This Side of Heaven (2016)

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.”

Anything

After the death of his wife, a man moves from Mississippi to a run-down Hollywood apartment, where he meets someone new.

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.

All About My Mother

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

Desert Hearts

While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.

Talking To My Mother

A young Asian American man struggles for both personal happiness and the love of his mother.

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.

Capote

A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".

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.

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.

Twittering Birds Never Fly: The Clouds Gather

In the hyper-masculine criminal underworld, a masochistic high-ranking yakuza and his newly-assigned bodyguard become increasingly drawn to each other.

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.

We Are Fine

A boy makes a discovery at the seaside.

Félix and the Fish

Félix finds a young man lying unconscious on the beach and realizes he has scales on his back. Félix takes him home and takes care of him.

Longing

When Michal finds out her husband Meir is having an affair with a man, her world collapses. Not only is she is forced to deal with sexual rejection from Meir, she also has to endure social rejection.

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.

Kendra and Beth

A dark comedy about the only female employee in the warehouse of a sausage company who forms an unlikely bond with a stranger that throws both their lives into disarray, leaving them forever changed.

A Wall

Tommy (20), works as a builder in the house of Saulo (50), a composer. Tommy feels attracted to Saulo and seeks any pretext to get close to him. Nevertheless, there is no contact between the two men beyond the exchange of sounds, words and glances. One morning, Tommy arrives at the house and and finds Saulo dead. Tommy agrees to dress the corpse in order to touch the body at least this once.

We Collide

A queercore romance - a visceral and immersive exploration of the power of the mosh pit and finding love in the most unlikely of places.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Mitraa

The film Based on the short story written by the renowned writer and novelist Vijay Tendulkar, set in the time of the struggle for Independence, is based on the life of a lesbian.

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.

Days of Happiness

Emma, a talented conductor and rising star on the Montreal scene, has a complicated relationship with her father and agent Patrick. She has to face up to her emotions and decide whether she wants to successfully combine her career with her love affair with Naëlle, a recently separated cellist and mother of a young son.

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.

Demons at Dawn

Orlando and Marco, two young men who live in Mexico City, meet by chance and fall in love. Every day they fight in order to achieve their dreams: Orlando wants to be a dancer and Marco wants to graduate from nursing school. As they go against a diverse, ever-changing, hostile world, they’ll learn that once the darkness of night is gone and through their intertwined bodies and their synchronized souls, they will have seen all those demons of dawn go by.

The Glider

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

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.

Brick

Jeffrey lives in a small Dutch town with his father and his girlfriend. He is about to become a dad. Working in the local brick factory, he gets to supervise newbee Kevin. When Kevin tries to become intimate with him, Jeffrey knocks him to the ground. Yet he can't seem to get Kevin out of his head and starts to question everything that he was once so sure of.

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 Passion of Remembrance

Co-directed by Blackwood and Julien, the first full-length feature film by Sankofa Film and Video offers a radical and necessary interrogation into what constitutes 'post-colonial' identity at a time of political and social restlessness in Britain. Set within an isolated desert landscape contrasted with recognizable scenes of the intensity of family life, this vanguard work demonstrates the richness and variety of the black experience; it is a poetic and hard-hitting commentary on the complexities of race, gender and sexuality.

The Phone Call

A married man calls the wrong number for phone-sex and winds up being stalked by a psychotic man.

Firsts

On the eve of Chinese New Year, Steven, a closeted Chinese international student living in New Zealand oppressed by the expectations of his parents, plans to lose his virginity to a stranger that he meets online.

Enter the Clowns

Xiao Bo lives in a world where the lines defining men from women are constantly dissolving. He kneels at the deathbed of his father who has become a woman, and whose dying wish is to have oral sex with his/her son. His boyfriend Nana has also undergone a sex change, but Xiao Bo no longer finds her attractive as a woman. A sexual chain reaction ensues that wreaks havoc on traditional Chinese roles that govern male and female, parent and child.

The Intruder

The parallel lives of two brothers of the "Pampas" of the Brazilian area, which much share everything they have. A woman, "the intruder", will change everything.

A Single Man

Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, is the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.

Johan

Johan details the director's quest for an actor to play his titular lover, the real deal having been incarcerated just prior to shooting on charges of petty theft.

Arie

Vittorio, a professional dancer, falls in love with Marco, the choreographer he is working with. Unfortunately, Vittorio's feelings are not reciprocated by Marco, who also falls for another man. Will Vittorio come out stronger from this situation?

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.

Lucky Bastard

Rusty is a successful architect with the life of his dreams. However, when his boyfriend leaves town, Rusty meets a mysterious drifter names Denny who opens Rusty up to a strange new world.

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.

Every Waking Moment

Inspired by the true story of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, 'Every Waking Moment' is a snapshot in the lives of two musicians, a composer and a tenor, who must hide their forbidden love away from the eyes of the public.

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 Sex Movie

Four friends spend an evening together after time apart. Differences in sex and sexuality reveal deep-rooted conflicts and long-hidden longings.

Backspot

Riley, a mid-level cheerleader, lands on the All-Star squad, Thunderhawks. With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her crippling anxiety, her relationship with her girlfriend, and her desperate need for approval from her new coach.

Please Tell Me So

That's my Mr.Right! Glasses for reading books, hoodie strap tied in ribbon shape, long legs, story worthy scars on the arm and good looking face in addition to all above. I fell in love with him at first sight, and I'd like to tell him about it today.

Summer Vacation

Sea, sun, island, a family on vacation. And all Yuval wants is to get the heck out of there.

Mario

Two young gay soccer players get caught up between the politics of the game and the politics of love.

French Kisses

A collection of the best gay stories France has to offer. From tales of teenage sexual awakening, to searing studies of complex adult relationships, these six films are both quintessentially French and undeniably Universal. Includes: Apollo [Apollon] (2016); Body of Angels [Le corps des anges] (2016); Electric July [Juillet électrique] (2014); Herculanum (2016); In Return [En retour] (2013); Ruptures (or André and Gabriel) [Ruptures (ou André et Gabriel)] (2016).

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.

Party Monster

The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.

Breakfast on Pluto

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

Tarnation

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

Imagine Me & You

During her wedding ceremony, Rachel notices Luce in the audience and feels instantly drawn to her. The two women become close friends, and when Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian, she realizes that despite her happy marriage to Heck, she is falling for Luce. As she questions her sexual orientation, Rachel must decide between her stable relationship with Heck and her exhilarating new romance with Luce.

Law of Desire

Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.

River Made to Drown In

Thaddeus Mackenzie, a wealthy lawyer, learns that he is dying and decides to sell all of his property and visit his old friend Allen Hayden. Allen is a struggling artist with a passion for life who once survived by working the streets, but now is romantically involved with Eva, a wealthy European gallery owner living in L.A. Thaddeus implores Allen to find Jamie, a young street hustler that Thaddeus had once tried to rescue. Allen returns to the streets to face the dark corners of his past where he must choose between what he left behind and the uncertainty that lies ahead.

54

When the mastermind behind New York's infamous Studio 54 disco plucks young Shane from the sea of faces clamoring to get inside his club, he not only gets his foot in the door, but lands a coveted job behind the bar — and a front-row ticket to the most legendary party on the planet!

American Fiction

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

Shem

A young Jewish boy travels europe in search of the grave of his Great Grandfather who was killed by the Nazis in the War.

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.

Albino

Yashima is a woman who works as a plumber. She is also uncomfortable with her own sexuality. One day she visits a home for a job and meets Kyu. Yashima senses Kyu's eyes watching her. They become intimate, but a dark secret is soon revealed.

Final Exams

Four friends are waiting for their final exam results... and their lives to begin. In the mean time, Lang-Vonh is worrying about his Asian heritage, Cédric is struggling to come to terms with being gay and Gaëlle and Chloé are trying to forget about everything until the results are in.

Like Love

An offbeat love story about campus life around the An Zi Yan and Mai Ding who start military training as college acquaintances, Mai Ding was the one who made the first move to An Zi Yan, they have a good relationship and gradually felt sparks. After their relationship strengthens, their relationship is obstructed by their family and friends, like An Zi Yan’s sister Ansul who has a difficult attitude. An Zi Yan secretly asks help from his ex-girlfriend Bai Xiao Si. Based off the best-selling novel of the same name by Angelina.

Savage Fire

In the city of Cajamar, in the middle of ruined nature, lonely characters deal with the police, rodeos and mysterious fires.

Boys On Film 16: Possession

Golden boys, teen lust, self-conscious dolls, chance encounters, a vengeful creature, holiday romance, hidden sexuality — Boys On Film celebrates it's (not so) sweet sixteen with an astonishing selection of the latest international gay short films. Volume 16: Possession features ten complete films: Kai Stänicke's "Golden" with Christian Tesch and Maximilian Gehrlinger; Christopher Manning's "Jamie" starring Sebastian Christophers and Raphael Verrion; Kai Stänicke's "B." starring Susanne Bormann and Andreas Jähnert; Blake Mawson's "PYOTR495" starring Alex Ozerov; Charlie Francis's "When A Man Loves A Woman" starring Tommy Jay Brennan, Jemima Spence, and Diane Brooks Webster; Anthony Schatteman's "Follow Me" starring Ezra Fieremans and Maarten Ketels; Jake Graf's "Chance" starring 'ABS' and Clifford Hume; Andrew Keenan-Bolger's "Sign" starring John McGinty and Preston Sadleir; Oliver Mason's "Away With Me" starring Chris Polick and Lee Knight; and "We Could Be Parents" by Björn Elgerd.

Footing

One winter morning, a father and his son go for a jog. Along the way, we understand that a gap has grown between Marco, a Parisian who has come to spend a few days in the countryside, and Jean-Claude, a retired policeman who doesn't talk much. Their love is present, but barriers and modesty hold them back from expressing it.