-olds, they both live abroad but they lost touch years ago. When Antonio discovers that the house he grew up in, which had been empty for a long time, is about to be sold at auction, he decides to leave and reconnects with his childhood friend. But their lives have changed a lot. Old conflicts and new revelations bring them through Europe on a truck journey.

Nimby: Not In My Backyard

Mervi is a gay girl living in the hipster quarters of Helsinki. She has been together with Kata for a year, and now they are encouraged by the circumstances to come out from closet. When they do, Mervi realises that she is not the only one in her family with secrets – her parents have been living in an open-bisexual-swinger-relationship for 20 years. On the other hand Kata is pretty surprised that she might be living with a hetero girl that once was dating a neo-nazi. And the ex-boy friend cannot swallow that Mervi is now with a person both of wrong color, and sex. The real threat appears when Kata’s parents arrive from Berlin and the local skinhead chief finds out that a black muslim celebrity politician has arrived to town.

Prick Up Your Ears

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Pashi

When his mom’s handsome friend unexpectedly shows up in the village, Ashish, a teenage boy living in a remote area of Himachal Pradesh, is swept in a whirlwind of desire and vivid fantasy. As he struggles to rein in his strong impulses, he learns about “pashi”, an ancient technique of trapping birds, and begins to practice it.

Personal Best

Young sprinter Chris Cahill is having difficulty reaching her potential as an athlete, until she meets established track star Tory Skinner. As Tory and her coach help Chris with her training, the two women form friendship that evolves into a romantic relationship. Their intimacy, however, becomes complicated when Chris' improvement causes them to be competitors for the Olympic team.

If These Walls Could Talk 2

The stories of three lesbian couples -- who live in the same house at different periods of time -- who are at a crossroads in their lives. In 1961, Edith loses her lover, Abby, to a stroke. Linda and Amy struggle with feminist issues in 1972. And, in 2000, Kal and Fran try to have a baby with the help of sperm donor.

Housekeeping for Beginners

Dita, who, despite never aspiring to be a mother, finds herself compelled to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters—Mia, a tiny troublemaker, and Vanesa, a rebellious teenager. As their individual wills clash, a heartwarming story unfolds about an unlikely family's struggle to stay together.

Nuclear

A pregnancy drama challenging the prevailing definition of a "nuclear family."

Portrait of Four Beauties

Four sisters, each with their different characters, embark on their separate roads to romance. Elder sister has vast experience of romance; second sister is predisposed to vampiness and wantonness; third sister is righteous and of noble character; fourth sister is just reaching puberty and experiencing the pangs of first love. Being sentimental, flirtatious and amorous, the four sisters form a backdrop conducive to songs and tripping the light fantastic.

New Queer Visions: The Last Days of Innocence

When adulthood looms, naivety fades, and a whole new, strange world opens up. These four beguiling European stories, from acclaimed film festivals the world over, explore these years of youthful wonder with a deftness and artistry that lingers. The short films are: Ruins [Ruines] (2019); Aline (2019); Snake [Змија] (2020); The Touching [Dotýkání] (2020).

The Playground

After years of traveling, Anyas parents have decided to return from Australia to their native France, and she has to attend a public school for the first time in her life. But normal everyday school life quickly causes problems for the girl. On the first day, she gets a shot with a soccer ball on the head. When no one wants to apologize for this, a violent argument immediately ensues. So she messed it up with the locals right from the start. Anya becomes an outsider, which doesn't even really bother her. But Zoé, Nils and Jade, who are also a bit different, take care of her. A new clique is formed. But the pretty outsider would prefer to be friends with Nathan, the school director's son. But he gives her the cold shoulder because it wouldn't be cool to be interested in girls in front of his buddies. Meanwhile, the girls hatch a plan to win their place in the schoolyard. A real fight ensues between the students. Now it's girls against boys. But how far can a dispute between children go?

Rite of Spring

Set during the dog days of summer, a group of teenage boys inhabit a makeshift bike part in a secluded wooded area of Toronto. David (14) craves the attention of Peter (17), an older boy and a natural leader to the group, while being mercilessly teased by his best friend, John (14). When their hidden world is breached by an outsider, anger, fear and misunderstanding lead to a violent outburst.

Chicuarotes

Cagalera and Moloteco are two teenagers from San Gregorio Atlapulco who are desperate to get out and move up and away from oppressive circumstances. When they hear of an opportunity to buy a spot in the electrician’s union, which could transform their lives, they quickly devolve into the criminal, adult underworld of Mexico City in a bid to buy their freedom.

Rushmore

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Show Me Love

Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.

My Beautiful Man ~special edit version~

With no friends, poor grades, and a stutter, Hira Kazunari (Riku Hagiwara) isn’t exactly enjoying his life as a high school student. With no dreams, and little ambition, Hira’s only hobby is to take photographs of his everyday life. With a new semester now starting, Hira doesn’t really expect things to change but when they take a turn for the worst, he’s caught completely off-guard. Rescued from a horribly uncomfortable situation by none other than the class’s “King”, Kiyoi Sou (Yusei Yagi), Hira can’t help the feelings of admiration that threaten to overwhelm him. Despite his best efforts to resist, Hira soon finds himself madly in love with the exceedingly handsome Kiyoi, but with such polar positions in the class, his chances of winning Kiyoi’s heart are slim. Or so it would seem. Uncovering Kiyoi’s secret dream, quite by accident, Hira soon realizes he and his crush now have something important connecting them.

My Beautiful Man: Eternal

As he nears graduation from university, Hira begins working as an assistant to the popular photographer Noguchi. Witnessing a professional job, he gradually distances himself from Kiyoi, not wanting to get in the way of him as he expands his career as an actor. Hira, who can only think "Kiyoi is a god" and a precious being, and Kiyoi, who wants to be an "ordinary" lover on an equal footing with Hira, miss each other little by little.

101 Reykjavik

Thirty-year-old Hlynur still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking, watching porn and surfing the net while living off unemployment checks. A girl is interested in him, but he stands back from commitment. His mother's Spanish flamenco teacher, Lola, moves in with them for Christmas. On New Year's Eve, while his mother is away, Hlynur finds out Lola is a lesbian, but also ends up having sex with her. He soon finds out he and his mother are sharing more than a house. Eventually he must find out where he fits into the puzzle, and how to live life less selfishly.

Farewell My Concubine

Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.

Wonder Boys

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Thirteen

When average 13-year-old Tracy befriends Evie, the most popular girl in school, Tracy's world is turned upside down as Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before Tracy's new world and attitude finally takes a toll on her, her family, and old friends.

Jam Today

Robert is stuck on a boating holiday with his parents in the English countryside. Impatient to grow and become a man, an unexpected sight cracks his world open.

Spun

Over the course of three days Ross, a college dropout addicted to crystal-meth, encounters a variety of oddball folks - including a stripper named Nikki and her boyfriend, the local meth producer, The Cook - but all he really wants to do is hook up with his old girlfriend, Amy.

Óga

Plot unavailable

Two Drifters

After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman named Odete descends into madness and claims to be pregnant with the child of her neighbour Pedro, who died in a car crash and is mourned by his boyfriend Rui.

Prism

Prism is an anthology feature, exploring several genres - comedy, dark-comedy, drama, science-fiction, and suspense. With the only connection being the overall theme; the irrationality of love.

Madison Baker Was Here

On her last night in town, a shy teenager sneaks out with her best friends to throw caution to the wind and confess her feelings to her longtime crush.

Alkali, Iowa

On his family's farm in rural Iowa, young Jack Gudmanson is wrestling with his sexual identity, not an easy thing to do in the macho world of the Midwest. But things become clearer for him when he discovers via a rusty old lunch box filled with gay magazines that his father, killed in Vietnam, led a double life down on the farm. But as liberating as the discovery is for Jack, it is painful for his grandfather and mother, who have tried for years to keep it a family secret. Now Jack must decide whether to share this new information with his younger sister or allow it to remain buried a while longer.

A Kiss in the Snow

When a new boy moves into the area Cecilie and Peter's friendship is changed.

Port Authority

Paul, a 20 year old midwesterner, arrives at the central bus station and quickly catches eyes with Wye, a 22 year old girl voguing on the sidewalk. After Paul seeks her out in secret, an intense love between them blossoms. But when Paul discovers Wye is trans, he is forced to confront his own identity and what it means to belong.

Wet Dog

Based on a provocative autobiography, this story — set in a largely Muslim neighborhood in Berlin — follows a teenage gang member who is caught between hiding his Jewish identity and saving his life.

Mermaids

In Corsica, four girlfriends share the last days of an endless summer. It's hot, too hot to do anything. While they share their secrets, Camille, the youngest of them, says she's pregnant.

La Vie sur Mars

Plot unavailable

Mr. Misunderstood

When overwhelming expectations tower over him, Cecil must silence the doubt controlling him, while an aspiring film career slowly becomes the least of his worries. Written and directed by newcomer Aaron Fisher, Mr. Misunderstood takes a close look at the endless pressures that loom over one aspiring filmmaker's life, as he conveys the beautiful imperfection of our most human characteristics.

The Breakfast Club

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

Grace Estrela

Plot unavailable

Nobody is Crazy

Rafa is a lonely teenager with OCD and his overwhelmed mother insists on giving him professional help or he will end up in a military school. Faced with the situation, he agrees to visit a self-help group where he meets a somewhat eccentric masked guy who states to be a time traveler. Rafa begins the search to find out if the young guy is who he says he is and came from the past or is simply a mental patient who escaped from an asylum.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Two drag queens and a transgender woman contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a town in the remote Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, the three friends come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, whilst widening comfort zones and exploring new horizons.

And the Band Played On

The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it.

Spiral

Two hours before Karim and Dan are going on a trip to Argentina, Dan leaves their apartment and disappears without any trace. Karim sets out to locate him and face the world, Dan managed to hide.

Dear Tenant

A boy lives with his Grandma and Mr. Lin, the tenant who looks after him and Grandma. But when Grandma passes away, the boy's uncle returns to Taiwan and discovers that ownership of the apartment was transferred to other people.

Ménage

Bickering couple Monique and Antoine are interrupted by bisexual burglar Bob while fighting in a bar. With husband and wife in need of cash, Bob teaches them the most efficient house burglary methods. Monique is attracted to the charismatic thief, but Bob is more interested in Antoine, who eventually succumbs to his attentions. As the trio continues living together, Monique grows unhappy about being ignored by both men.

Law of Desire

Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.

April

Set to a vibrant landscape, 'April' follows the emotional up-and-down journey of a full-of-life high school girl, named April (played by Celine Alva), as she navigates change, friendships, and ultimately a decision that could permanently alter her life.

Hedgehog

A headstrong trans teenager is propelled into their hangover when a reckless decision to have sex without a condom triggers an urgent need for the ‘morning after’ pill.