The Swimmer (1987)

Boys on Film 22: Love to Love You

The latest in Peccadillo’s critically acclaimed series – now established as a leading showcase for new and emerging queefilm-makingng talent from around the world – features a fresh and exciting selection of the very best contemporary gay short films. Each self-contained drama in this diverse and thoughtfully curated collection offers fascinating and insightful new perspectives on the gay experience – sensual, affecting, sometimes provocative and always entertaining. The 8 short films are: Have We Met Before? (2019); The Act (2020); First Position. (2019); Winter [Invierno] (2021); The Suit Weareth the Man (2020); Infinite While It Lasts [Infinito Enquanto Dure] (2019); Melon Grab (2017); Thrive (2019).

Uncut

Circumcision and artistic freedom concern three homosexuals, denied communication during a surreal jail stay.

Philippino Story

Philip and Bastian are lovers. Philip has taken the responsibility to help his older brother’s family in the slums. However, when Bastian pursues painting and can no longer provide for Philip, Philip resorts to hustling in order to help his brother’s family. When Bastian catches Philip being picked up by a gay man in a car, he decides to keep everything inside. Can Philip and Bastian’s love prevail despite the odds?

The Surf Report

A ghostly love story unfolds as two men look for answers where ocean meets sky and city meets wild in Rockaway Beach, NY.

Pretty Boy

Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.

Tropical Malady

The passionate relationship between two men with unusual consequences. The film is divided in two parts. The first half charts the modest attraction between two men in the sunny, relaxing countryside and the second half charts the confusion and terror of an unknown menace lurking deep within the jungle shadows.

Nobody Loves Me

On the brink of her 30th birthday, Fanny feels the door to marital happiness closing on her. She is obsessed with death and even visits evening classes on dying, so it seems fitting that she encounters a skeleton in the malfunctioning elevator of her apartment building. The skeleton is her neighbour Orfeo, a Black, gay, self-declared psychic, who convinces her that she is about to meet "him". But is it really Lothar, the new yuppie apartment manager ...?

Oi! Warning

A young man gets caught up in a conflict between his friends, a skinhead and a gay anarchist.

The Bathhouse of Malatily

The film is an adaptation of the novel Samar Habib by Ismåeel Walieddin. author of Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations. The main character, Ahmad, leaves rural eastern Egypt for the city hoping to become economically self-sufficient, gets an apartment for his parents, and obtains a law degree. He and his family are refugees from a town occupied by the Israeli army, Ismaåilia. Ali, the owner of the Malatily Bathhouse, offers to let him stay there for free. Ahmad encounters several characters there, including Naåeema, a prostitute who he becomes obsessed with, and Raouf, a homosexual man.

The Marvelous Visit

In a small French village, an angel appears disguised as a beautiful young blond.

Longing Nights

Aitana, Pierrick, Rita and Jorge are all in their twenties and all look for ways to make their nights in the city of Madrid a little less lonely. Aitana is a sweet girl trapped in a men’s body; Pierrick is a cute French gay; Rita doesn't much care about her partner, Carolina, and walks through life with no expectations; Jorge is trapped in a relationship with no future: the one he has with Maria. Set against a background of drugs, sex, multiple partners and differing sexualities, Longing Nights follows the individual stories of these young people. A candid portrait of four relationships highly loaded with eroticism from beginning to end. Four stories told without no borders between fiction and reality.

Stupid Boy

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

Water Drops on Burning Rocks

In 1970s Germany, Léopold, a 50-year-old businessman, picks up and seduces 20-year-old Franz, who swiftly moves into his apartment. The dynamic between them intensifies with the sudden arrival of their ex-girlfriends.

Revolution

A coming-of-age story about Jack, a 16-year old Iranian boy growing up in 1989 Los Angeles. With the 1979 Iranian Revolution a distant memory, the AIDS movement as a backdrop, and a haunting score by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, Jack learns how to stage his own much smaller revolution within the confines of his traditional family.

Two Drifters

After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman named Odete descends into madness and claims to be pregnant with the child of her neighbour Pedro, who died in a car crash and is mourned by his boyfriend Rui.

Because You're Mine

Torn by the farewell letter of his boyfriend, Samuel tries to change his ideas in nature. The forest will bring him a strange and sensual consolation…

The Awakening of Spring

Based on the 1891 play "Spring Awakening," this filmed stage drama examines the tensions and confusion of young people as their growing sexual awareness conflicts with the repressive social environment around them. The passionate kiss between two males might be the first envisioned for the stage since Christopher Marlowe's between Edward II and Gaveston.

Mr. Right

Harry hates being a TV producer and dreams of leaving his job to travel the world. He loves Alex, an aspiring actor who is struggling to create an identity for himself as a performer. Rugby player William's nine-year-old daughter is intent on sabotaging his relationships with new boyfriends, and he's finding it difficult to let Lawrence, the soap star, into his life. Lars is a handsome sometime-model kept by Tom, a successful artist, who will excuse his every betrayal so long as Lars doesn't leave him.

The Sum of Us

A widowed father has to deal with two complex issues: while he is searching for "Miss Right," his son, who is in his 20s and gay, is searching for "Mr. Right."

100m Freestyle

Polo and Domingo spend their last days together between Ciudad Mendoza and Cordoba, in Veracruz, Mexico, before Domingo moves to another city for college. Domingo has to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Mina; while Polo deals with his feelings towards his best friend in the little time they have left.

Coming Out

Philipp, a closeted teacher, is dating a female colleague to keep up appearances. One night he stumbles into a gay bar and falls for a man. Transformed by this love, he is no longer afraid to face up to who he is.

Ocaso

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

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.

Mahjong Treasure Bath Chronicle

Namba Hiryu was captured by Kisaragi-kai, a group of villainous sparrows who are opening dark gambling venues at hot spring inns nationwide! Mashiro, a daughter who learned mahjong from Hiryu when she was young, challenges the Kisaragikai with Chiko, who was the leader of Hiryu, in order to protect the public bath at her parents' house! Mashiro and his friends struggle with the sneaky mahjong of the Kisaragikai, but when they enter the hot springs and their bodies get hot, the mahjong becomes stronger! ?? Can Mashiro and Chiko rescue Hiryu without losing the peeping of Ishiwa's toothed turtle and the strip mahjong confrontation with Ito's black panther? ??

The Boys in the Band

A witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael's demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game, unleashing dormant and unspoken emotions.

Denied

Troy, a recent high school graduate, is in love with his best friend Merrick, but Merrick isn't willing to be in a relationship with him. Troy is forced to deal with Merrick's selfishness, his own aching heart, and his unfulfilling life.

House of Angels

In a small village in Västergötland, everything is turned upside-down when the local loner dies and his cottage is inherited by his unknown relative Fanny. She rides into town on a big black motorcycle with her androgynous boyfriend Zack, wearing black leather and spikes. When they decide to stay, Flogfält's plans to buy the cottage are upset.

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.

Whirlwind

A hot, young and charming man with ulterior motives enters the lives of a tight-knit group of gay men in New York City and at first adds excitement and intrigue to their group, but events soon spiral out of control as he deliberately attempts to destroy their relationships.

Taxi to the Toilet

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.

Poof

Aaron, an apprehensive 18-year-old, is stuck. Stuck in a small town, helping his father in a job he hates. His life is soon turned upside-down when he meets Mike at a party. At first, Aaron denies his feelings but an unexpected kiss changes everything. As he enters into a hidden relationship with Mike, Aaron finds that some secrets are harder to keep than others. The more he explores his sexuality, the more he begins to consider the impact this may have on the rest of his life.

Sacrifice

'Sacrifice' follows the love story between James Hunter and Blake Robinson as they begin a new phase in their life together. Forces out of their control tear them apart but to what extent and consequence? How much will they sacrifice? A traditional military love story from a perspective which has not yet been seen before.

The Big Gay Musical

Paul and Eddie have just begun previews for the new Off-Broadway musical "Adam and Steve - Just the Way God Made 'Em." Their lives strangely mirror the characters they are playing. Paul is looking for the perfect man and Eddie is dealing with how his sexuality and faith can mix.

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Haruto and Aoyama, once a couple, are now completely without contact. As Aoyama's secrets are gradually revealed, Haruto, now the shop manager of an underground escort club, is starting to question whether the man he loves is worth the wait; his feelings for escort Ruka has also evolved from mere compassion into something more. A mystery sex toy links the past and now of Aoyama, Shibahara, Ruka, and Haruto. A sudden murder then happens in 'Rain& Soda' as one of the escorts serves a customer. The murder horrifies the club, and the truth is soon to be brought under the light of this sensual world of sultriness.

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.

Sleepover

Emil and Adam are two guys in their 20's. They are close friends, and after a night at the movies, Emil is going to sleep over at Adam's. Emil has unspoken feelings for Adam - feelings that are tested when they are sleeping in the same double bed.

In the Eyes

A Sunday like any other among a Russian community in France. Victor, a discreet young man, has to overcome the elusiveness of the one he loves in secret.

Another Country

In Moscow in 1983, an American journalist interviews Guy Bennett, who recalls his last year at public school, fifty years before, and how it contributed to him becoming a spy.

Defying Gravity

Popular frat guy Griff, the ultimate boy next boy, has a great big secret... Pete. Given an ultimatum by Pete, Griff goes the straight route until things get rough. Ultimately, defying reality is harder than he had ever imagined.

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.

The Part of His Life He Wants to Show Me

Joan is a boy trapped in an obsession: spying on his neighbor every day, to the point of falling in love with him.

Muscat

July 1982 in Morocco. Samir, a 16-year-old fisherman, is learning English in the hope of leaving his village. Louis, a Western tourist traveling with his wife, has to explain himself in a language that is not his own. Samir is the only one who can help him, and must make an important decision when Louis faces the worst.

The Sekkan 2: kairaku-hen

Two girls who want to become masochists are trained by a sadistic woman and turned into lovers.

Totally F***ed Up

Gay, alienated Los Angeles teens have a hard time as their parents kick them out of their homes, they don’t have money, their lovers cheat, and they are harassed by gay-bashers.

Futureless Things

The various faces of youth and people in an enclosed space of a convenience store for 12 hours.

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.

The Male Gaze: Nocturnal Instincts

Strap yourself in for an exhilarating journey into darkness with these five award-winning short films from across the globe that delve into heart-pumping escapades varying from the intensely erotic to the ultra-violent to the warm-inside feels. The night has never looked so inviting. Segments: After Dawn [Passée l'aube] (2017), Poof (2018), Spiral (2018), Night of Love (2018), Floating Melon [浮果] (2015).

Mountains of the Moon

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey.

The Graffiti Artist

Adrift in the lush, nocturnal urban landscape of THE GRAFFITI ARTIST, Nick (Ruben Bansie-Snellman) is a post-modern urban hero asserting his anarchistic agenda on the endless maze of virgin exterior walls that comprise downtown Seattle and Portland. For this iconoclastic young visionary, the vast wall surfaces of deserted alleys and train yards are at once a daunting symbol of capitalist oppression and a texturally rich, seamless tableau ripe for exploitation to amplify his artistic dialectic of anger and rebellion.

Pink Physical Examination

In a hospital with a near sighted doctor, horny nurses, cosplaying patients and stiffs in the basement the only healing taking place is sexual.

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.

P.D

A cruising area takes on majestic proportions as we discover Greek-esque male bodies in the forest. The sonnets 18, 57, 20 by William Shakespeare add to the Midsummer Nights Dream like ambiance of the film.

Tennessee Queer

Religion, politics and gay pride clash in a small Tennessee town when out, proud and living in New York Jason Potts returns home to make life better for the LGBT teenagers.

I Don't Know Who You Are

Benjamin, a working class gay man living in Toronto, struggles to obtain expensive healthcare after being assaulted by a stranger.

Afternoon Affair: Transformation

A young boy’s dream of a woman is entrusted to the love of a flower. When that beautiful flower withers and the boy discovers the ugliness of women’s true nature, he vows revenge.

Exteriors

Three gay men each find themselves in modern relationship issues through three separate coincidences. Wyatt learns that his best friend Logan is unknowingly falling in love with his ex, while Jason is shocked to learn the owner of the pool he's cleaning is the man he fell in love with over a one-night stand eight years earlier. Finally, therapist Peter Lesh has become dangerously obsessed with his client Lex who tells him he's just met the man of his dreams.

Xiao Lin

Every gay person goes through a process of discovering their own identity. Caught between their truest self and the family and societal pressure around them, which should a college student still in the middle of this process choose? Details

Swimming Upstream

A young man aspiring for recognition of his talents battles against his estranged father's sentiment towards him as the father deals with his own demons.

Blue Sky

A road movie about three persons traveling in a campervan on their way to Tokyo, Hamamatsu, and Kyoto. The film is based on the story of the heroine, a young girl named Momo, who was a member of the "21 Faces of Kaijin" gang involved in the Glico Morinaga Incident, and the film's ideas are remarkable, including the use of a tape recording of the actual incident.

Philadelphia

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

The Opposite of Sex

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

The Basketball Diaries

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

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.

Label Me

Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.

I Miss You

Following his son Gabriel’s death, Jorge travels from conservative Bolivia to New York City to confront Gabriel’s boyfriend Sebastian. While the two battle over Jorge’s inability to accept his son, Sebastian channels his grief into a bold new play in honor of his lost love, in which Gabriel’s inner turmoil is transformed into an eye-popping gay fantasia.

Where We Go from Here

This anthology film explores three sudden acts of violence and examines the impact on the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire: In Binghamton, New York, an ESL instructor faces domestic violence at home and even greater peril at school. Friends take a night out in Paris only to find themselves caught up in a horrifying situation. And two lovers at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando fight to survive a chaotic night of terror.

Beautiful Thing

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

Flow

A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.

My Beautiful Laundrette

A Pakistani Briton renovates a rundown laundrette with his male lover while dealing with drama within his family, the local Pakistani community, and a persistent mob of skinheads.