The Male Gaze: A Better Tomorrow (2023)

Thank You for Smoking

Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.

Adult

Having enabled a loss that now torments her, a woman enters an adult store in search of redemption. Adapted from a short story by Christos Tsiolkas.

The King of Kings

Charles Dickens tells his young son Walter the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey. Through vivid imagination, the boy walks alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, facing His trials, and understanding His ultimate sacrifice.

Beautiful Mystery

Shinohara, a young bodybuilder, joins a para-military sect in northern Japan. His instructor, Takizawa, takes a liking to the new recruit. After an early “special” training session the two develop a lasting and loving relationship.

The Male Gaze : French Connection

A love left unsaid on the football field, a third invite to a high-rise tête-à-tête, a fast-approaching farewell and a friendship that evolves into something complicated. Lose yourself in these five stories from France that are handled with grace, maturity and a tender touch. The 5 short films are: 9th Floor to the Right [9ème étage droite] (2022); Hugo: 6:30 [Hugo : 18h30] (2020); Cary & James (2023); For the Love of the Game [Pour l'amour du jeu] (2023); Youssou & Malek [Youssou et Malek] (2022).

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.

Romper Stomper

Nazi skinheads in Melbourne take out their anger on local Vietnamese, who are seen as threatening racial purity. Finally the Vietnamese have had enough and confront the skinheads in an all-out confrontation, sending the skinheads running. A woman who is prone to epileptic seizures joins the skins' merry band, and helps them on their run from justice, but is her affliction also a sign of impurity?

The Wedding Banquet

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.

Johnny Minotaur

Johnny Minotaur is a lyrical explosion of taboos: incest, intergenerational desire, pansexuality and autoeroticism are a few of the issues Charles Henri Ford grapples with through mythopoeic, sensual imagery, recitations of his diaries and a philosophical debate featuring an impressive narration by such artists as Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Warren Sonbert and Lynne Tillman.

Apt Pupil

One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.

The Panti Sisters

Three gay sons are called back by their estranged and terminally ill father and given an offer they can't refuse: a ₱300 million inheritance in exchange for each of them giving him a grandchild.

The Basketball Diaries

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

The Swedish Boys

Get ready to explore a dizzying confection of Swedish life and love spanning all shades of the gay experience, from childhood confusion to a teen's coming out, a trio of friends in a three-way relationship, a mother trying to connect with her deaf son and a heterosexual ghost from a homosexual past. The 7 short films are: Coming Out [Komma ut] (2011); Polly (2017); Filip (2015); No Breaks [När bromsvajern släpper] (2008); The Memory of You [Minnet av dig] (2015); Distances [Bortom] (2014); Stockholm Daybreak [Gryning] (2013).

Hello Again

Ten lost souls slip in and out of one another's arms in a daisy-chained musical exploration of love's bittersweet embrace. A film adaptation of Michael John LaChiusa's celebrated musical, originally based on Arthur Schnitzler's play, La Ronde.

Dear to Me

A 27-year-old Indonesian, Tim, is having a family vacation with both of his parents on a remote island far from the city, where they learn about the myth of a reincarnated deer that exists somewhere along the beach. Island locals believe that seeing the deer is a sign of meeting one’s soulmate. Tim is the only one who secretly hoping to discover the deer, hiding his desire from his very devout Christian parents.

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 meteor-logical.

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.

Tama asobi

A man named Shiki has been sent to a company in Matsuyama. Since Shiki was famous as a baseball club member at a previous company, there is a story about baseball clubs in the company. Ken, who was a player in high school, participated without being reluctant, supported by his lover Michiko.

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

An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.

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.

Hidden Away

At the age of 14 the world around you changes at a dizzying speed. But what if actually it's you that changing? What if these changes take you away from what up until now, has been your world? Ibrahim and Rafa are going to suffer these changes for themselves, experiencing first love in a way they never could have imagined. And having to keep it Hidden away.

Because You're Mine

Torn by the farewell letter of his boyfriend, Samuel tries to change his ideas in nature. The forest will bring him a strange and sensual consolation…

Paths

Andreas and Martin share all the ups and downs of everyday life, and their son is maturing. A cautious approach to the traces of a long relationship. The love story of two people. Not about how they come together, not a phase they go through, but all of their shared experiences: all the years between the first kiss and today.

Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn

In this sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Alexander's story is told in both the past and the present. Alexander's parents send him away from home for being too sensitive and not helping enough on their farm. He goes to Los Angeles in hopes of going to art school, but when he can't find a job as a minor, he turns to prostitution. After being arrested, he wants to head to Arizona to marry Dawn, but he falls into a lucrative job/relationship with a gay football star.

To an Unknown God

José, a fifty-year-old homosexual magician, feels the need to return to Granada, the place where he spent his childhood, perhaps to embrace the painful memory of tragic experiences, perhaps to bury it definitively.

Race d'Ep!

"Race d’Ep!" (which literally translates to "Breed of Faggots") was made by the “father of queer theory,” Guy Hocquenghem, in collaboration with radical queer filmmaker and provocateur Lionel Soukaz. The film traces the history of modern homosexuality through the twentieth century, from early sexology and the nudes of Baron von Gloeden to gay liberation and cruising on the streets of Paris. Influenced by the groundbreaking work of Michel Foucault on the history of sexuality and reflecting the revolutionary queer activism of its day, "Race d’Ep!" is a shockingly frank, sex-filled experimental documentary about gay culture emerging from the shadows.

Carol

In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

Better Man

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

Cruising

Inspired by films like “L’inconnu du lac” and “O Ornitólogo”, director Valentino R. Sandoli has created “Cruising,” a film that explores desire, erotism and flesh, using an almost voyeuristic style that mixes together with oneiric images that provides a metaphysic tone to the story. A man meets a group of young men while bathing in a lake at the end of summer, and he immediately falls for one of them, who seems to shine with his own light. He follows them into the woods, where he watches them as he finds them in different groups and sex scenes, until he arrives to the one he fell for.

The Serpent's Song

At a secret monastery located in a rural area of Thailand, a music teacher is trying to help a young nun to be able to speak again. The nun's passion and sexuality clashing with her religious convictions have caused her to shut down.

Quarters

The night before his wedding, Paul celebrates the last hours as a bachelor with childhood friend Jeremy as they drink and play "Quarters".

Boys On Film 21: Beautiful Secret

Those boys you know and love are back! Boys On Film invites you on a voyage of emotion-soaked self-discovery, where same-sex attraction is celebrated, first loves are tenderly formulated, and beautiful secrets burn and bloom. Volume 21: Beautiful Secret includes nine complete films: Theo James Krekis's "Memoirs Of A Geeza" starring Elliot Warren and Tony Richardson; Joe Morris's "We Are Dancers" starring Hans Piesbergen and Simon Eckert; Zachary Ayotte's "My Dad Works The Night Shift" starring Victor Boudreault, Antoine L'Écuyer, and François Trudel; Loïc Hobi's "The Pier Man" starring Hubert Girard and Youssouf Abi-Ayad; Jason Bradbury's "My Sweet Prince" starring Yodi Roodner; Abel Rubinstein's "Dungarees" starring Pete MacHale and Ludovic Jean-Francios; Sam Peter Jackson's "Clothes & Blow" starring David Menkin and Nancy Baldwin; George Dogaru's "A Normal Guy" starring Vlad Bîrzanu and Pedro Aurelian; and Pierce Hadjinicola & Sinclair Suhood's "Pretty Boy" starring Orlando Norman.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.

Walk With Me

​While walking his dog, Eric bumps into the confident and carefree Ryan. Taking a nervous leap, Eric accepts Ryan’s invitation to walk through the city en route to a concert. In the next six blocks, the two men discover that intimacy through anonymity also exposes one another’s flaws and insecurities. Will they make it to the concert in one piece?

Nowhere

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

A Chorus Line

A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.

Over the Top

Sylvester Stallone stars as hard-luck big-rig trucker Lincoln Hawk and takes us under the glaring Las Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championship. Relying on wits and willpower, Hawk tries to rebuild his life by capturing the first-place prize money, and the love of the son he abandoned years earlier into the keeping of his rich, ruthless father-in-law.

Rent

This rock opera tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in late 1980s East Village, New York, USA. The film centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a tragedy has made Roger numb to new experiences, Mark begins capturing their world through his attempts to make a personal movie. In the year that follows, they and their friends deal with love, loss, and working together.

We Shall Overcome

A drama about a boy who's inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and challenges repressive school authority in 1969 Denmark.

Fatima, Queen of the Night

Based on the short story of the same name by Miguel Barnet, in which Fatima - the Queen of the night, a young homosexual and transvestite, who is a prostitute to earn a living, and to maintain economically to the man whom he loves. While facing all the complexities arising from their decisions. Born in the provinces as Manuel García, nicknamed Manolito, to whom the Virgin of Fátima appeared as a child moves to the capital Havana where he meets and falls in love with Vaselina, who encourages him to cross-dress and start a new life in the world of entertainment and prostitution.

Philippino Story

Philip and Bastian are lovers. Philip has taken the responsibility to help his older brother’s family in the slums. However, when Bastian pursues painting and can no longer provide for Philip, Philip resorts to hustling in order to help his brother’s family. When Bastian catches Philip being picked up by a gay man in a car, he decides to keep everything inside. Can Philip and Bastian’s love prevail despite the odds?

Ghosts

Nina, an end-of-teenage orphan with mental problems, starts a new job as a garden cleaner when she meets Toni. They fell in love with each other, but soon Toni starts betraying Nina. In the meantime, Francoise is picked up at a psychic department of a Berlin hospital by her husband, Pierre. After seeing Nina, Francoise believes that she has found her kidnapped daughter Marie, but neither Toni nor Pierre believe her. Nina is unsure about what to think...

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Frida

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Shortbus

In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

Easy Living

Sherry Graham, a self-destructive makeup saleswoman, hopes a new man and business venture will provide her a fresh start. After her plans are foiled, she takes control of her life in a dramatic turn of events.

Breakfast on Pluto

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

Imagine Me & You

During her wedding ceremony, Rachel notices Luce in the audience and feels instantly drawn to her. The two women become close friends, and when Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian, she realizes that despite her happy marriage to Heck, she is falling for Luce. As she questions her sexual orientation, Rachel must decide between her stable relationship with Heck and her exhilarating new romance with Luce.

Unknown Origins

In Madrid, Spain, a mysterious serial killer ruthlessly murders his victims by recreating the first appearance of several comic book superheroes. Cosme, a veteran police inspector who is about to retire, works on the case along with the tormented inspector David Valentín and his own son Jorge Elías, a nerdy young man who owns a comic book store.

I'm Not Gay : A Musical

Plagued by a hidden childhood trauma that is destroying his life, an obsessive-compulsive MMA fighter moves to Fire Island and pretends to be gay in order to buy the house of his dreams and exorcise his demons.

The Villain Who I Love

One day, high school freshman Minzy finds a photo of herself changing clothes in the school locker room. Class leader Hyejin, who is not close to minzy, points out that the new teacher is the suspect to her. Minzy and Hyejin collect evidences to prove that the teacher takes pictures of high school girls secretly. When Minzy and Hyejin report the teacher's behavior to another teacher, Minzy realizes something unexpected.

Aline

Alban lives in a ski resort with his mother. Each night, the teenager slips away to meet up with Julien – this boy who curiously has the same name as the hero of the novel Alban is devouring.

Seven Lucky Gods

An illegal immigrant from Albania infiltrates the lives of a group of Londoners with devastating consequences.

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.

The White Crows

Vlad, a young closeted Russian homosexual, returns to his small hometown from Moscow. His brother Liokha has arranged a surprise for him: an evening in the sauna with a female prostitute.

Longing Nights

Aitana, Pierrick, Rita and Jorge are all in their twenties and all look for ways to make their nights in the city of Madrid a little less lonely. Aitana is a sweet girl trapped in a men’s body; Pierrick is a cute French gay; Rita doesn't much care about her partner, Carolina, and walks through life with no expectations; Jorge is trapped in a relationship with no future: the one he has with Maria. Set against a background of drugs, sex, multiple partners and differing sexualities, Longing Nights follows the individual stories of these young people. A candid portrait of four relationships highly loaded with eroticism from beginning to end. Four stories told without no borders between fiction and reality.