The Blonde One (2019)

Anónimo

Javier must reintegrate into society after spending 14 years in prison. His family and friends reject him, so he takes refuge in a house where he rents a room. There he meets Amanda, who helps him find a way to reunite with his teenage daughter that he barely knows.

Orpheus' Song

Two best friends from Berlin win a trip to Greece. On their excursion, they get lost on an island. They wander in the woods until they find an abandoned village where they encounter a mysterious creature, who calls himself Hercules. They spend the night together in a cave and dream a mystical dream. On the next day, nothing between the two will be like it was before.

Cinderello

Marlon, an insecure and not-so-attractive photographer, is hit with a spell that every night transforms him into Brando, a handsome womanizer. Things will get harder when the spell becomes his biggest obstacle to obtain true love.

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.

Darkroom

Lars, a male nurse from Saarbrücken, moves to Berlin with his lover, Roland. They begin to renovate an apartment and their happiness seems almost complete. What Roland doesn’t know is that, while secretly checking out Berlin’s night life, Lars is also experimenting with a deadly poison.

Rialto

Colm is in his mid-forties, married, with two teenage children. Still grieving the death of his father, a destructive figure in his life, Colm struggles with his relationship to his own son, whilst at work a recent takeover threatens his job. Unable to share his vulnerability with his wife, Colm’s world is falling apart around him. In the midst of this crisis, Colm finds a comfort that no one else can provide but Jay.

Where the Sun Beats

Laura lives in the country with her considerably older husband. When Nuno, her brother who study in Lisbon, pays a visit, he realizes that his sister does not have a happy life. He initiates a friendship with a worker on the farm. The circumstances turn Laura and Nuno against each other... Portrays the repressed sexuality and homosexual desire in a rural setting and elliptically and delicately the small farming community that serves as the backdrop for the impossible relationships pursued by Laura and her brother.

Wasteland

Brisa’s daily life alternates between the world of show business, appearances, and the stark reality presented by his son Hilario, who fell into poverty as a result of his addiction to drugs. The film portrays an intense fragment of Susana and Hilario’s story, the difficulties that arise when she tries to keep her professional commitments, the elegance with which she manages to avoid the low blows and her pain; but, fundamentally, the film reveals how this woman faces a difficult process without losing her dignity or sense of humor.

The Taverna

When a waitress is substituted for a belly dancer in a Greek restaurant, chaos ensues before the owner is forced to change his old ways in order to prevent a major catastrophe.

Men Up

In Morriston Hospital in Swansea in 1994 a group of ordinary middle-aged Welsh men stepped into the unknown by taking part in the world's first medical trials for the drug that became Viagra.

Burnt Money

Set in Argentina in 1965, the story follows the tumultuous relationship between two men who became lovers and ultimately ruthless bank robbers in a notoriously famous footnote in the annals of crime history. After a large-scale hold-up that turns bloody, the two men must flee. It is not long before the police are surrounding the building they are in and they must confront their demons to survive.

The Neighbor in the Window

A suburban wife who finds herself and the security of her family threatened by another seemingly friendly neighborhood mom.

Donbass

In the historic Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, despite the cruel war that has been raging since 2014 between the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and the Ukrainian government, people try to survive in the rotten heart of chaos, where violence disguises itself as peace, propaganda becomes univocal truth and hatred reigns in the name of love.

Hawaii

Eugenio offers his childhood friend Martin a work for the summer. With a game of power and desire a relationship starts to grow that goes beyond their friendship.

Taekwondo

Fernando is on holiday with his closest male friends in a beautiful country house in a suburb of Buenos Aires. On their own without their girlfriends in a “men only” environment, the hunky young studs bask in the hot sun, play in the pool, smoke pot, and drink, most often semi-clad or naked. In this freewheeling and testosterone-infused environment, they talk of their desires and strengthen their individual bonds.

My Best Friend

Lorenzo is a teenager who lives in Patagonia. One day his family receives in his house to Caíto, the son of some friends who are going through a serious family situation and can not take care of him. He is a complicated kid and has difficulty adapting to the new home. Despite the differences, a unique friendship arises between them. Each has much to learn from the other. Caito, still with his things, has that share of rebellion that Lorenzo needs to break the strict molds in his head and to let his most repressed instincts and passions flow. Home life becomes chaotic but vital and engaging. Caíto is much more than a troublesome boy: he is someone who forces Lorenzo's parents to reopen a dark chapter of their past that they would rather not remember.

All Things Fair

Stig is a 15-year-old pupil of 37-year-old teacher Viola. He is attracted by her beauty and maturity while she is drawn to him by his youth and innocence, a relief from her drunk and miserable husband.

Only You

A madly-in-love young couple's relationship begins to suffer when they struggle to conceive a child.

Matthias & Maxime

Two childhood best friends are asked to share a kiss for the purposes of a student short film. Soon, a lingering doubt sets in, confronting both men with their preferences, threatening the brotherhood of their social circle, and, eventually, changing their lives.

End of the Century

Two men meet in Barcelona and after spending a day together they realize that they have already met twenty years ago.

Alps

A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach offer a service for hire wherein they stand in for dead people by appointment, hired by relatives, friends or colleagues of the deceased, to assist with the grieving process.

Invisible Life

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950. In the conservative home of the Gusmão family, Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters who support each other. While Guida can share with her younger sister the details of her romantic adventures, Eurídice finds in her older sister the encouragement she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a professional pianist.

The Emperor's Club

William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

Hidden Kisses

Nathan, 16, lives alone with his father Stephane. A newcomer in high school, he is invited to a party and falls in love with Louis, a boy in his class. They find themselves out of sight and kiss each other, but someone takes a picture of them. Soon, the photo is published on Facebook and a storm overtakes their lives as they face bullying and rejection.

Fire Island

A pair of best friends set out to have a legendary week-long summer vacation with the help of cheap rosé and a group of eclectic friends.

Late Night

A legendary late-night talk show host's world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer. Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision has unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women separated by culture and generation are united by their love of a biting punchline.

The Kid

Powerful businessman Russ Duritz is self-absorbed and immersed in his work. But by the magic of the moon, he meets Rusty, a chubby, charming 8-year-old version of himself who can't believe he could turn out so badly – with no life and no dog. With Rusty's help, Russ is able to reconcile the person he used to dream of being with the man he's actually become.

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.

If Anything Happens I Love You

In this Oscar-winning short film, grieving parents journey through an emotional void as they mourn the loss of a child after a tragic school shooting.

Boys

Two teen track stars discover first love as they train for the biggest relay race of their young lives.

Fatal Attraction

A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.

The Knight Before Christmas

A medieval English knight is magically transported to present day where he ends up falling for a high school science teacher.

The Goldfinch

A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime.

Free Fall

A promising career with the police, a baby on the way... Marc's life seems to be right on track. Then he meets fellow policeman Kay and during their regular jogs Marc experiences a never-before-felt sense of ease and effortlessness – and what it means to fall in love with another man.

God's Own Country

A young farmer in rural Yorkshire numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker.

Boy Erased

Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.

Home on the Range

When a greedy outlaw schemes to take possession of the "Patch Of Heaven" dairy farm, three determined cows, a karate-kicking stallion and a colorful corral of critters join forces to save their home. The stakes are sky-high as this unlikely animal alliance risk their hides and match wits with a mysterious band of bad guys.

Escape from Pretoria

South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison.

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

Princes who have been turned into Dwarfs seek the red shoes of a lady in order to break the spell, although it will not be easy.

Phantom Project

Waiting for his big dream (a film role) to come true, Pablo works as a training actor in a patient-care programme at a medical faculty and a paid participant in group therapy sessions. To make ends meet, he sublets a room in his apartment in a suburb of Santiago de Chile. However, he seems to have lost control when his housemate departs, leaving him with rent arrears, a collection of plants, a dog, a woolly jumper, and... a house ghost. Pablo is 30, and when it comes to romance he is also chasing apparitions. He is secretly still in love with his ex-boyfriend, a popular YouTuber.

My Emptiness and I

Raphi, from France, fantasises about romances with princes, and about starting a traditional family. But in reality, things aren’t like that. She works in a call centre in Barcelona, struggles with at times embarrassing dates, and is diagnosed by her therapist as having gender dysphoria. During this confusing, yet valuable period, we follow this trans woman as she makes her transition, as well as in her everyday life. She talks candidly with colleagues, queer friends, and the men she meets through apps. In spite of all the advice she receives, it turns out that it is mostly time and experience that will help her embrace her place in this world.

Despertar

Nico and Thomas are childhood friends who were separated. Years later, at the beginning of their adult lives, they meet again and feelings from the past resurface, causing them both to face personal dilemmas. This is how, between dreams and disagreements, Nico and Thomas reflect on life, themselves, and love.

The Lion in Winter

Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.

Inflatable Swamp

A short film that explores gay male psychical intimacy, with some explicit nudity scenes. Matt, a gay man in his late twenties, navigates the lonely intersection of carnal sex and human closeness. With the arrival of Luke, a new man in his life, he finds a way to reconcile pleasures of the flesh with the new aroused imperatives of the heart.

My Young Prince

Pole - a mentally ill 17-year-old - lives in a luxurious estate, leads a profligate lifestyle and shows an unhealthy affection for his mother Sofia. Soon in the life of Pole and Sofia appear a young boy Antuan and his father Mark. Pole has a relationship with Antuan, and Sofia with Mark. But no matter how successful everything seems to be, the appearance of Antuan and Mark leads everyone to tragedy.

The Trace of Your Lips

Román is an actor who works in B-movies and who’s isolated in his apartment as a pandemic keeps the world on edge. Aldo, an indigenous young man, is an essential worker who’s allowed by the authorities to come and go. They live across from each other in an apartment complex. They meet online, and they can talk and even see each other in videocalls, but they can’t meet in person. Eventually, the temptation to break out of their lockdown comes up.

Bad Girl Boogey

A wearer of a parasitic mask with black magic sheds blood on Halloween. 16 years later, a killer with the same profile slaughters Angel's friend, who then must fight fear, overcome personal struggles and unmask the murderer before someone else dies.

The New Twenty

Five best friends in their late 20's discover new truths about themselves and the friendships they thought would last forever.

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.

Autopsy

Eric and Sarah are detectives who are investigating the murder of a professor which it seems like a gay hate crime. Married Eric becomes attracted to the pathologist, Emmanuel.

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.

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?

Boys On Film 19: No Ordinary Boy

As Boys On Film reaches the end of its teenage years, we take a look at those unique boys who go one step further, who excite, invigorate, and always impress, who break boundaries, shape their worlds and are more than what they appear. Volume 19: No Ordinary Boy includes ten complete films: Scott T. Hinson's "Michael Joseph Jason John" also starring Eric Robledo; Abhishek Verma's animated "The Fish Curry"; Ben Allen's "Blood Out Of A Stone" starring Alex Austin and Oisín Stack; David Färdmar's "No More We" starring Jonathan Andersson and Björn Elgerd; Jannik Splidsboel's "Between Here & Now" starring Francesco Martino and Peder Bille; Amrou Al-Kadhi's "Run(a)way Arab" also starring Ahd and Omar Labek; Dean Loxton's "Meatoo" starring Calum Speed and Warren Rusher; Jake Graf's "Dusk" starring Elliott Sailors, Sue Moore, and Duncan James; Leon Lopez's "Jermaine & Elsie" starring Marji Campi and Ashley Campbell; and Marco Alessi's "Four Quartets" with Laurie Kynaston.

The Private War of Joseph Sargent

Porn Star Grayson Lange along with Addison Graham and Robby Valls star in a film about two mercenaries on a secret mission in the jungles of South America. Once captured, their last night together will reveal dark secrets and create sexual tensions. So much so that it will cause unforeseen collateral damage that stretches well beyond the jungle. This highly provocative and erotic film was part of Eroddity(s) 2. Now re-worked as a stand-alone short the film seems to take on new meaning.

Away with Words

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

Requited

Nicolas, a young man in his mid 20s, struggles to decide whether or not to go to the wedding of his best friend from high school, Aaron, who he's always been quietly in love with. The two had a falling out years earlier after Nicolas inexplicably kissed Aaron's girlfriend. Nicolas clings to an idealized image of his former friend, unconsciously sabotaging his own happiness in the process. The film is a realistic slice-of-life that poses the question "How do you get over something you never had?"

Boys Like You

A young man struggles with the boundaries of friendship when he finds himself in an intimate situation

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.

The In-Between

The story or two men who fall in love and move in together.

Frozen Roads

Balthazar and siblings Christian and Lyla have been friends since childhood. As the trio struggles with coming of age in a rural, conservative Canadian town, they must confront escalating desires for one another that threaten to destroy their delicate bond.

Dream Kitchen

A tale about isolation and lack of communication, the gap between the reality a teenage boy lives, and how he would like it be. He has a secret that he would like to tell his family, something that he has come to terms with and is about to affect the rest of his life. But how will they react?

Boy Meets Girl

In Kentucky, a transgender woman and her best male friend lament the lack of eligible partners and step across old boundaries of love and romance.

Laklak

Plot unavailable

The Fan

The chronicle of Pascal, a community employee in a village near Ajaccio. A soccer fan, he decides to spend his vacation in Manchester.

Brother

With his wedding to Carlos approaching, Tony, a young immigrant to the US, invites his conservative older sister to the ceremony - a fateful decision that forces Tony to choose between his family and his freedom.

Little Boy Blue

Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.

Manual of Love 2

Nicola, paralyzed after a car crash, falls in love for his physiotherapist Lucia. Franco and Manuela, a young couple unfit to have children, fly to Barcelona for a specialized treatment for fertility. Filippo and Fosco, two gay men, decide to marry. Ernesto, waiter in a chic restaurant, has a liaison with Cecilia, the new Spanish help.

Wedding Wars

In the midst of organizing his brother Ben's wedding, Shel, a gay party planner, decides to go on strike for equal rights when he learns that Ben is behind a political speech against gay marriage.

Antarctica

Set in Tel Aviv, focuses on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the center is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn't found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen.

The Children's Hour

A private all-girls boarding school is scandalized when one spiteful student accuses the two young women who run it of having a romantic relationship.

Cowboys & Angels

This story concerns a hapless civil servant who gets more than he bargains for when he moves into an apartment in Limerick with a gay fashion student and becomes a star on the catwalk. A contemporary story embracing the essence of what it is to be young in today's Ireland.

Half of Me

A young gay, neurotic and ex-religious art student goes into a spin with the surprise visit of an eccentric childhood friend.

Runaways

A modern gay love story, extending over a single day. Robert and Frank are going to work out their problems and find love.

Burger

It's late night in a burger bar in Wales...

The Mercy

In 1968, Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor, endangers the fate of his family and business, and his own life, blinded by his ambition to compete in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, attempting to become the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the world without making any stopover.

The Morning After

Family tensions erupt when Nicole introduces her girlfriend to her father the morning after the 2016 US Presidential election.

One Fine Day, a Hairdresser

How do you ask a wild, impetuous hairdresser on a date if you're a pathologically timid philosophy student with no social skills?

Cavafy

An ailing, elderly poet reminisces about his life of unrest and homosexual urges.

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.

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.

Crazy/Beautiful

At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from the affluent neighborhood.

Far from Heaven

In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.

The Night

Martin moves around Buenos Aires at night, picking up guys, going to clubs, scoring drugs and having sex. Sometimes he’s paying and sometimes his trans sex-worker friend or another woman takes him along for a threesome.

Summertime

A gay couple living in San Francisco takes in two strangers traveling from Italy to start a new life in America, discovering each other and forming the most unlikely of relationships along the way.

Wilde

The story of Oscar Wilde, genius, poet, playwright and the First Modern Man. The self-realisation of his homosexuality caused Wilde enormous torment as he juggled marriage, fatherhood and responsibility with his obsessive love for Lord Alfred Douglas.

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.

The Mission

When a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portuguese aggressors.

The Last Memories of Abril

Camila and Abril grew up together in a small town on the coast and are best friends. There's an obvious and uncomfortable attraction between them. April's family will move to the city, their paths will have to separate forever.

Pardon Mon Affaire

On an otherwise normal day, Étienne, a happily married man and a good father, sees something that stops him dead in his tracks: a gorgeous woman in a billowing red dress. Long after she has left his vision, her memory continues to haunt his mind. He falls instantly in love with her and tries everything to get to know her better. Helping Étienne snare his elusive lady in red are his three bumbling buddies, which all have secret affairs and/or cheat on their wives.

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.

The Son

Pedro is a 17 years old boy who attends high school as all the boys do. In the afternoon he and his friends mess around. What Pedro loves the most is mothers baked beans.

Primo

On a visit to meet his girlfriend’s parents in a remote village in Tuscany, Primo is forced to prove his masculinity on a wild boar hunt.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s.

Rustin

Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.

The Way He Looks

Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.

Prohibido

A pulsating ride, sexually charged with emotion, men discovering their taste for other men, awkward situations that force the characters to get in touch with that taste.

The Finnster

Finn (15) is an uncomplicated schoolboy until one day, coming home from school, he catches his father Roelof in his moms dress. The man Finn has looked up to his whole life, wants to become a woman. Finn, just discovering his own sexuality, is troubled by this new discovery. A struggle with feelings of shame, love and loyalty follows. Luckily Lizzie, his newfound friend, is there to help him.

Peyote

Pablo, a shy teenager, meets Marco, who is a few years older than him. Together they go on a impromptu road trip to the Mexican desert, a trip that will make them face what they mean to each other. This experience will turn Pablo’s life around: his points of view, his strength and his own sexuality. Two guys and a video camera that will record their friendship, struggles and the possibility to find another destiny.

2:37

At 2:37, someone commits suicide in the school lavatory. The day is told up to that point from the viewpoint of six different students.

Naked Lunch

Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Two drag queens and a transgender woman contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a town in the remote Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, the three friends come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, whilst widening comfort zones and exploring new horizons.

All Stars

Seven young men who played soccer together since their early youth grow apart and are forced to think about the nature of their friendship. In a comic way and a very Dutch setting, All Stars is about pregnant girlfriends and homosexuality, career plans and the power of parents.