The Male Gaze: Bitter Sweet (2024)

His Secret Life

When Antonia's husband Massimo is killed in a car accident, she accidentally discovers that he has been having a same-sex affair with a produce wholesaler named Michele.

The Man Who Loves

A man is broken hearted at the loss of his lover, then later visits the same pain on the next woman with whom he becomes involved.

Close The Last Door

After being best man at his best friend's (Saitou Toshihisa) wedding, Nagai Atsushi realizes that he might have fallen for him. Nagai, drowning in his sorrows and hatred for the new bride then meets Honda Kenzou, another guest at the wedding. Honda takes care of Nagai when he was dead drunk and now Nagai can't stop thinking of both Honda and Saitou.

The Kite

A short coming-of-Age film about two boys, first love, and a kite that reunites them 20-years later.

Away with Words

A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences.

The Dark Side of Love

Two brothers on different life paths, a gay waiter with a crush on an eligible bachelor and a drug addict in a twisted dependent relationships with his girlfriend, reunite to mourn the death of their mother.

The Tower

André is a broken man, who lives isolated in a forest. The forces of nature embrace his body as he drowns in his effervescent inner world. Between the insomnia and the dreams, André is haunted by his past. He wishes to deconstruct himself, heal his sorrow and take the responsibility from his acts. He puts himself before the abyss where he must embrace his ghosts and change his skin in order to survive.

Broken Gardenias

Jenni, an orphaned semi-savant, and a street hustler named Sam, steal a car and head to Los Angeles to find Jenni's father whom she hasn't seen or heard from since she was six years old.

Mayfly

Emilia is a teenager with the ability to see people who are about to die shine. Always lonely and focused on the future, she is faced with reality when she sees a schoolmate shine, at the same time that she begins a love relationship with Renata, who will finally lead her to appreciate her present.

The Jump Off

Nigel and Malik have been in a secret romantic relationship for several weeks. Nigel seems content with their unofficial status, but as times goes on, he longs for more. One evening, Nigel decides to take matters into his own hands before thinking of the consequences.

Eat the Night

Young drug dealer Pablo and his sister Appoline bond over an online game called Darknoon. Pablo falls for Night, neglecting his sister. While Appoline finishes the game, Pablo and Night become embroiled in a dangerous gang conflict.

If These Walls Could Talk 2

The stories of three lesbian couples -- who live in the same house at different periods of time -- who are at a crossroads in their lives. In 1961, Edith loses her lover, Abby, to a stroke. Linda and Amy struggle with feminist issues in 1972. And, in 2000, Kal and Fran try to have a baby with the help of sperm donor.

As Good As You

Jo's world is thrown into utter disarray when her wife Amanda passes away and she starts chasing a dream that she and Amanda had once shared - starting a family together. Jo asks her late wife's brother, Jamie, to be her sperm donor and craziness ensues.

Prick Up Your Ears

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Lost Everything

A gay movie star struggles to stay in the closet, an art dealer fends off her abusive ex, and a televangelist plots to force his gay son into conversion therapy. Little do they know, their lives are about to converge on a deadly collision course.

An Angel Named Billy

Mark Anderson, a recent stroke victim who is frail and weak. Also, his best friend Thomas, a classic over the hill drag queen desperate for love and happiness. Mark and Thomas have a master plan, to find Mark's son, James Anderson the love of his life once and for all.

Antonio's Secret

The story about a teenage boy, Antonio, whose emerging gay sexuality alienates him from his friends and family, until his libertine uncle, Jonbert, comes to live with him and his mother.

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.

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.

Great Freedom

In post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans Hoffmann is repeatedly imprisoned under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Nevertheless, over the decades, he continues his quest for freedom and love, even if he finds it in the most unusual places.

The Dam

A lifelong friendship is under siege when two mature Australian men visit the monolithic dam that defined their young lives and are confronted by feelings that were impounded long ago, but cannot be contained any longer.

Benedetta

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.

Mask

A closeted trans man struggles with the fear of feeling unloved if he comes out, forcing him to hide his true self.

Ostia: The Last Night

A dark story of desire and betrayal inspired by the events of the night of the brutal slaying of Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Nobody's Watching

Nico is a famous actor in Argentina, but in New York, nobody takes notice. He needs to juggle bartending, babysitting and odd jobs to keep himself afloat. But when old friends from Buenos Aires come to visit, he needs to juggle the image of his old life with the reality of the struggling actor in New York City.

Días de voda

Sonia, the daughter of a prominent publisher, is about to fulfill her lifelong dream of marrying Rosendo, a promising writer with homosexual tendencies, who pines for his fiancee far less than he does for the brand new literary award launched by his future father-in-law. The wedding shindig will bring its share of unexpected surprises. This is a film is part of the DOGME 95 Movement, described as follows: 'the goal of the Dogme collective is to purify film-making by refusing expensive and spectacular special effects, post-production modifications and other gimmicks. The emphasis on purity forces the filmmakers to focus on the actual story and on the actors' performances. Given these restrictions the story and the action of DIAS DE BODA ('WEDDING DAYS') seem much more immediate and the lapses in fluidity of the story can be forgiven - to a point.

The Gay Agenda 26

In this anthology of shorts, the phrase “Gay Agenda” is reclaimed from the religious right and transformed into a celebration of gay culture. Sit back and enjoy “The Carer,” “Into the Storm,” and “Floating Melon.”

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.

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.

IDENTITEAZE

Two strangers wake up in a mysterious white room with no way out or memory of their past. The two must unravel their identity while navigating a corporate metaverse that controls virtually every aspect of its employees’ online reality. A story about finding yourself.

Colours

In the aggressive and often hostile world of youth grass roots football, Adam faces an ultimatum from the team captain when they discover Adam's best friend Tom is gay.

Crossroads

After the death of his wife, a father finds out his son is gay and confronts him leading to devastating consequences.

Takumi-kun Series: And the Spring Breeze Whispers

A 2nd year student is assigned a handsome new roommate at the start of the school year.

Go! Go! G-Boys

Shin and Hung are close friends, but gradually Shin starts to have feelings for Hung. Hung decides to join a gay beauty contest in order to win USD 300,000 to pay his girlfriend's credit card debt. At the same time, an anti-gay cop, Jay, pretends to be gay and joins the contest to investigate a possible crime by an anti-gay group.

Summer

A leather-clad biker and a pink-haired escort meet on the streets of downtown Guadalajara.

Birds

Jonas and David are best friends who spend their times watching soccer games on TV despite cheering for opposite teams. In one particular afternoon, as another game progresses, they discuss the girls they want to meet at a party they'll attend later on. However, with a strange tension in the air and some secrecy from one of them it all might change the course of their lives.

Milk

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

The Toilers and the Wayfarers

Phillip and Dieter nearly suffocate hiding their sexual identity in the face of puritanical small town values. Joined by a mysterious German relative, the three misfits escape to the big city searching for a place to belong.

In Half

After his twin's wake, James spends an afternoon with his brother's ex-boyfriend, learning more about his brother and more about himself.

Borderless

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Denys is forced to leave his country. He has nothing left but the hope of seeing Dmitrii, a young recruit of the Russian army.

The Deep End

With her husband Jack perpetually away at work, Margaret Hall raises her children virtually alone. Her teenage son is testing the waters of the adult world, and early one morning she wakes to find the dead body of his gay lover on the beach of their rural lakeside home. What would you do? What is rational and what do you do to protect your child? How far do you go and when do you stop?

Harley

Harley tries to deal with his tumultuous emotions after his gay best friend Lucas is horribly beaten in a hate crime. When Lucas is released from the hospital, Harley discovers his feeling have changed.

The Burning Boy

A closeted teenage gay boy shares a swim and an afternoon together with his straight best friend. When his looks and longing let his secret out, his friend pleasantly surprises him but an accident occurs and tragedy ensues.

The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart

A 23-year-old Columbia University dropout seeks his identity during the sexual revolution.

Personal Best

Young sprinter Chris Cahill is having difficulty reaching her potential as an athlete, until she meets established track star Tory Skinner. As Tory and her coach help Chris with her training, the two women form friendship that evolves into a romantic relationship. Their intimacy, however, becomes complicated when Chris' improvement causes them to be competitors for the Olympic team.

Boys Feels: I Love Trouble

Whether it's playing games in a military zone, cheating at school tests, crossing borders for cheap thrills or doing whatever it takes to make illicit money - these boys know that with every risk, they move closer and closer to an irreversible jeopardy. Deftly exploring masculinity and peer-pressure, these five coming-of-age tales from France, the Netherlands and Lithuania from burgeoning new filmmakers demonstrate that sometimes young hearts can run dangerously free. The short films are: Gotta (2015); The Last Day of School (2019); Tree House [Cabane] (2016); Gameboy (2014); Pollux (2018).

15

Five troubled teens, abandoned by society and family, form a bond in a world of violence, drugs, and self-destruction, facing harsh realities of modern Singapore.

The Map of Sex and Love

Young Chinese-American filmmaker Wei-ming travels from New York to his childhood home on Lamma Island to make a video documentary about the imminent opening of a Disneyland theme park in Hong Kong. While doing research for the project, he meets Larry, a dancer/choreographer.

October Moon

A straight man's life becomes disastrous - and obsessively dangerous - when his family, fiancee and friends all begin to reject him after he realizes he has fallen in love with another man.

My First Suit

14-year old Steve is caught between creatures he does not fully understand: two parents with very different ideas about the suit he should wear to his first school dance. Meanwhile everywhere he seems to look, images of men are taking control of his imagination. In Stewart Main's comical coming of age story Steve escapes his parents' good wishes, to discover his true desires. They aren't quite what his no-nonsense father had in mind.

Summer of 85

What do you dream of when you're 16-years-old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can't get a bigger kick than dying. And that's why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.

The Symphony of Silence

17 year-old writer Zach struggles to survive in the 'dog eat dog' world of high school where he is tormented by bullies. There is no chance of finding comfort at home as one of the bullies happens to be his 18 year-old brother, Sean. In order to escape his bullies at school, he resorts to hiding in the restroom during his lunch breaks.

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.

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.

To Be or Not to Be

A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when Poland is invaded by the Germans in World War II. His wife has the habit of entertaining young Polish officers while he's on stage, which is also a source of depression to him. When one of her officers comes back on a Secret Mission, the actor takes charge and comes up with a plan for them to escape.

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.

Redwoods

Both original and incredibly romantic, Redwoods tells the story of an already-partnered man whose love is tested when a mysterious drifter passes through his small Northern California town.

After School

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

Screwed

Seventeen-year-olds Miku and Elias find themselves, and each other, during a summer in the Finnish countryside.

All the Crows in the World

18-year-old Shengnan is invited to a mysterious party by her cousin. Upon arrival, Shengnan finds herself surrounded by greasy middle-aged men, with the exception of Jianguo, who is different. Shengnan and Jianguo decide to bail on the party, embarking on a night of adventures in the adult world.

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.

Blue Lights

Alejandro's 70th birthday unveils tensions and secrets within his gay/lesbian friend circle. Relationships evolve as truths about love, loss, and societal shifts emerge, exploring complexities that bind people together.

The Male Gaze: Risk Appeal

A stranger by the lake with a valuable possession. A journey home after serving time in jail. A friendship evolving from childhood to adulthood. Discover five risky situations where men and young boys take the plunge. The 5 short films are: A King, Gazing at the Sea [Le roi qui contemplait la mer] (2022); A Drowning Man (2017); Reo (2016); Summer Friends [L'amie de l'été] (2021); Summer Memories [Souvenir d'une après-midi d'été] (2021).

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.

I Like You, I Like You Very Much

A tense love triangle unfolds as You struggles with his affair, questioning his identity and desires while caught between two men who change his life forever.

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...

The Second Coming

Futuristic story of Carlos and Ben who fall in love in high school despite the racism and and homophobia. When Fundamentalist forces threaten to take over the U.S. the pair join forces with an underground resistance movement.

Little Gay Boy

A young gay boy, from his birth to his teenage years, in which he experiments his sexuality and his own boundaries, to the day he finally meets his father. In three acts: Act I — L'Annonciation or The Conception of a Little Gay Boy (2011); Act II — Little Gay Boy, ChrisT is Dead (2012); and Act III — Holy Thursday (The Last Supper) (2013).

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.

Siberia and Him

Meek farmhand Sasha and policeman Dima have a fraught relationship. They’re brothers-in-law, travel companions, and⁠—secretly⁠—lovers. Over the course of their journey to visit Sasha’s grandmother, unspoken truths are uttered, intimacy is built, and authenticity is challenged. Although they may be far from the peering eyes of their oppressive society, their relationship teeters on a dangerous precipice.

Music for Bleeding Hearts

In present-day São Paulo, a trio of young hearts are about to break. Ricardo has both a steady boyfriend and a wandering eye for a new coworker. Isabella is taking a break from both her boyfriend and best friend Ricardo. And hopeless romantic Felipe has suddenly found himself caught between the two of them. These three have big dreams, yearning passion, and opinionated acquaintances, but they’re all unprepared for what’s to come from Cupid’s arrows.

(Practically) Gay

After Alex's boyfriend breaks up with him at a wedding, another couple invites him in for a nightcap in their Airbnb's hot tub. When he starts to open up to him about his romantic troubles, they console him in more ways than one. Alex reckons with the feelings for women he's previously ignored out of a belief that living authentically as an out, bisexual male was impractical.

Heritage

Noam, a young gay man, discovers that his father, who just died, had a secret affair with a married man. He follows and meets that man. He now holds his father’s secret.

Lord of the Ants

Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.