The Male Gaze: Risk Appeal (2023)

La León

Deep in the lush river jungles of Argentina, Alvaro lives a solitary existence fishing and harvesting reeds. What sets him apart from the rest of his village is that he is gay. There are no other gay men in his world, his only means of expression is with the occasional outsider who passes through. Most of these men come via the river taxi El León, whose captain El Turu is a mean man with a homophobic streak and a secret. When illegal loggers appear in the jungle El Turu accuses Alvaro of aiding them, a dispute which leads both men towards confrontation.

Mutt

Over the course of a single hectic day in New York City, three people from Feña's past are thrust back into his life: his foreign father, his straight ex-boyfriend, and his 13-year old half-sister. Having lost touch since transitioning from female to male, Feña must navigate the new dynamics of these old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges that come with living a life in-between.

Service

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

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.

Debut

Ivan has just scored a goal and rushes to kiss Marko.

Green Butterflies

Mateo is an intelligent boy who falls in love with Daniel, but when everyone reveals that relationship, Mateo is at a crossroads, and he will have to decide between fighting his adversities or giving up everything, even his life.

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.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.

Peter's Friends

After inheriting a large country estate from his late father, Peter invites his friends from college: married couple Roger and Mary, the lonely Maggie, fashionable Sarah, and writer Andrew, who brings his American TV star wife, Carol. Sarah's new boyfriend, Brian, also attends. It has been 10 years since college, and they find their lives are very different.

The Angry Toy

Silvio, a young poet and inventor, struggles to find employment and to give meaning to his life. Silvio has a homosexual relationship, which leaves him traumatized.

G O'Clock

Alex is a paramedic who saves lives on London's gay chemsex scene, but can he save himself from it?

Days of Happiness

Emma, a talented conductor and rising star on the Montreal scene, has a complicated relationship with her father and agent Patrick. She has to face up to her emotions and decide whether she wants to successfully combine her career with her love affair with Naëlle, a recently separated cellist and mother of a young son.

L'Animale

Riding on their tuned-up bikes, Mati and her posse of male friends intimidate their neighborhood and harass the girls. In their village, they rule. But when her closest pal Sebastian falls in love with Mati and her enemy Carla unexpectedly turns into a friend, Mati is in danger of losing her standing among her male friends. Meanwhile Mati’s parents have a decision to make: What's more important, appearances or reality?

Do People Think We're Gay?

A short film about 2 apparently heterosexual guys who live together and sleep in the same bed.

The Prelude of Mary Beaumont

A mother flees her home with her infant child, only to run into her brother in the process.

Feed Your Head

Torn between the desire to protect his little brother in a violent world and the longing for the utopia of a queer community, Hector (23) embarks on a journey between reality and fantasy to reflect on his own experience of violence and to find closeness to his brother again.

Nerolio

This film depicts three episodes in the life of the highly eccentric, unabashedly homosexual Italian filmmaker Per Paolo Pasolini. Pasolini was best known to Americans for his film The Gospel According to St. Matthew. However, in his native Italy, he was at least as well known for his writing and poetry as for his filmmaking. In the first episode, Pasolini (Marco Cavicchioli) waxes poetic about the beauty of young men during a visit to Sicily. The second and more interesting segment concerns a meeting with a young man who visits Pasolini thinking that though he is an old has-been, Pasolini may be able to do him a favor. Pasolini twigs to the boy's intentions, and a sparring session ensues. The final episode shows him picking up a young man at Rome's train station and the events that led to his beating death in 1975.

Brick

Jeffrey lives in a small Dutch town with his father and his girlfriend. He is about to become a dad. Working in the local brick factory, he gets to supervise newbee Kevin. When Kevin tries to become intimate with him, Jeffrey knocks him to the ground. Yet he can't seem to get Kevin out of his head and starts to question everything that he was once so sure of.

Kendra and Beth

A dark comedy about the only female employee in the warehouse of a sausage company who forms an unlikely bond with a stranger that throws both their lives into disarray, leaving them forever changed.

Best Sisters Forever

In a heated fight over questions of promiscuity, a terrible misunderstanding leaves two best friends, 'sisters' estranged for many years. A decade later, the two 'sisters' are reunited by a tragic event. The 'sisters' reminisce over the past while talking about the future. Though they are still very fond of each other, both have changed and a palpable tension can be felt over dreams unrealized and disappointments in life. Knowing their days together are numbered, the pair set out on a few adventures hoping to gain lost opportunities and make happy memories. Along the way, they make important discoveries about life, love, each other, friendship, and family. Promises are kept and a long lost dream comes true.

Eduart

Based on true events, a young man raised in a cruel and oppressive family environment, leaves Albania with the dream of becoming a rock star and living a better life. His reckless character and his youth passions lead him to commit a murder in Athens. Chased by everyone, even by his own self, he is imprisoned under the harshest conditions. With the help of a German doctor, he learns to feel sympathy for others and guilt for his crime. His deep remorse will lead him from darkness to light.

The Object of My Affection

A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.

Advise & Consent

Proposed by the President of the United States to fill the post of Secretary of State, Robert Leffingwell appears before a Senate committee, chaired by the idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, which must decide whether he is the right person for the job.

One in a Thousand

Set in a community of project houses, Iris, a young woman with a tough past, meets Renata and feels immediately attracted to her. A tender coming of age story about friendship and first love in a hostile environment.

Holding Trevor

After finally breaking up with his drug-addicted lover, Trevor begins a new romance that unexpectedly complicates his other relationships.

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.

Stand Up!

Irish anti-homophobic bullying advertisement, created as part of BeLonG To Youth Services annual Up! LGBT Awareness Weeks.

Me and the Pool Boy

Guilherme feels attracted to his best friend, but is afraid to tell him that. Through the internet, he discovers a way to fulfill his desire.

Scenes of a Sexual Nature

Sex and love. Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it and some pay for it, but we're all involved in it. Set on one afternoon on Hampstead Heath in north-west London, the film investigates the minutiae of seven couples. What makes us tick?

Dance of the Forty One

Mexico City, November 1901. The police raid a private home where a secret party is being held. Among those attending is the son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz.

Testosterone: Volume Four

Volume Four of this sexy collection of the hottest gay short films around. This collection takes us from a blossoming love in a one-bedroom apartment in Tel Aviv, to the paranoid jealousy that comes with your first relationship, to a visually poetic work of ethereal movement and dance. A comedy about the fantasies of a hunky repairman and a thriller about a one-night stand where nothing is as it seems. The 5 shorts include: Faces (2019); Fish Tank (2018); Rubber Dolphin [דולפין מגומי] (2018); The Handyman (2019); Writhing (2018).

Fragment 24

One night, contract killers Safo and Erina celebrate their latest work when they are surprised by an unusual request: a black envelope with just the signature 'V'.

Go Fish

Max is a trendy, pretty, young lesbian, who is having trouble finding love. A friend sets her up with Ely, whom Max likes, but Ely is frumpy, homely, and older. Nor do they have much in common. Can Max learn to look past the packaging?

EKS

Three compelling stories in one erotic experience. Yen Durano plays three different women in three titillating stories. In a collaboration of three directors: Roman Perez, Jr., Sigrid Polon, and Omar Deroca.

Kalikot

Sal, a hot single professor, moves across an auto service shop and rocks the world of young repairman Arnel. Ever since Sal came over to get her car fixed, Arnel's skilled hands have always been busy. But can he still fix the problems that come with it?

Mapanukso

Story about a group of five macho dancers navigating their own lives and the women who would do anything to keep them by their side.

Truck Driver

In a boarding school, Raidel is witness to the abuse suffered by his schoolmate Randy.

Sebastian

Alex is an Argentinian student in Toronto for just one week. They both know that the relationship ends when he catches his flight back home. But they’re falling for each other and it’s the kind of relationship that changes them, unlocks things hidden deep inside.

In Cold Blood

After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

A Home at the End of the World

Three friends form a bond over the year, Johnathan is gay, Clare is straight and Bobby is neither, instead he loves the people he loves. As their lives go on there is tension and tears which culminate in a strong yet fragile friendship between the three.

The Lion in Winter

Henry II and his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, battle over the choice of an heir.

Shower

A man enters the shower after his workout, but is soon sidetracked by a noise he cannot identify. He decides to seek out the source of the sound, and enters a situation that will leave him completely exposed.

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.

Moon, 66 Questions

Artemis, a single 24-year-old living in Paris, France, receives a frantic phone call from her mother—her father Paris is in the hospital and she must return home to Athens to care for him. Resentful of the tasking as she grew up estranged from her father, she becomes reacquainted with him over one emotional summer, learning the secret as to why their relationship was stifled when she finds out Jacob, Paris' friend, who's been always around from her childhood, was actually her dad's lover.

The End of the Rainbow

Uwe Friessner’s first feature, At the End of the Rainbow, follows the exploits of a West Berlin teenager named Jimmi who ekes out a living through petty theft and part-time hustling, hangs out in punk clubs, and who, for reasons which this film subtly details, is thoroughly unemployable. Drawing on his own experience in trying to help a young runaway who eventually committed suicide, Friessner wrote into Jimmi’s story several older students who attempt to find work for him, and who give him shelter for a time in their commune.

Rita

Rita, who finds herself alone when husband Ariel works abroad. They both find solace and sexual satisfaction in other people. When Ariel comes back, they both act like nothing happened. But will this keep their marriage from falling apart?

Two Lovers

Hiro and Makio began living together shortly after they started dating. Hiro had also moved in with his former girlfriend Mitsuru, but Makio did not pry into that and silently burned Mitsuru's picture. From then on, Makio began to lose his memory from time to time. Whenever he lost his memory, Hiro felt something eerie about Makio's unusual behavior. This is because he resembles Mitsuru's appearance. Hiro begins to search for Mitsuru, but finds no clues. Then, Makio asks him, “Why did you leave me?” and he fainted. The two decide to confront the mystery. One day, Makio finds a man who looks like Mitsuru and chases after him. Kazuki, an exorcist, stops him. He tells Makio that a terrifying spirit is haunting him. Makio asks him to exorcise the spirit... Can you believe it? Can you believe in the supreme love of madness?

Saving Face

A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

Loving Annabelle

Annabelle is the wise-beyond-her-years newcomer to an exclusive Catholic girls school. Having been expelled from her first two schools she's bound to stir some trouble. Sparks fly though when sexual chemistry appears between her and the Head of her dorm and English teacher, Simone Bradley. Annabelle pursues her relentlessly and until the end the older woman manages to avoid the law.

3-Day Weekend

Long-term couple Simon and Jason, along with daddy-ish Cooper and his boy du jour, escape to a mountain cabin for a three-day weekend away from their hectic city lives. Looking to spice up this long-standing tradition, they add a special twist to this years retreat - each of them must invite one attractive single friend to their mountain getaway.

Summer Lovers

Michael Pappas and his girlfriend, Cathy, are enjoying the white sand beaches of a Greek island as well as the freewheeling nature of the locals. When Michael meets Lina, who is in Greece from Paris doing archaeological work, he is enamored with the beautiful foreigner. Cathy, unhappy about Lina getting close to Michael, confronts the woman -- only to be unexpectedly wooed by her charms as well.

The Laramie Project

"The Laramie Project" is set in and around Laramie, Wyoming, in the aftermath of the murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard. To create the stage version of "The Laramie Project," the eight-member New York-based Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, recording hours of interviews with the town's citizens over a two-year period. The film adaptation dramatizes the troupe's visit, using the actual words from the transcripts to create a portrait of a town forced to confront itself.

Goodbye, Charley

A recently deceased gay teen roams his high school halls on the day of his memorial.

The Bearded Mermaid

The drag queens of the La Sirène à Barbe cabaret put on a grandiose show of song, circus and dance, the likes of which Dieppe has never seen before. Erwan, a local fisherman, is spellbound. He ventures into their world of joy and celebration and discovers, behind the costumes of the stage characters, tormented, lonely, over-sensitive human beings ready to do anything to carry this project as far as possible. It's a portrait of a small port town inhabited as much by gloomy daily lives as by extraordinary destinies.

Malanova

Matteo and Riccardo are a couple and they are about to celebrate their sixth month of relationship. The romantic time is interrupted by a tragic news: Matteo discovers he has become HIV positive. After that news everything changes: Matteo, oppressed and disoriented, closes in on himself, meanwhile Riccardo, overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty, refuses to know his serological status. Matteo’s uncle, Enzo, will help the couple to face their fears and they will help in turn Enzo to accept the ghosts of his past.

The Binding

Binyamin moved to Tel Aviv after coming out as gay and facing the trauma following his brother death for which he feels responsible. Binyamin's life takes turn when his relationship with Avinoam, the pub owner where he works, grows closer.

East Side Story

Diego is a gay but closeted Hispanic chef living in East Los Angeles who works in the restaurant operated by his grandmother. Frustrated by the secretive lifestyle he shares with his similarly closeted lover, Pablo, Diego finds himself attracted to Wesley, one of the openly gay Caucasian men he feels are gentrifying his neighborhood. Their relationship pushes Diego to consider the possibility of a life he had never imagined.

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.

Supernova

Sam and Tusker, partners of 20 years, are traveling across England in their old RV visiting friends, family and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia two years ago, their time together is the most important thing they have. As the trip progresses, however, their ideas for the future clash, secrets come out, and their love for each other is tested as never before. Ultimately, they must confront the question of what it means to love one another in the face of Tusker’s illness.

Good Grief

When his husband unexpectedly dies, Marc's world shatters, sending him and his two best friends on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face.

Summer to Winter

Tam, an introvert, finds solace in his unlikely friendship with the optimistic Kimhan by the sea, but as they grow close, their future together remains uncertain.

B&B

Gay Londoners Marc and Fred plan for a weekend of mischief, baiting the Christian owner of a remote Christian B&B. Events take a deadly turn when another guest arrives, who they think might have something more sinister in mind.

Automagic

On his return home, androgynous-looking Madhu attempts to seduce Ratnakar, his rickshaw driver, who is practicing celibacy in preparation for a religious pilgrimage.

The Pollen of Flowers

Se-ran, the mistress of Hyeon-ma, lives in a massive traditional-style house called "Blue Mansion"in the suburbs of Seoul with her sister Mi-ran and their maid. One day, Hyeon-ma comes to the house with his newly-employed handsome male secretary/secret lover Dan-ju.

River Made to Drown In

Thaddeus Mackenzie, a wealthy lawyer, learns that he is dying and decides to sell all of his property and visit his old friend Allen Hayden. Allen is a struggling artist with a passion for life who once survived by working the streets, but now is romantically involved with Eva, a wealthy European gallery owner living in L.A. Thaddeus implores Allen to find Jamie, a young street hustler that Thaddeus had once tried to rescue. Allen returns to the streets to face the dark corners of his past where he must choose between what he left behind and the uncertainty that lies ahead.

After School

Fifteen year-old Jack is forced to come face-to-face with his growing romantic feelings for his best friend Danny.

THINGS ARE GOOD

University project based on a pre-written script. This is an extended "directors cut" version re-edited by Scarlett J. Stribley. Two estranged friends reunite and reminisce on the bridge where they first met.

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.

In the Eyes

A Sunday like any other among a Russian community in France. Victor, a discreet young man, has to overcome the elusiveness of the one he loves in secret.

Fag

Thomas, a 17-year-old high school student, finds himself attracted to Esteban, another boy from his school. The rumor of Thomas's homosexuality is spreading fast, and he begins to suffer the gaze of others.

Masculine

A romantic and nocturnal encounter between Arthus, a "masculine" young man and Marin, a drag-queen. Their discussion around gender and sexuality slowly leads them to understand and tame each other.

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.

I Love You Phillip Morris

Steven Russell leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another.

Bitter Years

A drama film based on the life of Mario Mieli, a leading figure in the Italian gay movement of the 1970s.

Happy-Go-Lucky Days

Love is love. Someday, the pain of being in love will be an endearing memory. No matter who the feelings are towards, no matter what form it takes, all love and lifestyles have the same value. An omnibus anime tells the stories of “The wedding of an ex”, “a student and a teacher at an all-boys’ school” and “childhood friends whose bodies and hearts change with adolescence.”

Fantasy of the Girls

Upon helping her friend audition for their all-girls high school's production of Romeo & Juliet, freshman Sun-wha is unexpectedly cast as Juliet. To her surprise Romeo is played by the über-cool and stunning senior Ha-nam, whom all the girls seem to have a crush on. As the two would-be thespians grow closer, Ha-nam takes Sun-wha under her wing in more ways than one. However this sparks the jealousy of the play's director, Su-yeon, whom, it turns out, is more than friends with Ha-nam.

Behind the Trees

Paulo lives a troubled relationship with his wife Jessica. After a serious argument, he goes cycling and ends up getting lost in a region known as "The Whispering Forest", a secret place where men meet for sexual purposes with another men. Unhappy in his marriage, Paulo has no idea how much his life is about to change, especially when he meets Luigi, a young boy who exudes sex and freedom and that he will make him discover his true sexuality. It will be an explosive encounter that will force him to accept himself as a gay man.

No Law, No Heaven

A man's life in three vignettes as he grapples with identity amidst tradition in Hong Kong's notorious Kowloon Walled City.