The Male Gaze: Bitter Sweet (2024)

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A 17-year-old struggling to find intimacy at home or at school seeks it through a gay hookup app.

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 meteorological.

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.

Unspoken

Noam Stein is a closeted teenager in a religious community who discovers he might not be alone. When he finds a love letter written to his grandfather by another man before the Holocaust, he sets out to find this mysterious person and uncover both his grandfather's identity as well as his own.

Maybe... Maybe Not

The heterosexual man Axel is thrown out of his girlfriends home for cheating and ends up moving in with a gay man. Axel learns the advantages of living with gay men even though they are attracted to him and when his girlfriend wants him back he must make a tough decision.

Transamerica

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Requiem for a Dream

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Memories of a Teenager

After the suicide of his best friend and the fire of a local dance called Cromañón, including recitals, illegal parties in an abandoned warehouse and high school, a year passes by in the life of Zabo who writes everything he feels and lives in his blog, "Memories of a teenager".

The Rooftop

High schooler You Cheng fumbles a hookup with Wen Ting, making him panic. To solve this issue, he spies on others, but Jing Hao’s nude shocks him.

Bend It Like Beckham

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

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.

Fire

In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.

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.”

17 Minutes with Nora

Nora is worried because she’s performing in a play at her school, but being bullied by her classmates make her face something much more important: being accepted by her dad. The following 17 minutes will change their relationship forever.

The Glider

Bruno pursues Fabrice, runs without calculation, to fly away with him, until the end.

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, accepts. After the unique beginning to their love affair, the well-connected and volatile artist assimilates Dyer into his circle of eccentric friends, as Dyer's struggle with addiction strains their bond.

Before Night Falls

Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.

Neon Purple

Estrella, an emerging drag queen, confronts anxiety and challenges on the pivotal night of her artistic life.

Polaroid

Giuseppe, 33, is still struggling to build his life in a small Italian town where he has to hide his homosexuality. With a Polaroid in hand, he decides to leave for Berlin to find Peter, a summer love he has never forgotten. The shock of a cosmopolitan city is nothing compared to the moment he realizes that the German artist has a "normal" family. For him this represents the possibility of 'losing' himself and meeting Marco, who takes him around all night to arrive at dawn to the conviction that love is the only strength to find one's identity. "Polaroid" is one of five short film segments in an omnibus feature titled "A Quintet".

The Child I Never Was

A serial killer dispassionately discusses the nuts and bolts of his grisly avocation, as well as the youthful traumas which helped to mold him into a psychopath, in this disturbing independent drama from Germany, based on the true story of of Germany's most famous child murderer Juergen Bartsch who, between the ages of 15 and 19, abused, tortured and killed four schoolboys in the Ruhr region of Germany from 1962 to 1966.

The Cakemaker

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her, creating German cakes and cookies that bring her Café to life. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation. To protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

The History Boys

The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

Torch Song Trilogy

Arnold Beckoff is looking for love and acceptance, but as a gay man working as a female impersonator in 1970s New York City, neither come easily. After a series of heartaches, Arnold believes he has found the love of his life in Alan, and the couple make plans to adopt. But when tragedy strikes, Arnold's life is shaken to its very core, leading to a confrontation with his overbearing mother, who has never approved of her son's lifestyle.

Interval

Morning. Two boys who share a room wake up, but see each other differently than before.

Light

Haunted by trauma and trapped in sex work, Light meets Shuo, an undercover cop who offers him shelter. But healing isn’t easy—can Light choose a new path?

Lonesome Cowboys

Five lonesome cowboys get all hot and bothered at home on the range after confronting Ramona Alvarez and her nurse.

When Night Is Falling

Camille is a professor at a Protestant college and is in a long-term relationship with Martin, a respected minister and fellow professor. When Camille meets Petra, a bold and flamboyant performer in a circus troupe, she is inexplicably drawn. Pursuing Petra, Camille throws her whole conservative life into disarray.

The Page Turner

Mélanie Prouvost, a ten-year-old butcher's daughter, is a gifted pianist. That is why she and her parents decide that she sit for the Conservatory entrance exam. Although Mélanie is very likely to be admitted, she unfortunately gets distracted by the president of the jury's offhand attitude and she fails. Ten years later, Mélanie becomes her page turner, waiting patiently for her revenge.

The Greatest

Inhibited by his conventional life, a man named Jay is forced to confront his darkest secret when having to choose between a life of normality and authenticity.

Last Call in the Dog House

The Dog House is a legendary New York dive bar, owned by an extraordinary family. Three people, from different back grounds, enter at closing time on separate nights, carrying the world on their shoulders; but by the time each of them leaves after "last call", their souls are saved, while two of them realize how connected they are. Last Call at the Dog House is a unique and uplifting gay spiritual film that packs an emotional punch.

Jerker

The movie, adapted from Robert Chesley's homoerotic play of the same title, revolves around two men who started out as phone sex buddies who grew on each other through time. The fragility of this kind of relationship is put to fore when Bert (Tom Wagner) got sick and couldn't return his calls. J.R. was left with nothing to hold on to but blank hope. No warning. No goodbye. Bert is gone.

Threesome

At a sizable public college, high-minded student Eddy is forced to room with the slovenly Stuart, but the pair strike up a surprising friendship. When attractive co-ed Alex is assigned to live with the two male students because of her gender-neutral name, a roundabout love triangle ensues. Eddy secretly yearns for Stuart, who wants Alex, but she prefers Eddy. The complex situation leads to sexual experimentation and strained relationships.

A Moment in the Reeds

Having moved to Paris for university, Leevi returns to his native Finland for the summer to help his estranged father renovate the family lake house so it can be sold. Tareq, a recent asylum seeker from Syria, has been hired to help with the work, and when Leevi's father has to return to town on business, the two young men establish a connection and embark on a romance set against the idyllic Finnish summer. However, looming over this chance encounter, is the father's imminent return to the lake house, the continuation of Leevi's studies abroad as well as Tareq's complex relationship with his family in Syria.

The Flock

Two teenage outcasts, who resent their schoolmates and teachers, resolve to spread panic in school through a series of anonymous vandalism acts. Little by little, the game loses its innocent approach and the boys find themselves absorbed in a dangerous spiral of violence that seems to have no limits.

Musical Utena ~ Bud of the White Rose

The 2018 Revolutionary Girl Utena musical, marking the 20th anniversary of the series, ran from March 8-18th at CBGK! Theater in Shibuya, Tokyo.

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 Basketball Diaries

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

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?

Rose Story: Give Me Love

Kanamori, the master of a homo bar, had come fishing with Minami and Tsubasa, who work as hosts at the bar. Kanamori has just lost his beloved host Takashi in an accident. It was a heartbreaking trip for him... Minami and Tsubasa confirm their love for each other at an inn, leaving Kanamori immersed in fishing.

The Commitment

An interracial gay couple adopting a newborn baby meets the pregnant Asian birthmother and receives a surprise that threatens their relationship.

Entwine

A couple's love for one another has disintegrated into indifference and betrayal. Danny must face this dilemma and question his commitment to a stale relationship. However, the continuing comfort of companionship and familiarity might not be worth the despair.

Who Leads

One couple's new intense connection is questioned in the midst of the disintegration of another couple; who leads when four men come together?

Method

A seasoned actor and a pop star are cast as leads in a gay romantic play. As the actor teaches the pop star method acting, the line between fiction and reality is blurred and they become drawn to each other.

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.

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.

We All Lie My Darling

Five Sydney-based youngsters navigate life, experience friendship, seek love, delve into their sexuality, and face the challenges of being a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Boswellia sacra

Inspired by true events. "Boswellia sacra" is a short feature film about nature which draws a parallel between the environment and the protection of human rights; about the law of nature that is constantly being violated by man; about Vukasin Drakulic, a thirty-year-old young man who comes to realize this relationship. Can a person escape his own nature and the one that surrounds him.

Other Black Boys

A queer, black college student is forced to confront the masks he wears in his relationships.

12 Points

Jonas's father expresses his enthusiasm about Conchita Wurst's victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Hence, his 18-year-old son works up the courage to come out as a homosexual and introduce his boyfriend to his parents unexpectedly, his father's euphoria about the tolerance and open-mindedness displayed at the Song Contest comes to a sudden end.

Irreversible

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

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.

Monster

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

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.

Strange Fits of Passion

The hilarious tale of a sexually-curious, romantically-frustrated bookstore clerk on a mission to lose her virginity. In between encounters with other people, she returns to the one person she can trust and truly relate to, her gay friend Jimmy, whose faith in love is being shaken by the revelation that his boyfriend has been unfaithful.

Velociraptor

During the end of the world, two best friends walk around their city, talking about their sex lives, and one of them reveals they are still a virgin.

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.

Les Biches

A bored bisexual millionaire picks up a young destitute street artist and whisks her away to her villa in Saint Tropez. They meet a dashing local architect and both fall for him, setting in motion a ménage à trois of deception and betrayal.

Velvet Goldmine

Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.

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.

Rent

In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.