Sofia Was (2024)

Belonging to My Angel

A short film of the origin story of one of films’ greatest misunderstood villains.

Escaping the Fragile Planet

A boy-meets-boy tale, a few hours before the world ends.

Sacred Silence

A young priest crusades against organized crime in his Naples neighbourhood but falls in love with a 13-year-old boy. It's the chance the gangsters were waiting for to get rid of the thorn in their side. Will they be able to force the boy to accuse the priest of sexual harassment and have his reputation destroyed?

One to Another

A story about bunch of people who live in a town in provincial France. At the center of it all is Pierre, a conceited and vain bisexual musician in his late teens who acts as a magnet, to varying degrees, for a whole array of characters - from his sister Lucie, with whom he has a heated incestuous relationship, to a city councilor with whom he participates in gay orgies. When Pierre turns up dead, Lucie investigates the reasons for his demise and charts the network of sadomasochistic relationships that crisscross the town.

The Curiosity of Chance

It’s the ‘80s once again, new wave angst and genderbending fashion are all the rage, but new kid at school, Chance Marquis, is trying to find new ways to stand out. Being an odd and somewhat awkward teenager makes him the target of the school bully. To deal with this dilemma, Chance turns to the opposite ends of the high school spectrum for help. On one side is the flamboyant drag queen and at the other, the varsity jock, Levi Sparks with whom Chance develops a unique friendship.

Can't Buy Me Love

Nerdy high schooler Ronald Miller rescues cheerleader Cindy Mancini from parental punishment after she accidentally destroys her mother's designer clothes. Ronald agrees to pay for the $1,000 outfit on one condition: that she will act as though they're a couple for an entire month. As the days pass, however, Cindy grows fond of Ronald, making him popular. But when Ronald's former best friend gets left behind, he realizes that social success isn't everything.

Head On

Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he's facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.

The Art of Crying

Life is not easy for 11-year-old Allan living in South Jutland during the early 1970s. His mentally unstable father frequently threatens suicide and his mother has long since given up. It's up to Allan to keep the family together. When a rival family threatens his father's livelihood, Allan starts committing atrocious acts.

Install

High school student Asako moves all of her belongings to the refuse area of her apartment complex and stops attending school. Kazuyoshi, a precocious young boy, invites her to join him in an online chatroom venture where she assumes the identity of a married temptress named "Miyabi".

A Brighter Summer Day

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

Borrowed

David is a reclusive artist living in the Florida keys. His private and tortured life is changed forever when Justin comes for a visit. What begins as a casual hook-up quickly turns dark as both men share their secrets and engage in a psychological tug-of-war for dominance.

Butterfly Affect

A young black ballet dancer from a South London Council Estate must learn how to survive in two opposing worlds in order to spread his wings.

Outlaw

Gay teen Nikita is in love with the most popular boy in his school, Alpha. Rebellious Outlaw, to whom anything appears to be permissible, watches on as their relationship develops. Simultaneously, we follow the tragic love story of a transgender dancer Nina and a Soviet general, set in 1985.

Sauna

An anxious and ungainly teenage boy struggles against bullies, puberty, and his fears of mortality when his parents send him to a summer water polo camp.

Binti

Binti is a 12-year-old girl of Congolese origin who dreams of becoming a famous vlogger like her idol Tatyana. But when the police raid her home and try to deport her and her father Jovial, they are forced to flee. Binti meets Elias and befriends her. While Binti helps Elias to vlog about his 'save-the-okapi-club', she hatches the perfect plan: her dad has to marry Elias’s mom, so they can stay in Belgium.

Boys On Film 15: Time & Tied

Embark on a magical journey through time with Boys On Film 15: Time & Tied — featuring a brand new selection of sensational gay British short films that showcase some of the UK's best emerging talent. This compilation features nine complete films: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan's "Closets" starring Tommy Knight and Ceallach Spellman; Brian Fairbairn & Karl Eccleston's "Putting On The Dish" starring Steve Wickenden and Neil Chinneck; Mitchell Marion's "G O'Clock" starring Marc Rovira Cenar and Phillip Weddell; Charlie Parham's "Nightstand" starring Nicholas Gleaves and Amrou Al-Kadhi; Simon Anderson's "Morning Is Broken" starring Matthew Tennyson, Nigel Allen and Jack Hawkins; Tom Frederic's "Sauna The Dead: A Fairy Tale" starring himself and Kumar Muniandy; Leon Lopez's "CrossRoad" starring Marc Rovira Cenar, Ashley Campbell, and Calum Ewan Cameron; Jake Graf's "Dawn" starring Nicole Gibson and Harry Rundle; and Kristen Bjorn's "Trouser Bar" starring Denholm Spurr, Scott Hunter, and Zac Renfree.

Because of a Boy

When Vincent finds himself a victim of outing in his high school, he must accept to live with the drastic changes it provokes, and redefine his relationships with his friends and family.

Worlds Apart

17-year-old Sara leads a sheltered existence with her family, members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, when she meets the outsider Teis and falls in love. Sara, herself a believer, now faces an important turning point in her life as she is forced to choose between religion and love.

Reel

It is the last day before Victor has to move to another city with his parents. So he and his best friend Robert do all the things they liked to do together so much: skateboarding, spraying, hanging out. But something is different this time.

Novitiate

In the early 1960s, during the Vatican II era, a young woman training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, sexuality and the changing church.

Afire

Self-important author Leon joins his best friend on a summer holiday near the Baltic Sea to complete his novel. When they arrive, they find their house is already occupied by a carefree woman who challenges Leon to open up. Meanwhile, forest wildfires rage around them and impending disaster looms.

Undress Me

Mikaela has undergone gender reassignment and is now a woman. One night at a bar, she meets a guy and takes him back to her place.

Misericordia

This is about 31 year-old Jérémie who returns to Saint-Martial in the Massif Central region for an old friend’s funeral. In this village where so much goes unsaid, he must contend with rumours and suspicion, until he commits an irreparable act and finds himself at the centre of a police investigation.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Middle school, New York City. Everyone's got a secret. Josh and Rachel have been best friends since second grade, but their relationship is about to change. The Viper has an online blog dedicated to exposing people's innermost secrets and he's just found out the whopper of them all.

Say Yes

A young woman diagnosed with cancer tries to play matchmaker between her soon-to-be-widowed husband and her bisexual twin brother.

Driveways

Eight-year-old Cody is spending the summer in an unfamiliar setting with his mom Kathy. Though he can't relate to the neighbourhood kids, things take an unexpected turn when he develops an unusual friendship with grouchy old Del from next door.

A Walk to Remember

When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.

As You Want Me

Pasquale is a policeman in Roma. During a roundup he meets Desideria. He/she is a transsexual, living together with other two trans , Gaia and Gioia. But overall Desideria is an old friend of Pasquale, they already been attending the same schools. Desideria immediately fall in love for Pasquale. But the policeman has a fiancé, Nellina, even if too far so they meet rarely. That's why Pasquale could change idea about Desideria.

White Squall

In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon at the helm, the oceangoing voyage is intended to teach the boys fortitude and discipline. But the youthful crew are about to get some unexpected instruction in survival when they get caught in the clutches of a white squall storm.

Mean Girls

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Cinema Paradiso

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

My Beautiful Laundrette

A Pakistani Briton renovates a rundown laundrette with his male lover while dealing with drama within his family, the local Pakistani community, and a persistent mob of skinheads.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.

Nevrland

17-year-old Jakob wants nothing more than to feel alive. Uncontrollable anxiety attacks prevent him from doing so and force him to escape into virtual worlds. One night, he meets 26-year-old Kristjan in a cam chat. Their encounter marks the beginning of a transpersonal journey to the wounds of their souls.

Beauty Mark

A door-to door cosmetics saleswoman in 1986 finds a new customer.

Influence

A segregated Christian cult and the world of internet fame collide when Abigail Aberdeen is told to make videos for God’s eyes only.

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.

Hannah's Summer

A coming of age story about fourteen year old Hanna and her full of romance summer.

I Get So Sad Sometimes

In the small town of Pagadian, a gay teenager eagerly waits for a mature man to finally reveal his face after developing an anonymous sexual relationship with him online.

Hit Astray

In the summer of 2008, Santi lives a carefree lifestyle with his hometown friends. Over their long friendship, Santi has become more infatuated with his best friend, Dylan. However, an unexpected tragedy changes the trajectory of their lives. Leaving Santi struggling with his sense of reality and self-acceptance.

Tom of Finland

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.

I Am My Own Woman

The life story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived the Nazi reign as a trans woman and helped start the German gay liberation movement. Documentary with some dramatized scenes. Two actors play the young and middle aged Charlotte and she plays herself in the later years.

This Boy's Life

When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.

December

In December of 1941, five teenage boys at a New England prep school hear the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and realize their lives are going to be changed forever.

Dysphoria

A graphic exploration of the undesired effects of testosterone on a young transgender woman's (pre-HRT) body.

Kids

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.

Risky Business

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

Crazy

Benjamin, a 16-year-old with lousy grades, switches to a boarding school in order to eventually reach grammar school. Adjusting to his new environment is difficult as he has to struggle with being a teen... specially when he falls in love to the school's dream girl, Malen.

The Skeleton Twins

Estranged twins Maggie and Milo coincidentally cheat death on the same day, prompting them to reunite and confront the reasons their lives went so wrong. As the twins' reunion reinvigorates them, they realize the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship.

52 Tuesdays

Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition, and their time together becomes limited to Tuesdays. This emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility, and transformation was filmed over the course of a year—once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays.

JJ+E

Elisabeth and John John are raised in the same city, yet they live light years apart, separated economically, socially and culturally. That is until the day they start in the same high school class.

Pornographer - Spring Life

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.

Tell Me About Yourself

Chava, a 17-year-old boy who has a secret admirer, feels more attracted to boys. When leaving his school in a rainy day, Carlos offers him a ride, and so their adventure begins.

Amphora

Roberto, an older widower, and Félix, a young photographer, explore a complex attraction between them. In seduction, they face the anxiety, the fear of abandonment and the emotional paralysis (philophobia) that drowns them.

Into the Storm

Pol and Lucas are having a vacation in Galicia. They dance, they scream, they discover themselves, they argue...In the end, the words that weren't said are the heaviest ones. In that silence, the storm begins.

Luciérnagas

Two young girls decide to spend Holy Week in a house in El Portús, a village on the Spanish coast. Feeling bored, they decide to release flying lantern without thinking about the consequences.

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.

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.

Natchan's Little Secret

When three drag queens, Virgin, Moririn, and Zubuko, learn that their mentor and former drag queen, Natchan, has died suddenly, they take it upon themselves to keep the secret of her sexuality from her bereaved family.

Yunior

A deeply closeted teenage boy finds himself shaken when his older brother’s girlfriend shows up with an out and confident gay male friend.

Coming Home

Mitsuomi Kozuka quits his job due to his boss. He decides to return to his hometown for the first time in 10 years. The town is located in the countryside. There, Mitsuomi Kozuka meets Yamato Kumai. Yamato Kumai is the stepson of old man Kumai. The old man runs a farm near the home of Mitsuomi Kozuka's parents.

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.

Handsome Devil

A music-mad 16-year-old outcast at a rugby-mad boarding school forms an unlikely friendship with his dashing new roommate.

In Between

The film captures the daily duality of three young Palestinian women in Tel Aviv, caught between hometown tradition and big city abandon, and the price they must pay for a lifestyle that seems obvious to many: the freedom to work, party, have sex, and choose.

Coming Home for Christmas

Coming home from the holidays is something most families cherish. After this holiday, Christmas will never be the same in the Higher-Mills family. Coming from mixed backgrounds adopted siblings Smythe, Hanna, Bea, Shane, and Lonny along with their parents Pat and Samantha, will have to search for a higher spirit to get them through this holiday season.

4 Days

College friends Derek and Mark slowly realize they mean more to each other than either had initially imagined. In the days leading up to Valentine's Day, their friendship blossoms into something much more enduring as time goes on - which challenges both to question who they thought they were and who they truly want to be.

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.

Measure of a Man

A bullied teen experiences a turning point summer in which he learns to stand up for himself.

Human

David is a journalist who has just entered the “Human Homosexual Rehabilitation Center”. He is responsible for reporting on Julio, the first rehabilitated homosexual, in the interview, David recognizes Julio as a human being and decides to help him escape.

Katie Says Goodbye

A kindhearted seventeen-year-old in the American Southwest turns to prostitution to fulfill her dream of a new life in San Francisco.

Outsider Girls

Free-spirited university student Rafaela’s carefree life is shaken when she falls pregnant. Desperate to get an abortion in a country where doing so could land her in jail and unable to fund one illegally, her situation shakes her world. But thankfully, she doesn’t face it alone by virtue of her best friend and sidekick, Gabriela. In her directorial debut, Hyland skilfully captures the incongruity of the inseparable duo’s lives as they move between their fuzzy pink apartment and the rough and raw backstreets of Santiago.

Empire of the Sun

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

Milk

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

4 Days in France

A man leaves everything behind to travel aimlessly through France, letting himself be guided only by the people and landscapes he encounters: four days and four nights of wandering, during which his lover tries to locate him via Grindr, a smartphone dating app.