Spiral (2018)

Islands

Everybody has their own dreams and fears. Are we all connected or are we really all alone in this world?

Midnight Cowboy

Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.

In from the Side

Mark, a new and inexperienced rugby club member, finds himself drawn to Warren, a seasoned first team player. When a series of happenstances at an away fixture lead to a drunken encounter, Mark and Warren unwittingly embark on a romantic affair they struggle to hide from their partners and teammates.

Time to Leave

Romain, 31, a fashion photographer with terminal cancer, elects to die alone, preparing others to live past him rather than prolong the inevitable with chemotherapy or be smothered in sympathy by those who know him.

Testosterone

Dean has been stumped for some time in his attempt to produce a follow-up to "I was a Teenage Speed Freak," his incredibly successful graphic novel. His fans expect great things from him and his editor, Louise, is hounding him. Instead of working, however, Dean spends his time searching for his Argentine lover Pablo, who went out one night for cigarettes and never came back.

Two of Us

Nina and Madeleine have been sharing their lives and the landing between their two apartments for decades. After more than 20 years of loving in the shadows, Madeleine promises Nina she will tell her family the truth. It takes an unexpected event to show her the importance of living your truth.

2:37

A contemporary, ensemble drama that tells the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37 a tragedy will occur, affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers.

Billy Boy

In an era marked by the reign of fluid relationships, through apps and blind dates, Alejo seeks to fill his sentimental void by constantly changing sex partners.

Edge of Seventeen

1984, Sandusky, Ohio. A naive 17-year-old navigates heartbreak and self-expression as he explores his sexuality.

Sixth Happiness

Waris Hussein’s acclaimed drama is based on the autobiography of Firdaus Kanga, who stars in the lead role of Brit, a young man born with brittle bone disease, which causes him to have never grown beyond four feet tall. The film follows his sexual awakening whilst his family simultaneously disintegrates all around him. An extremely moving drama confronting stereotypes around disability, sexuality and race, featuring a powerhouse performance from Kanga.

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.

Three of Hearts

A lesbian hires a male escort to break the heart of the bisexual woman who has just dumped her.

Eleven Men Out

The star player of Icelands top football team causes a stir when he admits to being gay to his team mates and then goes on a journey to discover himself (with the help of the local press). He soon finds himself on the bench for most of his teams matches and decides to call it quits and join a small amateur team made up of men like himself - gay guys trying to play football in a straight world of Icelandic fishing culture machoism

Theorem

A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.

Body of Crime

Jean, a young videographer, turns to arms and revolts after the death of a friend during a police arrest. While imprisoned and awaiting trial, spirits visit him.

The Acrobat

In an ever-expanding but nondescript North American city, Christophe, a middle-aged businessman, unexpectedly encounters Micha, a Russian acrobat recovering from an injury, while house-hunting. An instant attraction is quickly consummated and they embark on a torrid affair that helps each of them cope with their respective trials. A provocative, poignant drama about intimacy in an age of anonymity.

Carmín tropical

Mabel travels to her hometown to find the murderer of her friend Daniela. A journey through nostalgia, love and betrayal in a place where transgenderism once took on an unusual dimension.

Green Butterflies

Mateo is an intelligent boy who falls in love with Daniel, but when everyone reveals that relationship, Mateo is at a crossroads, and he will have to decide between fighting his adversities or giving up everything, even his life.

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.

Sandbag Dam

A story about a forbidden love set in a village threatened by swollen rivers. Upon his return home for his father’s funeral, Slaven revives his relationship with his childhood friend, a young sportsman named Marko, his teenage love, and the reason his father kicked him out of the house. Now tempted to reunite, they need to make peace with their own decisions and struggle against the family restraints.

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.

Bolero

The film follows four families, with different nationalities (French, German, Russian and American) but with the same passion for music, from the 1930s to the 1960s. The various story lines cross each other time and again in different places and times, with their own theme scores that evolve as time passes. The main event in the film is the Second World War, which throws the stories of the four musical families together and mixes their fates. Although all characters are fictional, many of them are loosely based on historical musical icons (Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Herbert von Karajan, Glenn Miller, Rudolf Nureyev, etc.) The Boléro dance sequence at the end brings all the threads together.

Lazarus Come Out

45 year old Don Valter is a traditional priest who still wears an old fashioned black tunic out of nostalgia. One day young Claudio and his exuberant troupe of actors appear, proposing to perform an avant-garde show based on the Gospel's miracle of the rebirth of Lazarus*. The powerless priest is overwhelmed by this young upstart, who stirs within him emotions that will, whether he likes it or not, pull him into the modern era.

Lightning Bugs in a Jar

When a mother and son with a caustic history reunite to pack-up their old house, sparks fly as long-buried secrets are revealed, and it might fall upon the shoulders of the son's boyfriend to help heal old wounds.

The Death & Life of John F. Donovan

A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

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.

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.

Salt

In a big city, a solitary computer technician meets an intriguing man on a website, where people share their fantasies.

The Angry Toy

Silvio, a young poet and inventor, struggles to find employment and to give meaning to his life. Silvio has a homosexual relationship, which leaves him traumatized.

G O'Clock

Alex is a paramedic who saves lives on London's gay chemsex scene, but can he save himself from it?

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.

The Memory of You

Adam is going to dinner with his wife, when he is disrupted by something from his past. 'The Memory of You' is a story about a love that never was, and the promise of what could have been, shot in one single take during a quiet night on a Stockholm side street.

Sea Sparkles

The night before he is set to leave Uruguay in search of a better future, Lucas, an ambitious yet doubtful young man meets Juan, a Venezuelan immigrant who challenges his views on life and pushes him to enjoy the present.

Kaadhal Enbadhu Podhu Udamai

Samyuktha, a passionate Kathak dancer, shares a deep bond with her mother, Lakshmi—a renowned motivational speaker and documentary filmmaker. Their progressive relationship is tested when Samyuktha reveals her love for another woman. While Lakshmi is initially thrilled, her excitement fades as she struggles to reconcile her traditional Indian values with modern ideas of love and sexuality. Through multiple perspectives, including that of Mary, who explores evolving notions of romance, the story delves into acceptance, identity, and the complexities of family dynamics.

Johnny Minotaur

Johnny Minotaur is a lyrical explosion of taboos: incest, intergenerational desire, pansexuality and autoeroticism are a few of the issues Charles Henri Ford grapples with through mythopoeic, sensual imagery, recitations of his diaries and a philosophical debate featuring an impressive narration by such artists as Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Warren Sonbert and Lynne Tillman.

Bromance

When three friends go on a camping trip in a remote part of Argentina, sexual tensions quickly bubble to the surface. Once in virtual seclusion by the beach, Juli, also camping at the site, quickly recognises that that the boys seem to have a closer relationship than what she would consider 'normal'. The line between friendship and love fade further for two of the boys in particular as their desire becomes too much to bear. When what started as a simple getaway quickly becomes tinged with sex, romance, and conflict, everyone is forced to confront who they really are for the very first time.

Adult

Having enabled a loss that now torments her, a woman enters an adult store in search of redemption. Adapted from a short story by Christos Tsiolkas.

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.

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.

Uninhibited

A young man comes home after work to find a pleasant surprise in his bedroom.

Christmas at the Ranch

When Haley Hollis returns to her family ranch to try and save it from closure, she wasn't banking on spending so much time with ranch hand Kate - or falling for her.

Another Love Story

A dynamic young man falls in love with his own boss, a married businessman, with two children.

As Is

Story of a homosexual man who finds out he has AIDS and how people react. Ex-lovers are brought together when the former is stricken with AIDS. Often humorous and never morose, author William Hoffman doesn't pull his punches with either his portrayal of a gay lifestyle or of the emotional toll the disease takes.

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.

The Best Friend

Two great friends meet again after five years. Among so many things that have changed, the resumption of the bond awakens an old feeling for which they remain unprepared.

Bad Boy Buck

After a one-night stand with another man, a married farmer attempts to hide the affair from his family as the truth drives him to breaking point.

Kabitan

Athena Red and Alessandra Cruz show us that true love is limitless. Alice, a depressed mistress, forms a deep emotional and sexual bond with Mika, her neighbor, who is also a mistress. Then, the inevitable happens, they fall for each other.

Young Hunter

Ezequiel, a sixteen-year-old gay teenager in his sexual awakening, meets a boy of twenty-one. They quickly start a relationship and the situation unravels unexpectedly.

Green Light

A male escort has an odd encounter with a mysterious John that he picks up.

Liquid Sky

An alien creature invades New York's punk subculture in its search for an opiate released by the brain during an orgasm.

Like It Is

A young, bare-knuckle boxer Craig moves from Blackpool to London, where he falls for a twenty-something music producer, Matt. Trouble ensues when shy, awkward Craig tries squeezing into Matt's glib lifestyle and Matt's scheming boss tries to break up the couple.

Hidden

Lonely and closeted, Xiao-Wei turns to the internet—until real-life feelings bring more questions than answers.

Undercurrent

On a winter evening in 1979, the arrest of anti-government protesters is underway. The city is under curfew, but a teenage student, out of curiosity, follows a mysterious young man from a riverside path into an abandoned hut. Living in Taiwan under martial law, are men constantly escaping from government, society, or the affection buried in their hearts?

Prayers for Bobby

Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.

Blood Brothers

Two wealthy young brothers living on a plush estate give refuge to a petty criminal who is on the run from the police. Neither the boys' parents or their staff know about the fugitive's presence, which leads them open to exploitation. Sure enough, they soon discover the fugitive has no intention of leaving.

Skin

A queer teenager struggling with the onset of puberty discovers a living cave that presents them with a new skin and a chance to explore their identity.

The Writer

Lithuanian-American Kostas and Russian-Lithuanian Dima reconnect in New York decades after serving in the Soviet army together. They fell in love back in the 80s, and Dima joined Kostas in moving from Russia to Lithuania. But as Lithuania gained Independence in the 90s, Kostas left to study in New York, leaving Dima behind. Kostas, now an established author, has published a book based on their separation. Upon reading it, Dima pays a visit, eager to correct a few facts.

Three

Tom, a young architect from Tel Aviv, accepts his partner Nimrod's offer of a threesome with Or. The meeting with Or changes the couple's relationship.

Thrive

A hook-up between two young men - they make a connection, but it quickly becomes apparent they're looking for different things.

Twice

Diego is 17 and is full of life, yet fragile. His best friend Antonio knows and indulges his weaknesses, but he would also like to see him strong and masculine. One night they meet Maria, a breezy natural beauty. To show that he is a 'real man', Diego, is ready to do anything, even to force himself to do things he would never have wanted to do.

Ocaso

Late in the afternoon, a student and a construction worker sit on the edge of the bay and leave traces on the landscape.

Lamas

In a small-town bakery, Mona feels trapped under her domineering father, Adon. Lina, a new employee rocks Mona's world and sparks desire. But Adon has other plans for his daughter. Torn between duty and passion, Mona must choose her own path.

A Season in Hell

The tumultuous life of Arthur Rimbaud, the cursed poet, who completed his masterwork at the age of twenty, became an arms dealer and died at thirty-seven; and his passionate relationship with Paul Verlaine, full of wanderings, storms and falling out.

Dating Amber

Eddie and Amber decide to stage a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. Eddie is keen to follow his dad into the military, while Amber dreams of moving to the liberal hub of London. The plan seems solid, but as their arrangement begins to fall apart, Eddie’s denial gets deeper as Amber realizes that a perilous future awaits her best friend unless she intervenes.