The Male Gaze : French Connection (2024)

Jay

Jay, a 13-year-old boy, is fascinated by his toned and athletic older brother. In order to get close to him, Jay feigns an interest in basketball so that his brother will practice with him. Steadily, Jay's fascination develops into an attraction.

Fantasy on the Shore

A prep school student who has been dumped by his girlfriend is approached by a middle-aged man and goes on a treasure hunt on a remote island, and wanders into a mansion in the woods where vampire brothers are said to live.

The Male Gaze: Three's Company

Two's company, three's allowed? From family disputes and unexpected babysitting duties to uncomfortable high school memories, manga drawing and friendships pushed to the next level - the Male Gaze series lifts the lid on six very different gay relationships and encounters. When two become three and outsiders enter the fray, what are the group dynamics at play? The short films are: Golden Boys (2017); In Beating Cells [In Pocheden Zellen] (2017); The Middle of a Lake [Le milieu d'un lac] (2017); Gilles (2016); Kiko's Saints [Les saints de Kiko] (2019); With Thelma [Avec Thelma] (2017).

Discreet

Two young men from the same neighborhood meet randomly. As they give each other the lowdown of their night out, an unexpected game envelops them.

Boystown

Victor works in a real estate agency in the well-known Chueca neighborhood of Madrid. He hides a terrible secret: he makes apartments available for sale by murdering the old ladies owners that live in them. Then, refurbishes and decorates the apartments to sell them to gay couples with high purchasing power. His ultimate objective is to transform Chueca into a kind of London Soho area.

Johnny

A night with a troubled stranger forces a young male sex worker to confront a haunting moment from his past that he thought he'd left behind.

Forces

An intense bromance between a gay football player and a straight military guy.

Love's Coming

The storyline revolves around a group of schoolboys who suspect two of their number are in love with each other. They come up with ways to prove the secret love affair, but things get more complicated when a girl comes into play.

S.A.M.

Two young men form a connection on the swings of their local park.

See You Soon

A tender queer romance about a gay man who travels across the country to spend the weekend with someone he met on a dating app.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.

Sweet Mother

The relationship between Efosa, a British-Nigerian man, and his mother is put to the test. He loves her. But he also loves Anwar.

Fögi Is a Bastard

15-year-old Beni falls in love with Fögi, a singer in a Rock band. As Fögi seduces him, he is only willing to follow him where ever Fögi wants to. But Fögi is a drug addict and pulls Beni deeper and deeper into the hell of drug addiction.

Family Values

In this short comedy drama, a trans South Asian person visits their family for Rakhi, a Hindu religious ceremony that symbolizes the bond between brothers and sisters. Celebrating a ceremony that is so centered around gender, this non-binary character must reconcile their gender identity with their deeply rooted family values.

Dying Briefly

Sebastián is accepted into an important dance company so he decides to leave his family. When Arsenio joins the company, they begin a torrid romance.

Meteorango Kid, Intergalactic Hero

In Bahia, in the late '60s, the alienated college student Lula spends his time protesting in the university, but without political orientation, wandering on the streets, smoking grass, trying to be an actor and having sex. Meanwhile, a common young man stalks women on the streets trying to have intercourse with them.

Hairy

A filmmaker scrutinizes his coarse body hair.

Gypsy

Sebastian is a wealthy young man. He finds out he has a flat tire and ends up accepting help from a Gypsy passer by. In return Sebastian will have to give him a ride home - but they won't reach their expected destination.

Sweet Release

Two best friends set out on a summer road trip with a young man, hoping for adventure and escape. As the journey unfolds, their bond grows stronger, leading them to unexpected discoveries about love, desire, and themselves.

Twittering Birds Never Fly: Don't Stay Gold

Anime adaptation of the short story "Don't Stay Gold", to be included in volume 7 of the manga.

The Purple Sea

Nothing - not her father, not the church - can stop unruly Angela from being with her childhood best friend turned great love, Sara. Based on a true story, Viola di Mare, presents a uniquely engaging portrait of family, community and gender roles in a 19th century Italian village.

Mannequin Two: On the Move

Although Jason works as a department store clerk, he is also a reincarnated prince. Long ago, his beloved Jessie was snatched away from him by an evil wizard who used his powers to transform her into wooden statue. Now Jessie is in Jason's department store as a mannequin. When he encounters her, she awakens from her thousand-year sleep. They quickly revive their romance, but the evil wizard has been reincarnated as well, and he's up to no good.

The Boys in the Band

A witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael's demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game, unleashing dormant and unspoken emotions.

Denied

Troy, a recent high school graduate, is in love with his best friend Merrick, but Merrick isn't willing to be in a relationship with him. Troy is forced to deal with Merrick's selfishness, his own aching heart, and his unfulfilling life.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

A girl born with enormous thumbs in the repressive era of the 1950s learns to turn her quirks into assets.

Instant Family

When Pete and Ellie decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of foster care adoption. They hope to take in one small child but when they meet three siblings, including a rebellious 15 year old girl, they find themselves speeding from zero to three kids overnight.

Miao Miao

18-year-old Ai loves baking, even if she's not that good at it. She dreams of some day baking the perfect pastry, until she meets Miao Miao, a shy exchange student from Japan, who happens to be sort of a pastry expert.

The 3 L'il Pigs

At the hospital, three brothers meet at the bedside of their mother in a coma. To pass the time, they discuss the merits and pleasures of marital fidelity and infidelity. The conversations of the two youngest advance as the days go by in increasingly juicy details and fantasies, which will push them to act against the morals and more solid values ​​of the eldest.

Tokyo Cowboy

When a young Japanese man with an affinity towards American western films is fired from his job, he sets out to become a real live cowboy.

Queer Enough

A bisexual woman struggles to accept her own identity when she looks to a local LGBTQIA+ book club for a sense of belonging.

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.

The Hanging Garden

William, a once obese and troubled teen, goes back to his family's home after being gone, without word, for ten years and finds it (and his family) haunted with his past. He had moved to the city and become a fit, well-adjusted gay man, but during his visit home, he becomes unhinged as the newly remembered reasons for his miserable adolescence come to life in each of their presents.

The Island

The death of a prominent citizen reveals the corruption that festers behind closed doors on a seemingly beautiful serene Greek island of Sifnos.

A Skeleton in the Closet

Manuel goes back to his hometown for his parents’ wedding anniversary, but he actually wants to ask money to move to Denmark with his boyfriend. Last time he saw his family, he came out of the closet. Since then, their relationship became tense. Manuel’s plans get ruined when his boyfriend dumps him.

Whirlwind

A hot, young and charming man with ulterior motives enters the lives of a tight-knit group of gay men in New York City and at first adds excitement and intrigue to their group, but events soon spiral out of control as he deliberately attempts to destroy their relationships.

The Sensei

Lonely gay teenager, McClain, struggles to fit in with his classmates in a small, conservative Colorado town. After he's severely beaten at school, Karen O'Neil, a martial arts Sensei, secretly trains him to defend himself. When the town discovers their secret, a series of catastrophic events unfolds.

Socket

Dr. Bill Matthews is struck by lighting. While recovering at the hospital where he works, he begins an intimate relationship with Dr. Craig Murphy, who invites Bill to join a strange group of lightning survivors.

Taxi zum Klo

Frank, a gay school teacher, has a very active sex life and an interest in making films. One evening, he meets Bernd and they become lovers. But while Bernd is attentive and caring, Frank gets bored and continues his polymorphously perverse ways.

A Stormy Night

When a heavy storm threatens the city of New York, two complete strangers –a cynical documentary filmmaker from Spain and an idealist app programmer– find themselves sharing shelter, questioning each other’s understanding of life, happiness and love.

Isaac

Two childhood friends, Denis and Nacho, meet again years after having an intense relationship as teenagers. Now with their respective partners, the couples grow close and end up fulfilling each other's needs while breaking rules to discover their truths in the process.

Adam

Adam, an awkward teen, spends a summer with his older sister, who is part of New York City's lesbian and trans activist scene. He meets the girl of his dreams but can't figure out how to tell her he's not the trans man she thinks he is.

Mondial 2010

In Mondial 2010 Lebanese artist Roy Dib presents an impossible love story between two men. His is a road movie that explores the institutional borders of the modern day Middle East. The film won the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

My Big Gay Italian Wedding

A father, who calls himself "open" and tolerant and fights against any form of discrimination, reveals himself as not so liberal when his son announces the engagement to his partner. Overwhelmed by the news, he regresses into the most fierce opponent of same-sex marriage, and tries to undermine his son's happiness with a series of embarrassing situations.

For a Lost Soldier

In the occupied Netherlands near the end of WWII, a young teenager, Jeroen Boman (Maarten Smit) is sent to the Dutch countryside to avoid the war in Amsterdam. While living with his adopted family, Jeroen meets and becomes friends with a Canadian soldier named Walt Cook, who is stationed at the same town he is staying at. Joroen and Walt spend a lot of time playing around and eventually a romantic relationship develops between them. The boy’s sexual curiosity leads him to have a sexual experience with Walt, an encounter that is shown with some vague detail but without actually showing any nudity, even though sexual intimacy between the two of them is implied. Overall, the movie handles this difficult subject with an elegant style and feeling, without having the adult-child relationship overwhelm the viewer and thus allowing the movie to be seen as just a wartime relationship between two people that marks an important time in a young boy’s life.

Lan Yu

A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.

Harry and Max

Two brothers, Harry and Max, who are both teen idols, come to terms with their dysfunctional family past and deep affection for each other

Come Undone

Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy 18-year-old Mathieu is on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric and falls in love.

Eban and Charley

29-year-old Eban has retreated home to his parent's house in Seaside Oregon after the dissolution of his teaching job in Seattle. There he courts 15-year-old Charlie and eventually the two start a sexual relationship. As the age of consent in Oregon is 18 years and given the age difference, the adults in this drama take a dim view of this development.

Formula 17

Naive country-boy Tien-Tsai travels to Taipei, where his quest to lose his virginity is impeded by his insistence on finding true love first.

My Life in Pink

Ludovic is waiting for a miracle. With six-year-old certainty, she believes she was meant to be a little girl -- and that the mistake will soon be corrected. But where she expects the miraculous, Ludo finds only rejection, isolation, and guilt -- as the intense reactions of family, friends, and neighbors strip away every innocent lace and bauble.

Steam: The Turkish Bath

Francesco and Marta run a husband-and-wife design company in Rome. When Francesco's aunt dies in Istanbul he travels there to sort out the hamam Turkish steam bath that she left him. He finds a love and warmth in his relatives' Istanbul home that is missing from his life in Italy.

Shank

Teenage gang member Cal, hides his sexuality from his fellow gang members despite their often violent dislike of anyone that isn't the same as them, be they unsuspecting shoppers, foreign students, gays, etc. When his world collides with Olivier, a student he rescues from a pointless beating, he encounters a lifestyle that presents as many new experiences as it does obstacles.

Drifting

Yan is an illegal second child born during the One-Child policy. To avoid government punishment, Yan's parents hid their oldest daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan struggles with his gender identity and being treated as an outcast in a conservative society. His sole escape is drifting his father's old taxi through abandoned parking lots.

Laio

While out with his friends for fun one night in São Paulo, Leandro is confronted with glimpses of his own violence. The film is loosely inspired by the homophobic attack that occurred in the Paulista Avenue area, in which teenagers used fluorescent lamps as a weapon.

Fat People

Due to many reasons, ranging from insecurity to trauma, a group of people have gained a lot of weight in recent times.

I Have to Run

A gay artist flees the repressive laws and war in Russia to go to Berlin, leaving his boyfriend behind. Meanwhile, life in Berlin turns out to be less inclusive he had expected.

Venus

When Sid comes out as a woman, a 14-year-old boy named Ralph literally shows up at her door announcing that Sid is his dad. Ralph is surprised to discover that his father is now a woman, but thinks having a transgender dad is pretty cool. But Ralph hasn't told his mother and stepdad that he’s tracked down his biological father. And then there is Sid’s boyfriend Daniel, who has yet to tell his family of his relationship with Sid. Daniel is nowhere near ready to accept Ralph as a stepson and complicate his life further. Sid’s coming out has a snowball effect that forces everyone out of the closet. What happens when gender, generations and cultures collide to create a truly modern family?

Venena Bibas

In a Catholic seminary, Brother Nestor is found dead and his best friend, Brother Esteban, tells the story of the events that preceded his death. There, a repressed and unhealthy love is discovered.

Madly

When Alexandria Smith, a non-binary manic playwright gets nullified due to a social media video they must return home and face their crumbling relationships. A modern LGBTQ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” for a new generation.

Moothon

A child from Lakshadweep sets off to Mumbai in pursuit of Akbar, an elder brother who left the island due to his sexual orientation.

AfterSex

Bathed in the gentle embrace of a rainstorm, Nathan, stirred by an intimate moment with Alex, finds himself compelled to voice the currents of his inner discontent. Amidst the flickering city lights, their souls diverge—one yearning for a love that transcends the physical, the other finding solace in the realm of corporeal passion. Can they navigate the intricate labyrinth of their desires and break free from this cyclical discord, or are they fated to bring a sorrowful conclusion to their tumultuous relationship?

Discretion

Derek's picture-perfect life as a family man and college professor is compromised when he falls for Trysten, a handsome new student.

Poz

A troubled "twunk" ventures down a destructive path, searching for a solution to his problems and a way to ensure his sister's continued support.

Samira

Janosch, an interpreter, is called to help during a police deployment at the Port of Hamburg. A young African woman has barricaded herself in a container ship and threatens to commit suicide. In order to get her out, Janosch promises to help her, an offer which bears unexpected consequences.

Islands

A sexual reverie unfolds over the course of one ethereal night. Characters wander through an erotic maze of love and lust, blurring the lines between wet dream and lucid nightmare as a macabre, erotic stage performance sends a ripple of lustful desires through its audience and performers.

Bad Bunny

Wayward boy punishes his mother’s lover. Beauty and horror fondle each other. Young gods callously abjure conventional morality. Death goes whoring in child’s guise.

Oasis

When an introverted teenager photographs an charming backpacker naked in a caravan shower block he must choose between keeping his precious secret or saving his friendship.

Narcissus and Goldmund

In the dark middle ages, young unruly Goldmund is sent to a monastery by his father to atone for the sins of his mother, who abandoned them. There, he meets Narcissus, a brilliant, scholarly novice who is introverted and aloof. A unique and deep life-long friendship is born. Narcissus chooses to remain detached from the world in prayer and meditation. Goldmund, passionate, sensual and impulsive, runs away from the monastery to live a picaresque wanderer’s life, his amorous and artistic adventures leading him to discover the extremes of both ecstasy and pain. Several thrilling years pass until one day these friends cross paths again...

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.

Putito

Putito is a production with no specific genre, where reality and fiction blend through a testimony written by José Carlos Henríquez - a feminist activist and male prostitute who plays himself in the project. Available in a censored and uncensored version.

Making of a Male Model

Kay Dillon, a successful modeling agent, meets the young and handsome ranch hand Tyler Burnett in Nevada. She can't help but notice his incredible good looks and invites him to move to New York and start working for her as a male model. Burnett accepts the invitation and goes to New York to start his modeling career. But Tyler longs for more in life: a woman to love and his own ranch. Can he remain the biggest male model in the industry, and still get his heart's desires? Is Kay the woman to give all that to him?