Violet Nights (2024)

The Jowa Collector

Luigi, the top playboy in the university, meets Susie, a sexy, beautiful, smart student. When Luigi finally feels that he has fallen in love with Susie, he learns that Susie is his friend's girlfriend.

Boca Dura

In an evangelical house on the outskirts of a Brazilian megalopolis, a young trans man revisits his family after years. Gradually, what could be just a Sunday lunch turns into a suffocating plot of abuse and violence.

B.O.Y.: Bruises of Yesterday

A 16-year-old boy who spend summer with his grandparents falls in love with an older young man but when tragedy strikes, he falls into a dark hole of self-harm, lust, and loneliness.

For People in Trouble

When two people meet one night in London, their relationship blossoms and fractures, intertwined with impending societal collapse.

The Phantom of the Sauna

Javi comes to a sauna club looking for a job. But soon he'll find out a place full of secrets, the biggest of them being a strange man who will fall in love with him: the Phantom of the Sauna.

A Good Child

Follows Jia Hao, a drag queen, who returns home to care for his mother with dementia, leading to healing and self-discovery through deception.

Frisky Business

An anxious young drag queen searches for a way out before a revealing news story hits the airwaves, two silent strangers wander out into the night in a city under curfew, and a lively summer camp seeks to rid the youths of America of their sinful heterosexual desires. A defiant collection of shorts exploring passion, persecution and revolt from eras past, present and future. The 5 short films are: AYOR (2021); All the Way (2018); Lost Queens [Locas perdidas] (2015); Gay Camp (2018); Undercurrent [宵禁] (2020).

Parousia

Three students hangout in a living room. What Hugo and Paulo don't know, however, is that this night is not like the others. Luís has something to reveal to them, a secret with apocalyptic consequences, that will test their friendship.

Norwegian Dream

Robert moves from the Polish countryside to work on a fish processing factory on the coast of Norway. There he falls in love with Ivar who is openly gay and a member of the workers union. Robert is hiding his sexual orientation from the other Polish immigrant workers. When Ivar helps the Polish to start a strike for better working conditions at the factory, Robert has to choose between money or love.

Boyfriend

Bob is seeking new experiences. Levi is your perfect boyfriend.

Lolo

Lolo is an openly gay 11-year-old boy trying to finally convince Max, his first love, to go public with their relationship at the school party. Max also wants a relationship but Lolo might not be the one. Lolo’s best friends, Elena and Toby, help him to overcome this situation and give him the support that he needs.

Pray for Us

In a desolate supermarket, a religious woman's peaceful evening is interrupted by the sudden arrival of three punks, who are running away from the police and hiding something much more valuable than money.

The Passenger

While searching for a condo in Berlin for his father, Nick meets Philipp, a young talented photographer and a gorgeous actress named Lilli. There is instant chemistry and both are easily seduced by Nick's charms. Lilli and Philipp begin to explore their relationship with the sexy visitor, succumbing to their passionate affections for him which intensifies their volatile emotional and physical bonds. But what Philipp and Lilli don't realize is that they are being lured into Nick's manipulative..and deadly, love game.

Postcards from London

Jim is a young man from Essex who moves to Soho with dreams of fame and fortune. When he joins a group of luxury male escorts, he finds himself embarking on a psychedelic journey of decadence.

Tahara

Two best friends attend the funeral of a Hebrew school classmate who died by suicide and accidentally damage their friendship beyond repair.

The Uninhabitable Ones

A dance group rehearses for their latest performance Inabitáveis about black homosexuality. While the choreographer conducts research and gives guided tours, he meets Pedro, a young trans girl looking for her own means of expression. She desperately wants to be taught by him.

A Male

Carlos lives in a boarding school in the centre of Bogotá and longs to spend Christmas with his family. The circumstances around him force him to assume the male stereotype, in open contradiction to his true being. In private, Carlos acknowledges his sensitivity, his fragility and moves towards other forms of masculinity. At his 16 years of age, Carlos explores his sexual identity, discovers his fears, his desires, and all the things that real men never show.

Stories of Our Lives

Created by the members of a Nairobi-based arts collective — who have removed their names from the film for fear of reprisal — this anthology film that dramatizes true-life stories from Kenya’s oppressed LGBTQ community is both a labour of love and a bold act of militancy.

I Seek Your Help to Bury a Man

Empire of Brazil, 1870. A queer indigenous body slowly dies on the cross while a transgender gypsy woman is banned by her people. A half-breed soldier stands in the middle of the way. A child and an old woman cross their stories like destined lines on the palm of a hand.

Chocolate Babies

Welcome to the front lines of AIDS activism, where the latest enemy raids are being run by a band of unlikely warriors: two drag queens, an HIV-positive man with tiny gemstones dotting his bald head, and his HIV-positive sister.

Kissing Darkness

A group of college boys, bored with the every day "gay life" of LA, decide to skip Pride weekend in exchange for a camping trip in the woods. Quickly overcome with boredom in their new surroundings, the boys venture into a game that ultimately unleashes the vengeful spirit of a local legend known as Malice Valeria. Overcome by her deadly plan of tainted love and her thirst to take back what was lost long ago, the boys must now band together before they fall victim to the poisons of a broken heart.

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.

May

A socially awkward veterinary assistant with a lazy eye and obsession with perfection descends into depravity after developing a crush on a boy with perfect hands.

Beautiful Thing

During a long, hot summer on the Thamesmead Estate in Southeast London, three teenagers edge towards adulthood.

Minyan

In a rapidly changing New York of the 1980s, a Russian Jewish teenager wrestles with his identity, faith, and sexuality, all of which seem irreconcilable until he befriends two closeted men in his grandfather's senior housing complex.

Dry Wind

The area around Catalan in Brazil’s state of Goiás is dry, very dry. Sandro’s life here is somewhat monotonous. He works in a fertiliser factory, goes swimming and spends his evenings doing jigsaw puzzles of landscapes. When Maicon, a man straight out of a Tom of Finland illustration, shows up in their small town and flirts with Ricardo, Sandro’s burgeoning feelings of jealousy set a change in motion.

Stupid Boy

This coming-of-age drama deals with a young man, realizing who he really is and which things he will never do...

Strawberry and Chocolate

In 1979 Cuba, flamboyant gay artist Diego attempts to seduce straitlaced David, an idealistic young communist, and fails dismally. But David conspires to be "friends" with Diego so he can monitor the artist's subversive life for the state. As Diego and David discuss politics, individuality and personal expression in Castro's Cuba, a genuine friendship develops between the two.

The Year of the First Kiss

31 year-old Tristan remembers the time when he was 15 and had just hit puberty. But he is not alone in this, he is with a large group of friends: Specki, a fat kid who is always stuffing himself, Streusel, a cheeky boy covered with spots, Tümai, a pretty Turkish girl, Kerstin, best friend of Tümai and very sporty, Elrond, with a heavy stutter, but regardless extremely popular and good looking, Lars and Simone, so far the only couple in the class who spend most of their time smooching and Long Jana, a girl who is at least 6 foot tall and extremely skinny.

Wilde

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

The Crying Game

Irish Republican Army member Fergus forms an unexpected bond with Jody, a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude and Maguire. Jody makes Fergus promise he'll visit his girlfriend, Dil, in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging identity with his father's values.

Shiva Baby

College student Danielle must cover her tracks when she unexpectedly runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva - with her parents, ex-girlfriend and family friends also in attendance.

Jim

Jim, a gay priest, invites a sex worker over for the night. The encounter changes Jim’s life forever, but not as he expects.

Tandem

Told through two interwoven time-lines, this short film offers a no-holds barred glimpse into an intense gay relationship, where the love is expressed physically, tenderly and where the emotions run deep. A dark tale of love in which two gay men find their relationship thrown into turmoil by an unexpected discovery of truths leaving an insecure lover to try making sense of reality.

Fallen Fruit

A heartbroken 20-something reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Miami, where he's forced to reevaluate his relationships in the face of a looming hurricane.

Peace

A down-low queer relationship really questions what it means to be at peace.

The Kite

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

Natchan's Little Secret

When three drag queens, Virgin, Moririn, and Zubuko, learn that their mentor and former drag queen, Natchan, has died suddenly, they take it upon themselves to keep the secret of her sexuality from her bereaved family.

Mysterious Skin

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.

Softie

Ten-year-old Johnny stands out from his family and his tough neighborhood in Eastern France. He's sensitive, intelligent and interested in all kinds of things way beyond his years. With curiosity, he observes the ups and downs of his young single mother's turbulent love life. Things change when a new teacher, fresh from the big city, takes over Johnny's class. Mr. Adamski believes in Johnny and wants to open a new world to him. The sophisticated young teacher also intrigues the boy.

His

Shun and Nagisa first meet and fall in love during their first year of high school. While Shun is graduating from university, Nagisa tells him that he doesn't see a future for them. Despite Shun's strong feelings, they go their separate ways. Years later, Shun is now a store owner, living alone in a rural area. Out of the blue, Nagisa arrives with his six-year-old daughter, Sora. Spending time together, Shun realizes he still harbors feelings for Nagisa. Can Nagisa reconcile with his feelings for Shun, which have been there all along?

It Chapter Two

27 years after overcoming the malevolent supernatural entity Pennywise, the former members of the Losers' Club, who have grown up and moved away from Derry, are brought back together by a devastating phone call.

Anything Once

Both Joey and Mike are faced with breaking boundaries that previously limited them. There's a first time for everything.

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.

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.

Coming Out

Joel has finally made up his mind, or so he thinks. Tonight he's going to tell his parents, but is this the right moment? How should he do it, and what should he say?

Along the Road

Truck drivers Ronny and Micke have a secret relationship. They meet up at rest areas along the road, where no one can see them.

Tell It to the Bees

Dr. Jean Markham returns to the town she left as a teenager to take over her late father's medical practice. When a school-yard scuffle lands Charlie in her surgery, she invites him to visit the hives in her garden and tell his secrets to the bees, as she once did. The new friendship between the boy and the bee keeper brings his mother Lydia into Jean's world.

Blood Lines

Whilst embarking on a lesbian relationship with the new girl in town, a Métis woman’s life is rocked to the core when her estranged mother returns.

I Am My Own Woman

The life story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived the Nazi reign as a trans woman and helped start the German gay liberation movement. Documentary with some dramatized scenes. Two actors play the young and middle aged Charlotte and she plays herself in the later years.

Stand Up!

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

What Grown-Ups Know

Teenage boy Roy and his ailing mother Elizabeth live an aimless life on the road, shuttling between gas stations, temp jobs and cheap motels. When they end up at a desolate caravan park, fractures begin to appear in Roy's relationship with his mother as he starts to fall head over heels for park manager Maurice.

In the Name of the Father

The short film depicts the life of a boy who is constantly sexually abused by his father. Leonardo Miggiorin brilliantly plays the role of this boy, who belongs to a poor and unstructured family.

Sergeant Garcia

Based on a story by the same name by Caio Fernando Abreu, it tells the encounter of a young man and a sergeant in the 1970s.

Never Met Picasso

Still living at home with his avant-garde actress mother, constantly rejected by art schools, and without a lover, aspiring painter Andrew decides to enter a contest in hopes of winning a six month stay in Kenya. Though things aren't great for Andrew, neither are they wonderful for his lesbian friend Lucy who constantly bickers with her lover Ingrid. Lucy complicates Andrew's life when she introduces him to the suspicious-looking, enigmatic Jerry.

Ruben

Desperately trying to come to terms with his sexuality, gay teenager Ruben finds his path to sexual acceptance complicated, as homophobic bullying brings him ever closer to the brink of suicide.

Plainclothes

In 1990s New York, an undercover police officer receives an assignment to lure and arrest gay men. However, he's surprised to discover a scintillating connection with one of his targets. As their secret connection deepens and internal pressure to deliver arrests intensifies, he finds himself torn between duty and desire.

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.

The Apple Tree

When Gabe and Jonathan fall in love in the 1940s, they decide to spend their life together in secret. But when Jonathan unexpectedly passes away years later, Gabe is faced with the fact that many Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender elders face when they move into retirement homes...he must return into the closet.

Nobody Knows But Me

An Zi Yan and Mai Ding's love is tested when their family and friends complicate their relationship.

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.

Just a Question of Love

After his gay cousin dies from hepatitis, young Laurent, who lives with his best friend Carole, falls in love with Cedric, a plant scientist. He's afraid to inform his conservative parents that he is gay.