When I Let the Fish Fly (2024)

My Brother's Shoes

Dallas, a successful executive with a beautiful wife, dreams of having a family, while his gay brother Austin dreams of winning a local drag show. By a twist of fate, the brothers switch bodies and have to see how the other lives.

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.

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.

Idiot Fish

On the road to vacation, Jimmy and Guillaume put their relationship back into play. Jimmy becomes a lost hitchhiker, Guillaume a lonely driver. They will play not to know each other anymore, play to meet and seduce each other again. Until a third player joins the game.

Looking for Langston

A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with mourners gathered around a coffin. Downstairs is an elegant bar where tuxedoed men dance and talk. One of them has a dream in which he comes upon Beauty, who seems to reject him, although when he awakes, Beauty is sleeping beside him. His story and his visits to the jazz and dance club are framed by voices reading from the poetry and essays of Hughes and others. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually.

Green Plaid Shirt

This endearing drama depicts the lives of five gay friends — in conflict with themselves and each other — at the dawn of the AIDS era. Back in 1978 everything seemed possible. For Phillip and Guy, there was the thrill and exhilaration of first love. For their friends Devon, Jerry and Todd, life was still an open book with so many pages yet to be filled. Ten years later, his friends are all gone and Phillip is left alone to make sense of the joys and sorrows of his past life — as he looks hopefully to the future. The lives of two ordinary men who find love together only to lose it. In an era of easy sex and open relationships they have only two rules: Don't fall in love with others and no jealousy. Still rules are made to be broken. Eventually a single act of forgiveness restores their love.

Parting Glances

Michael and Robert, two gay men living in Brooklyn, spend their last day together before Robert leaves for Africa on work assignment. Michael still has feelings for his friend Nick, who has AIDS.

Soldier's Girl

This true story, which takes place in Fort Campbell, KY, tells the heart-wrenching story of the life and tragic death of soldier Barry Winchell. His love for Calpernia Addams, a transgender nightclub performer, was misunderstood by his fellow soldiers and eventually led to his murder.

The Hours and Times

A fictionalized account of what may have happened when John Lennon and Brian Epstein went on holiday together to Spain in 1963.

Junked

A bisexual hustler tries to survive on the streets with the help of his prostitute sister and a drug-dealing friend.

Run with the Devil

The trials and tribulations of a group of artist friends and a gay gallery owner living in the Via Margutta neighbourhood of Rome. Stefano is a talented painter, devoted to his art but not interested in promoting himself, while many of his fellow artists are far more adept at selling their persona than creating art.

Arrival

This traditionally animated film tells the journey of how a young boy's personal discovery affects the long-distance relationship he keeps with his mother.

Meatoo

A naive actor auditions for a film which could launch his career. The things he's asked to do make him more and more uncomfortable, until a choice remark from the director makes him see red.

All Yours

A penniless Argentine male escort meets a solitary, lonely Belgian baker who wants to help him leave the world of prostitution, explores intimate gay relationship.

Wall Boy

A young runaway falls prey to the city's darkest vice market - a youth worker on a visiting outreach bus becomes fixated with saving him.

9th Floor to the Right

One evening, in his apartment in Paris, Lorenzo is getting ready to receive Marvin for the first time, a boy he really likes. Marvin shows up at the door with Thomas, a homeless man he met on the street in need of a shower. Lorenzo doesn’t dare say no.

Hands

When his boyfriend suddenly leaves him without an explanation, Michel develops a fear of emotional attachment. He starts meeting other people, but every new pair of hands remind him of his ex.

Fall Away

On the verge of being discovered, the secretly gay lead singer for up-and-coming country folk band "65 Home" dies violently in a back alley. We follow the friends and lovers of 'Handsome Jake' as they try to come to terms with the singer's untimely death. As the band travels to Nashville to honor his passing, we discover that there are many Jake's - the brother, the lover, the poet, the liar and the cruel manipulator. As the band members cross the Midwest with Jake's ashes on board their Winnebago, they must now struggle to regroup, understand what happened, and find a way to move on. But can they do it without Jake?

Mga Pusang Gala

Hopeless romantics and best friends Boyet and Martha cope with difficult relationships with their respective partners. As Boyet tries to tame his confusing boyfriend, Dom, who sometimes says he's straight, Martha deals with the frustrations of her long-standing relationship with Steve.

Everything Is Free

Ivan is a US painter residing in Colombia. His best friend, Christian, and younger brother, Cole, come to visit. Somewhere along the way, Ivan and Cole hit it off although Cole is not gay. Will older brother Christian be okay with that?

Alaska Is a Drag

Tough, but diva fabulous, Leo, an aspiring drag superstar, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. He and his twin sister are trapped in the monotony of fist fights and fish guts. Out of necessity, Leo learned to fight back, which catches the attention of the local boxing coach. When a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner, Leo has to face the real reason he's stuck in Alaska.

South of Heaven

When his boyfriend shows up unannounced, Elias' religious family learns their son's darkest secret.

Lucky Fares

One of the Three Kings and Santa Claus spend Christmas in jail, talking about what their future will be like in a world like this.

Hong Kong Night Club

Shibata and Tategami are Japanese journalists hiding out in the Lost City Night Club to elude the triads. Shibata falls in love with the club's hottest singer, Cora, but is hampered by his disguise - as a woman. She in turn loves Tachikami, who is gay, and desires Shibata.

Bones and Names

Boris and Jonathan have been a couple for many years. But their relationship has reached a point where they might as well spend their evenings together separately: One lies in bed reading, the other works at a desk in the next room. While actor Boris digs deeper into rehearsals for a new film with an ambitious director and begins to mix real and fictional characters, Jonathan tries to redefine his voice as a writer. Ghosting through these days of wrestling with distance, closeness, trust, desire and fear of loss is Jonathans' young niece Josie, who is trying to deal with the approaching end of her childhood in her own idiosyncratic way. BONES AND NAMES, the feature debut of Fabian Stumm, portrays people searching for their place in life in different ways. A sensitive and humorous reflection on the dissonances in relationships that both connect and distance us from each other.

The Diary of Heong Yeong-dang

A historical drama based in the Joseon times about a person who falls in love with his stepsister.

Blank Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp)

An ageing director commentates on a porno he directed 50 years ago, reminiscing on his relationship with the lead actor.

Dishonored Bodies: Juanma Carrillo Shorts

Nine sexy, shocking, and always intriguing films from Spain’s most exciting queer filmmaker. Take an explicit trip through a cruising ground in the body of a curious guy, peek in to the bedroom of a couple as they discover themselves and each other, take your place on the dance floor in a sexually charged club, or watch the aftermath of a casual hook up in the back of a car. These stories and more feature in this stirring collection- including Scaffolding, Fuckbuddies, Consequence/Consequences, Wall, Une Sensation de vide, 1941, Dishonored Bodies, Perfect Day and Cannibals, Juanma Carrillo’s shorts have been shown at galleries and festivals around the world, including London’s own Barbican.

Shabbat Dinner

Shabbat Dinner is boring as usual for William Shore. His mother has invited two crazy hippies and their son and is doing her best to show off, his father is drunk and berating their oddball guests, and he doesn't have much in common with their son Virgo. That is, until Virgo tells him that he has just come out as gay.

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.

Wonderkid

Wonderkid follows the inner turmoil of an unnamed football prodigy as he comes to terms with his own identity, struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his issues with alcohol and OCD.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan

A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

Totally F***ed Up

Gay, alienated Los Angeles teens have a hard time as their parents kick them out of their homes, they don’t have money, their lovers cheat, and they are harassed by gay-bashers.

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.

Buddies

David, a naive graduate student, has volunteered to work as a 'buddy' for people dying of AIDS. Assigned to the intensely political Robert, a lifelong activist whose friends and family have abandoned him following his diagnosis, the two men, each with notably different world views, soon discover common bonds, as David's inner activist awakens and Robert's need for emotional release is fulfilled.

Sun in My Mouth

A young man confesses his sexual past to an unseen phone sex operator. He reflects on his sexual identity as we follow him on a solitary excursion to a beach.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Being John Malkovich

One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.

Occidental

The mood is heated. Demonstrations are taking place across France, also in front of the Paris hotel where an Italian named Giorgio is booking the bridal suite for him and his boyfriend Antonio. Hotel manager Diana doesn’t trust them and calls the police to get rid of the odd couple. Italians? Homosexuals? Criminals? In the charged atmosphere of the Hotel Occidental, little is needed for initial suspicions to be aroused.

Three

Tom, a young architect from Tel Aviv, accepts his partner Nimrod's offer of a threesome with Or. The meeting with Or changes the couple's relationship.

Thrive

A hook-up between two young men - they make a connection, but it quickly becomes apparent they're looking for different things.

Twice

Diego is 17 and is full of life, yet fragile. His best friend Antonio knows and indulges his weaknesses, but he would also like to see him strong and masculine. One night they meet Maria, a breezy natural beauty. To show that he is a 'real man', Diego, is ready to do anything, even to force himself to do things he would never have wanted to do.

The Strong Ones

Lucas travels to visit his sister to a remote town in southern Chile. In front of the ocean and the fog, he meets Antonio, a boatswain in a local fishing boat. When an intense romance grows between them, their strength, their independence and their adulthood become immovable in front of the tide.

Night Swimming

A night in the woods, and its aftermath, helps Otter with a major life decision. He's a high school senior, hanging out with Darby - the local alpha male - and Darby's girlfriend Amber. Their public displays of affection irritate Otter.

Head in the Clouds

Gilda Bessé shares her Paris apartment with an Irish schoolteacher, Guy Malyon, and Mia, a refugee from Spain. As the world drifts toward war, Gilda defiantly pursues her hedonistic lifestyle and her burgeoning career as a photographer. But Guy and Mia feel impelled to join the fight against fascism, and the three friends are separated.

Remember the Daze

During the summer of 1999, a group of teenagers, through interconnected narratives, live through their last day of high school and prepare for the future. Holly, once the new girl in school, does whatever it takes to remain popular. Dawn, who is secretly a lesbian, battles drugs. Tori is the valedictorian of her class, but, on the eve of graduation, she decides to experiment with drugs for the first time.

Caravaggio

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

Taboo

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.

Poster Boy

When the victim of a violent hate attack joins a gay gun club, he finds himself caught between two rival gay rights activists seeking to manipulate his story for their own agendas - one the club's charismatic leader, the other his domineering partner.

Drone

Émilie lives in a world of surveillance: her camgirl work; the camera phone lingering on a crush from afar; the headset affording her a drone’s perspective. The same drone that stalks each move she makes, offering inspiration, noting rivals. An unsolicited companion is conspiring with or against her. A financially strapped transplant now living in the Paris suburbs, Émilie is thrust into a high-powered world when she is chosen for a renovation workshop with a prestigious architect. Her classmates come mostly from “filthy rich” backgrounds, like cocky Olivier, who wants Émilie as his conquest. But Émilie has shy eyes only for self-sufficient Mina, whose music builds like a “helicoid.” A drone—unlike any known model—is watching her all along waiting for her next move and paying handily for the privilege.

The Pleasure Principle

In a financially troubled farm in the 1930's, its depraved owners become attracted to their new handsome and young handyman.

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.

Islands

Everybody has their own dreams and fears. Are we all connected or are we really all alone in this world?

Lessons of Tolerance

A Ukrainian LGBTQ+ acceptance group is formed by teacher Nadia. A stereotypically homophobic family hesitantly decides to sign up to receive tempting financial supplements. They will need to spend 24 hours with group members Vasyl, beer fan Zenyk, actress Diana and aggressive Denys. Through amusing games, they will learn about homophobia, equality, empathy, gender discrimination, and self-fulfillment. They play games promoting equality and empathy, using humor against prejudice.

Queens of Drama

It's 2055 and Steevyshady, an obsessive Mimi Madamour stan, tells us of their idol’s mad destiny from the very peak of her career in 2005, all the way down to the pits of hell, a downfall brought about by her love story with punk icon Billie Kohler. Over the course of half a century we follow these drama queens as they top the charts and set sail on the course of mad queer love.

Herculanum

Three "meetings." Two men. A rumbling volcano.

Blue Strait

A tone poem about problems in a romantic relationship of a middle aged couple.

Arlo and the Sea

Arlo lives by the sea and spends most of his time alone, until he meets a boy named Finn.

The Way Out

A young addict dealing with the loss of his abusive father finds himself in an unfavorable circumstance after developing an intimate relationship with a charming and dangerous stranger, this manipulative roommate sends him down a path of destruction that comes with a risky price. Teaching him about life, sex, and fighting back.

Headlock

An introverted high school wrestler struggles for acceptance after his secret sexual identity is exposed.

Twilight's Kiss

One day Pak, a taxi driver who refuses to retire, meets Hoi, a retired single father, in a park. Although both are secretly gay, they are proud of the families they have created through hard work and determination. Yet in that brief initial encounter, something is unleashed in them which had been suppressed for so many years. As both men recount and recall their personal histories, they also contemplate a possible future together.

Growing Fangs

Val Garcia, a Mexican-American teen who is half human/half vampire, has had to keep her identity a secret from both worlds. But when her human best friend shows up at her monster-infested school, she has to confront her truth, her identity, and herself.