The Male Gaze: Celluloid Dreams (2021)

Ma Belle, My Beauty

A surprise reunion in southern France reignites passions and jealousies between two women who were formerly polyamorous lovers.

Joyland

As a patriarchal family yearns for the birth of a son to continue their family line, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for its transgender starlet.

Sign

'SIGN' is a short film that tells, through vignettes, music, and sign language, the story of a relationship between Ben, a hearing man, and Aaron, who is deaf.

The Baby

Joseph learns that his son and his companion have just perished in an accident. They were expecting a child via a surrogate mother in Belgium. What will become of their future baby? Is Joseph the legitimate grandfather? Carried by the promise of this birth which will prolong the existence of his son, the sexagenarian goes to meet the young Flemish woman with a fierce and indomitable character.

Half

Half-Jewish, bisexual Jonah Dorman comes out to his girlfriend, shaking the foundation of their relationship and launching a tragicomic exploration of love and religion in New York City.

Perhaps Love

Hyun, a best-selling writer, has found himself in a slump for a long time. In the meantime, he accidentally meets Yu-jin, an aspiring young writer. Hyun gets confused when Yu-jin confesses his love to Hyun. A 19-year-old student and Hyun’s son, Sung-kyung, who is skeptical about his life, meets Jung-won, a young married woman living next door. Sung-kyung has a good feeling for this freewheeling woman. A pure-hearted man, Soon-mo, who is Hyun’s best friend and also the publisher, meets his friend’s ex-wife.

We're All Going to the World's Fair

Reality and fantasy begin to blur when a teenager, alone in her attic bedroom, immerses herself in a role-playing horror game online.

The Immeasurable

University student Xiang and police officer Vic's romance is tested when political protests place them on opposing sides, challenging their love and understanding.

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.

The Zone

A mysterious visitor spends the night at an apartment belonging to a young engaged couple and their friend. Over the course of the night and the following day he sleeps with all three roommates and then disappears, leading to conversations about God, life and filmmaking.

Solos

Inspired by true events, Solos explores relationships among three individuals who are struggling to open up their feelings towards each other. Filmmakers Kan Lume and Loo Zihan co-directed this pathos that dramatizes the selfishness of love and its tragic outcomes. Set in contemporary Singapore, Solos follows the endeavors of Boy, Man and Mother. Having been in a relationship with Man (Lim Yu Beng) for years, Boy (Loo Zihan) eventually grows up and wishes to quit the relationship. Conversely, Man still wants to be with Boy and for them to settle together. Meanwhile, Mother (Goh Guat Kian) is devastated that her son (Boy) has abandoned her and has been in relationship with Man. As the three characters fight their own demons, Solos juxtaposes reality and surreal scenes in order to give clues of each character’s inner desires. The film has minimum conversation to give freedom to the audience's individual interpretation of the film.

Neurosia: Fifty Years of Perversity

Neurosia is the autobiography of the director Rosa von Praunheim. The movie begins with Rosa presenting his autobiography in a movie theater. Before the film begins, he is shot. But - his body gets lost. A female journalist from a TV station begins researching the life of Rosa. In the course of the movie she speaks to lots of aquaintances, shows short clips from Rosas old movies. Her main aim is to provide sensational and shocking details from Rosas life. It turns out that nearly everybody had some reason to kill Rosa. At the end of the movie, she discovers Rosa at a boat where he is kept prisoner by some of his old enemies. She frees him, and the movie ends.

Two Eyes

In late 19th century Montana, an artist seeking inspiration explores the landscape with his Native American guide, and finds his conceptions of himself and of the world around him challenged. In 1970s Barstow, California, a questioning youth's mundane existence is given a shot of adrenaline by the arrival of a new exchange student who envelops them within her own lust for life. In present-day Wyoming, a trans teenager works through his self-destructive feelings with his perceptive, non-binary therapist.

Maneki

After being rejected by her favorite customer, a cashier must reconcile her feelings when the customer continues to visit the ramen shop.

Perfidy

Enigmatic and silent Gus arrives in a city in upstate New York, to a hotel where he is staying for a day, while developing meticulous grooming and cleaning routines and expect a phone call that can change your life.

A Wake

The children in a religious family clash with their parents as they prepare for the wake of their brother, Mitchel. Teenage Mason desperately tries to reach his lost identical twin through spiritual means. Precocious preteen Molly meticulously organizes the event expecting everything to go exactly as planned. Megan, their older sister, returns home after a long absence, no longer interested in repressing the truth. Their Baptist grandmother and parents attempt to maintain normalcy when an unexpected stranger, Jameson, arrives -- forcing the family to face secrets and lies around Mitchel's death.

The Eighth Sense

A quiet freshman and a returning soldier cross paths on a Seoul campus, each carrying more than they let on.

Never Tear Us Apart

An aging spy, his delusional wife, and promiscuous son are driven into madness as they confront the terrors caused by the monster known as The Shadow.

Dust

The short drama film Dòst tells the tough coming of age process of best friends Alko and Björn in a small rural village community. Between agricultural weekend work and partying, dealing with other adolescent boys and girls, one kiss can make a big difference. The urge to fit in, to uphold image, and peer pressure makes the boys both having to make choices that will affect their friendship.

Morgan

Morgan is the inspiring story of Morgan Oliver, a gay young athlete determined that a bicycle accident that left him paralyzed will not change him. He takes a chance on love when he meets Dean Kagen on a basketball court. Dean helps Morgan train for the same race in which he had his accident. But when he sees that Morgan will risk everything to win, Dean walks out. Left alone to face the race and demons that caused his accident, Morgan teeters between what he needs and what he wants. Can he find the strength to pull himself back up again?

Prisoner C33

Reading Gaol, England, 1896. Prisoner C33, starving and thin, unable to wash properly, is a brilliant writer, husband and father of two, once the most beloved artist in Victorian London. His real name is Oscar Wilde.

Even Lovers Get the Blues

After the sudden death of one of them a group of friends grieves trough sexual encounters.

Fujimi Orchestra: Cold Front Conductor

Tonoin Kei, a musical genius, becomes the new conductor of Fujimi, clashing with the group's leader, Morimura Yuuki, who is unaware of Kei's feelings for him.

Growth

Zora and Izzy move into an old home that is within their budget. Strange things quickly begin to happen soon-after.

The Third One

After meeting in a chat room, Fede (22) arrives at a downtown building to have an intimate encounter with a gay couple older than him. As the night unfolds, Fede has an intense and telling experience. The next morning finds him different, as if suddenly he had found a new possible way to love.

Looking for Rohmer

The first homosexual love story themed movie to receive approval for theatrical release in China. The film follows the initial meeting of, and the subsequent secret relationship between Zhao Jie and Rohmer. They decide to travel to Tibet together. During their travels they are involved in an incident which leads to the death of a child. Although they are not responsible, they feel a lot of guilt. They quarrel about it and end up going separate ways. Later Zhao Jie learns that Rohmer has been in an accident on a glacier and, torn with remorse for not having helped him enough after the earlier incident, Zhao Jie goes to find him.

1992

It's 1992. Martin is 17 and he films his daily life with his Hi8 camera. He films anything and everything—his room, the world around him... But never his father, the thought doesn't occur to him. One day he meets Dominique. He's 23 and works as a student monitor at Martin's high school.

Perfect Strangers

During a lunar eclipse, seven friends gather for dinner and decide to play a game in which they must share with each other the content of every message, email or phone call they receive throughout the evening.

Apt Pupil

One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.

Jaggi

In rural Punjab, a schoolboy’s impotence leads to accusations of being gay, triggering relentless bullying. Amid this torment and dark family revelations, he battles inner demons that push him further on the edge. When pressured into an arranged marriage, he’s forced to make a heartbreaking choice.

Clément, Alex, and Everyone Else

Clement is gay. Alex is gay. They are looking for a new roommate for their big apartment in Paris with only one demand: he must be gay. And they find Leo, a charming student who is in deep trouble to find a place to sleep. Leo will do anything to get that room, whatever it takes.

Nothing Like The Sun

In 1949, Alice Mitchell works as a prostitute on the street. After her situation worsens, she unsuccessfully attempts to reconcile with her estranged family over her homosexuality. She grows infatuated the daughter of a Christian household, Annabel. But she ultimately decides to give up the relationship in order to make peace with her parents.

The Whale

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

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.

The Love

Rotterdam, the Moroccan-Dutch Karim tells his parents that he is attracted to men. After years of keeping up appearances, the word is finally out. The difficult days that follow evoke beautiful and poignant memories. He realizes that he has to confront his family to finally break the silence. But in order to be accepted, he must come to terms with his own feelings first.

Tove

Helsinki, 1945. The end of the war brings a new sense of artistic and social freedom for painter Tove Jansson. While focusing her artistic dreams on painting, the enchanting tales of the ‘Moomin’ creatures she told to scared children in bomb shelters, rapidly take on a life of their own, bringing international fame.

The Wedding Banquet

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.

My Days of Mercy

The daughter of a man on death row falls in love with a woman on the opposing side of her family's political cause.

The Firefly

After her estranged brother's sudden death, young wife Lucia bonds with his fiancée through their shared grief and finds herself falling in love.

Golden Years

The true story of a French WW1 deserter who, with the support of his wife, spends a decade in disguise as a woman.

For You

A coroner reunites with a great love from the past, realizing that the memories are more vivid than ever.

Package Deal

Aa story about a newlywed that receive a surprise guest that will eventually turn the couple’s world upside down.

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.

Paradise Now

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

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.

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten

Felix is a friendless achiever in high school whose life changes after the arrival of the half-American Snyder brothers, entangling him in their dark ambitions.

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.

Bad Education

An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.

Brokeback Mountain

In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Cloudy Clouds

17-year-old Paul likes strange things: stealth trails and abandoned buildings, whispered conversations and left-behind bags. Besides that, he seems to be a young man without qualities. His mysterious nature catches the eyes of his classmate Dala and his art-loving teacher Mr. Bulwer, both seemingly driven by hidden desires. Then a boy’s dead body is discovered in the forest...

Into the Mirror

Daniel is a young man struggling with an inner identity that is desperate to be realised. After leaving his father to move to London, his subconscious desires begin to take control. Led by his new co-worker and upon finding London's Drag hotspot 'Lost & Found' nightclub, Daniel realises his life will never have to be the same again.

A Complete Life

A man returns home from years on the run to find his wife having died of cancer and his son getting a divorce after his grandson's birth. The once mighty gangster ends up living in a nursing home where he finds the warmth and love of a younger woman. As he tries to break the news of his May-December romance to his son, he finds out that his son is now living with a man claiming to be a "close friend." Three generations of Wu, the grandfather who hates to lose face, the father who thinks love trumps all, and the rebellious grandson, collided as they dealt with love, friendship, and family.

After Louie

As an AIDS activist and member of ACT UP in the 1980s and 90s, Sam witnessed the deaths of too many friends and lovers. Battlewounded and struggling with survivor's guilt, Sam now resents the complacency of his former comrades and derides what he sees as the younger generation's indifference to the politics of sex, and of death. An unexpected intimacy with a much younger man challenges Sam's understanding of contemporary gay life. Through this unconventional romance, he is forced to deal with the trauma that so informs his past, their present, and an unknown future.

Beach Rats

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men.

Je t'aime, Julie

In late 17th Century France, a young, insecure woman resorts to desperate ways to be reunited with her lover, who's become a nun at a convent. Based on the chronicles of Julie d'Aubigny.

Heroes in Love

"Heroes in Love" is a collection of short films about young love in Hong Kong.

Isha

Rahmi, a Romanian immigrant living in England, creates a new life for himself while trying to keep up appearances with his Muslim family. This moving, evocative drama costars renowned Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern and Game of Thrones’ Lino Facioli alongside newcomer Hora Savescu as Rahmi.

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.

The World According to Garp

A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.

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.

Perfect Obedience

The fictional Father Ángel de la Cruz is based on Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, whose long history of child abuse was not addressed until 2006 and only publicly acknowledged in 2009. But director Luis Urquiza chooses to structure his film through the largely uncomprehending, wondering eyes of 13-year-old Julián, who travels from the arms of his loving pastoral family into the austere, hallowed halls of the seminary. Singling out the boy as his intimate disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and redubbing him “Sacramento Santos,” Father Ángel begins Julian’s instruction into the mysteries of “perfect obedience,” whose cardinal rule is: Never question a superior’s actions.

101 Reykjavik

Thirty-year-old Hlynur still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking, watching porn and surfing the net while living off unemployment checks. A girl is interested in him, but he stands back from commitment. His mother's Spanish flamenco teacher, Lola, moves in with them for Christmas. On New Year's Eve, while his mother is away, Hlynur finds out Lola is a lesbian, but also ends up having sex with her. He soon finds out he and his mother are sharing more than a house. Eventually he must find out where he fits into the puzzle, and how to live life less selfishly.

Farewell My Concubine

Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.

Wonder Boys

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

13 Minutes

As a new day begins in the small American town of Minninnewah, the residents start their day as ordinary as the next. Mother Nature, however, has other plans for them. Inhabitants have just 13 minutes to seek shelter before the largest tornado on record ravages the town, leaving them struggling to protect their loved ones and fighting for their lives. Left to deal with the aftermath, four families must overcome their differences and find strength in each other in order to survive.

Anything's Possible

Anything’s Possible is a delightfully modern Gen Z coming-of-age story that follows Kelsa, a confident high school girl who is trans, as she navigates through senior year. When her classmate Khal gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out, despite the drama he knows it could cause. What transpires is a romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love.

Gunyo Cholo: A Girl Coming of Age Story

Gulabi is a transwoman groomed by her patriarchal father to join the military. When her father disowns her, Gulabi ends up living a life of prostitution in Kathmandu.