Afire (2023)

Yella

A young East German woman leaves her husband and business partner and relocates to a West German city to start anew as an accountant, but he soon catches up with her.

Heart of an Oak

Once upon a time, there was a pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), born in 1810, 210 years old and a pillar in its kingdom. This spectacular adventure features an extraordinary cast: squirrels, barnacles, jays, ants, field mice... This vibrant, whirring, marvelous little world seals its destiny around the majestic tree that welcomes them, feeds them and protects them from its roots to its crown. A poetic ode to life, in which nature alone expresses itself.

Vodka Lemon

In a remote, isolated Yazidi Kurdish village in post-Soviet Armenia, Hamo, a widower with a pitiful pension and three worthless sons, travels daily to his wife's grave. There he meets the lovely Nina, who is communing with her late husband. The two are penniless--she works in a local bar that is about to close down, while he has been forced to start selling his meager possessions. All seems hopelessly bleak, yet when Hamo begins to court Nina, their unexpected love revitalizes them.

The Load

Vlada works as a truck driver during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Tasked with transporting a mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade, he drives through unfamiliar territory, trying to make his way in a country scarred by the war. He knows that once the job is over, he will need to return home and face the consequences of his actions.

Holly

After Holly seems to have predicted a deadly school fire, all eyes are on her. Her teacher invites her to volunteer in the grieving community. Holly gives peace, warmth, and hope. Soon people start demanding more and more of her.

Sea of Time

Two former lovers find themselves struggling for shared closure as one of them prepares to stage a play about the unspeakable tragedy that tore them apart decades ago.

Baltimore

Based on actual events that took place on 26 April 1974, former debutante turned IRA member Rose Dugdale and three comrades carried out an armed raid on Russborough House, Wicklow, in which nineteen masterpieces were stolen in an effort to support the IRA’s armed struggle. The film plays out over the course of the days following the raid, when Rose is in hiding in a remote cottage.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

A lost cat, a giant talkative frog and a tsunami help a bank employee without ambition, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant to save Tokyo from an earthquake and find a meaning to their lives.

Critical Zone

Amir leads a lonely life. With his dog for sole company, he drives through the underworld of Tehran, dealing drugs of all kinds and healing troubled souls like a modern prophet. He navigates the city streets aimlessly, following the directions of his GPS while getting high to escape a town with no future. And yet, in his wandering he will find the seed of resistance.

Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor

David Sloan must travel to Mexico to save his wife from a savage international terrorist.

Riceboy Sleeps

In the 1990s, an immigrant single mother raises her teenage son in the Canadian suburbs, determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind in South Korea.

Ama Gloria

Cleo is six years old, has a myopic look and has been madly in love with Gloria, her nanny, since she was born. When Gloria receives a call and must urgently return to her home in Cape Verde to care for her two children, whom she has not raised, Cleo makes her promise to meet one last time. Gloria accepts and invites Cleo to spend the summer vacations on her island. A last summer that they will spend together, in Gloria’s family, before inevitably saying goodbye.

The Fantastic Three

Max, a witty and brave 12-year-old, feels like he has two families instead of one. In and after school, he spends all his time with his two best friends Tom and Vivian, who are always there to make life easier for each other. Together, they are The Fantastic Three. His real family on the other hand, is messy, with a depressed single mother and a brother in jail.

Love According to Dalva

One evening, Dalva is suddenly taken away from her father’s house. Dumbfounded and outraged at first, she later meets Jayden, a social worker, and Samia, a teen with a temper. A new life seems to start for Dalva, that of a girl her age.

The Rapture

Lydia, a midwife very invested in her work, is in the middle of a breakup. At the same time, her best friend, Salomé, announces to her that she is pregnant and asks her to follow her pregnancy. The day Lydia meets Milos, a one-night stand, while she is holding her friend's baby in her arms, she sinks into a lie, at the risk of losing everything.

Until Death

Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.

The Teachers' Lounge

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

Visions

An experienced airline pilot, Estelle leads a perfect life between long-haul flights with her loving, protective husband Guillaume. One day, by chance, in an airport corridor, she crosses paths with Ana, a photographer with whom she had a passionate affair twenty years earlier. Little does Estelle know that this reunion will send her into a nightmarish spiral, turning her life upside down and irrational.

Phoenix

German-Jewish cabaret singer Nelly survived Auschwitz but had to undergo reconstructive surgery as her face was disfigured. Without recognizing Nelly, her former husband Johnny asks her to help him claim his wife’s inheritance. To see if he betrayed her, she agrees, becoming her own doppelganger.

Along Came Love

1947. On a beach, Madeleine, a waitress in a hotel restaurant, mother of a little boy, meets François, a rich and cultivated student. The force of attraction that pushes them towards each other is commensurate with the secrecy that each carries. If we know what Madeleine wants to leave behind by following this young man, we discover over time, what François is desperately trying to flee by mixing Madeleine's fate with his.

Passages

Tomas and Martin are a gay couple living in Paris whose marriage is thrown into crisis when Tomas impulsively begins a passionate affair with young schoolteacher Agathe. But when Martin begins an affair of his own, Tomas must confront life decisions he may be unprepared—or unwilling—to deal with.

Problemos

When a pandemic strikes the world, Victor and his family get stuck within a hippie community.

Fallen Leaves

In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles – from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.

The President's Wife

When she arrived at the Elysée Palace, Bernadette Chirac expected to finally get the place she deserved, she who had always worked in the shadow of her husband to make him president. Put aside because she was considered too old-fashioned, Bernadette decided to take her revenge by becoming a major media figure.

El Conde

After living for over two centuries, Augusto Pinochet is a vampire ready to die… but the vultures around him won't let him go without one last bite.

Wish I Was Here

Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.

The Goddess of Fortune

Alessandro and Arturo have been together for over 15 years and, despite the feeling they still have for each other, their relationship is now at crisis. When Alessandro’s best friend, out of the blue, asks them to take care of her two kids for a few days, something changes in their daily routine and love will drive them to a crazy and unexpected turn in their life.

A Real Job

Benjamin is a PhD student without scholarship support. Under the pressure of his parents, and in need of money, he becomes a substitute teacher in a middle school. Without training nor experience, and facing a declining public educational system, he discovers how tough this job can be. Hopefully, his supportive and committed colleagues will lead him to take a fresh look at the profession.

Perfect Days

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

The Old Oak

A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in the empty houses in the community.

The Taste of Things

Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.

C'mon C'mon

Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.

Yannick

In the middle of a performance of the play "Le Cocu", a bad boulevard comedy at a Parisian theatre, Yannick gets up and interrupts the show to take the evening back in hand.

Manhattan

Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

The Animal Kingdom

In a world hit by a wave of mutations transforming humans into animals, François does everything he can to save his wife. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, he and their son Émile embark on a quest that will change their lives forever.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named 'Rocky'.

Wolfs

Hired to cover up a high-profile crime, a fixer soon finds his night spiralling out of control when he's forced to work with an unexpected counterpart.

Aftersun

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.

The Family Plan

Dan Morgan is many things: a devoted husband, a loving father, a celebrated car salesman. He's also a former assassin. And when his past catches up to his present, he's forced to take his unsuspecting family on a road trip unlike any other.

Tomorrow Ever After

Shaina lives 600 years in the future. War, greed, prejudice, poverty, pollution, violence, loneliness, depression – these are things that she’s read about in history books. When an accident in a physics experiment sends her on a time-travel journey to our times, she assumes that everyone around her is honest, generous and caring, as she recruits the help that she needs to get back home.

Last Chance Saloon

Ils sont amis depuis l'enfance et se sont juré de toujours s'entraider. Ensemble, Kathy, Tara et Yann ont quitté leur île bretonne pour s'installer à Paris. Alors que Yann est heureux avec Alfredo, son compagnon, les deux filles connaissent des vies sentimentales plutôt désastreuses. Tara, aussi rieuse que peu sûre d'elle, se fait esclavagiser par Thomas, petit prof égocentrique et mesquin...

Islands

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

Nicholas on Holiday

It's the end of the school year. The long-awaited moment of the holidays is arrive. The little Nicolas, her parents and Grandma take the road towards the sea, and settle in for some time at the Hotel Beau-Rivage.

Male Shorts: International V2

The second volume of an international collection of five short films focusing on men, including: Enter (2018); Free Fall [Caída libre] (2018); Haze [Ocaso] (2014); Mr. Fox [Sr. Raposo] (2018); Twice [Due volte] (2018).

The Younger

Chen Hao-Zhi lives alone with his Grandmother who has Alzheimers and has suffered from a stroke. In order to pay the bills and his grandmother's medical expenses, he goes to work in a gay massage parlor. At first, it was just work...but Hao-Zhi soon finds that he is attracted to some of his clientele, and gets pulled into a world where he loses control of things he thought he could handle.

Secrets of War

Tuur and Lambert are best friends. But the war is closing in and is about to change their lives forever. Tuurs dad joined the resistance and even his big brother seems so be part of it. Lamberts family on the other hand choose to obey the Germans. Then a new girls from the city shows up, befriending the boys but telling her secret to only one of them. A choice that separates the boys and ultimately gets her in trouble.

Fitting In

A teenage girl gets diagnosed with a reproductive condition that upends her plans to have sex and propels her into exploring unusual methods to have a sex life, challenging her relationships with everyone in her life, but most importantly, herself.

My Summer in Provence

In the wake of their parent's separation, three siblings spend the summer in the south of France with their estranged Grandfather. In less than 24 hours, a clash of generations has occurred between the teenagers and the old man. During this turbulent summer, both generations will be transformed by one another.

Tin Men

A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.

The Little Rascals

When nine-year-old Alfalfa falls for Darla, his "He-Man-Woman-Hating" friends attempt to sabotage their relationship.

All Quiet on the Western Front

At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.

Dear Wendy

In a blue-collar American town, a group of teens bands together to form the Dandies, a gang of gunslingers led by Dick Dandelion. Following a code of strict pacifism at odds with the fact that they all carry guns, the group eventually lets in Sebastian, the grandson of Dick's childhood nanny, Clarabelle, who fears the other gangs in the area. Dick and company try to protect Clarabelle, but events transpire that push the gang past posturing.

The Fox and the Hound

When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!

Pittagoda

Four good-for-nothing lads, including Tippu, from Godavarikhani, a town in Kareemnagar District, often face humiliation by the members of their neighbourhood. In an attempt to gain respect, they plan on doing something to make news in the local papers. However, Tippu’s love for Divya makes him take decisions that lands all of them in troubles. How the gang overcomes the obstacles and also fulfil the dream of making news in the process forms the story.

Go! Go! G-Boys

Shin and Hung are close friends, but gradually Shin starts to have feelings for Hung. Hung decides to join a gay beauty contest in order to win USD 300,000 to pay his girlfriend's credit card debt. At the same time, an anti-gay cop, Jay, pretends to be gay and joins the contest to investigate a possible crime by an anti-gay group.

Tyler

A young man who loses his job is trapped in a small town that has fallen victim to economic ruin. He resorts to extreme measures to escape and start a new life.

A Taste of Honey

While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual.

Deadline

A screenwriter travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a series of strange events lead her to a psychological breakdown.

Santuaryo

Santuaryo is a movie that centers on the unfolding narration of a young man named Archie (Basti Romero). Archie went looking for a lost treasure when he came into the possession of an ancient map left by an old adventurer. His journey left him battered and cloudy with memories as he was found drifting on the ocean and later rescued by island fishermen. When his long time lover, William (Will Sandejas) arrives at his side, he is forced to painfully recall what happened to him and describes how he crossed paths with a group of boys looking for the same treasure. In the end, Archie realizes what is most valuable in life and it is in his relationship with William that he finds his greatest fortune. Panoramic and provoking. Santuaryo is ultimately a hypothesis about the behavioral mutations of a group of boys when faced with desperate circumstances.

Get Real

Sensitive rural town model student Steven Carter hides his gay feelings, except with his neighbor and best friend Linda. Suddenly his desperate search for partners leads to a blind date with golden boy John Dixon, bound for an Oxbridge career.

The Art of Being Straight

Twenty-three-year-old John has just moved to L.A. from New York, ostensibly "taking a break" from his longtime girlfriend. He moves in with college bro Andy, whose pals incessantly do that kind of "That is so gay" banter that's essentially harmless - unless you're the only gay guy in the room.

Bump Up Business

Eden, who is about to debut in a boyband, encounters Jihoon, an over-the-hill celebrity from the same agency as his. Not long after seeing Jihoon and determining that he would become a more popular star than Jihoon, Eden is told that he can make his debut only by doing a “business gay performance (BGP)” as a team with Jihoon. Eden wants to reject such a reality, but he follows what his agency wants him to do for his long-cherished dream of debuting. Eden feels averse to “BGP” while working in a boy band called “BoK”, and Jihoon naturally approaches and teases him. The two continue to squabble, but as they spend more time together, they begin to grow closer. In the meantime, with the appearance of top stars Hyunbin and Jay, misunderstandings between Eden and Jihoon build up… Will they be able to clear up the misunderstanding and find out their true feelings for each other?

Opening Night

A teenage boy navigates the final minutes before his first theater stage performance, which includes experiencing his first kiss. Despite his rising anxiety, he shares a romantic moment with a classmate.

Boys On Film 21: Beautiful Secret

Those boys you know and love are back! Boys On Film invites you on a voyage of emotion-soaked self-discovery, where same-sex attraction is celebrated, first loves are tenderly formulated, and beautiful secrets burn and bloom. Volume 21: Beautiful Secret includes nine complete films: Theo James Krekis's "Memoirs Of A Geeza" starring Elliot Warren and Tony Richardson; Joe Morris's "We Are Dancers" starring Hans Piesbergen and Simon Eckert; Zachary Ayotte's "My Dad Works The Night Shift" starring Victor Boudreault, Antoine L'Écuyer, and François Trudel; Loïc Hobi's "The Pier Man" starring Hubert Girard and Youssouf Abi-Ayad; Jason Bradbury's "My Sweet Prince" starring Yodi Roodner; Abel Rubinstein's "Dungarees" starring Pete MacHale and Ludovic Jean-Francios; Sam Peter Jackson's "Clothes & Blow" starring David Menkin and Nancy Baldwin; George Dogaru's "A Normal Guy" starring Vlad Bîrzanu and Pedro Aurelian; and Pierce Hadjinicola & Sinclair Suhood's "Pretty Boy" starring Orlando Norman.

Tropical Night

Jae Hee and his brother Tae Kyung live quietly in Pattaya. They are one day visited by Min Ki, whose brother Min Hoon, committed suicide while on military leave. Convinced that Jae Hee is responsible, Min Ki comes to realize that Jae Hee was deeply in love with his brother, and grows fond of him. The buds of love then gradually sprout in the dreamy tropical night.

Nightstand

An unsettling portrait of a destructive three night affair between two men - one is gay, lost and adolescent, the other is married to a woman and middle-aged. Set in the heart of Soho, a fracturing queer landscape, Nightstand is a whirlwind of repressed yearnings and urban loneliness.

An Evening

Having slept together for the first time, two teenage boys must make sense of their evolving relationship.

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.

The First Kiss

Andi is a teenager living in a small commuter town. No one knows that he is gay, except his older brother. Today is a special day because he is going to Madrid where he has a date with a boy his age whom he has met online.

Rate the Cookie

A game show where Jo Firestone sets up a cookie tasting in a parking lot to try to make friends. Contestants must ultimately decide between a friendship and $50 cash.

Along for the Ride

The summer before college, Auden meets the mysterious Eli, a fellow insomniac. While the seaside town of Colby sleeps, the two embark on nightly quests to help Auden experience the fun, carefree teen life she never knew she wanted.

Dante vs. Mohammed Ali

When Wolf refuses to fight his best friend Alexander during a weekly boxing match, the whole village turns against him. He tries to convince Alexander to join him leaving the village, but his overly romantic message runs into a wall.

Kalamazoo

A Montreal man imagines a mermaid in place of the writer whose picture appears on a novel.

Burning Blue

Two Navy fighter pilots find themselves in the midst of a forbidden relationship throwing their lives and careers into disarray.

First Period

New girl Cassie and outcast Maggie are easily the most awkward girls in high school. Together, they decide the way to win the hearts of the cute boys and popular girls is to come in first at the school talent show. But rivals Heather, Other Heather, and their popular boyfriends Brett and Dirk will stop at nothing to keep our heroes the laughing stock of the school. It's going to take makeovers, courage, and maybe even a little rapping to beat them in true 80s style.

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.

In July

Can Daniel follow the sun from Hamburg to the Bosporus by Friday to meet his love?

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.

Chance at Romance

Samantha Hart is delighted when her online "Chance at Romance" to photographer Heath Madsen eventually results in Heath sending her a first class ticket to visit. Upon arriving for what she expects to be a romantic weekend, however, she learns her online relationship with the widowed photographer was actually manufactured a matchmaking twelve year-old. Sam is anxious to end her trip as quickly as possible, but a nasty bout of weather extends her stay through the end of the week.

Some of My Best Friends Are...

Regulars gather at The Blue Jay, a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, to celebrate Christmas Eve 1971 with people they consider family.

Chica Quinqui

After the tragic and sudden death of her father, Isabel, a 17-year-old girl, is forced to move to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Valencia and start from scratch in a high school where she is bullied. There she meets Lola, a troubled teenager who her family forces to sell drugs and commit crimes. Isabel and Lola will have to team up to get ahead. Together they will forge a great friendship and end up discovering love.

Wendy and Lucy

A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.

Ka Bodyscapes

Three young people—Haris, a gay painter; Vishnu, a rural kabaddi player and their friend Sia, an activist who refuses to conform to dominant norms of femininity—struggle to find space and happiness in a conservative Indian city.

My Salinger Year

A college grad takes a clerical job working for the literary agent of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.

Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe

A young priest is intent on denying his homosexuality, and he's not doing a very good job. Meanwhile, his alien ex-lover is plotting to turn the Earth into a homosexual planet during a cosmic event and Captain Faggotron is caught in the middle. Clashing ideologies culminate in an orgy of gay demons and a love that no longer has to hide.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

A young British widow rents a seaside cottage and soon becomes haunted by the ghost of its former owner.

Permanent Midnight

Juggling increasing career success and a growing heroin habit, a television comedy writer attempts to go down a path of improvement.

Saturn in Opposition

This film focuses on contemporary 30- and 40-somethings trying to make sense of their lives in an age in which the old certainties have disappeared. Lorenzo and Davide make their lives together within a circle that includes Antonio and Angelica, married with children; Nerval and her policeman husband.

The Villain Who I Love

One day, high school freshman Minzy finds a photo of herself changing clothes in the school locker room. Class leader Hyejin, who is not close to minzy, points out that the new teacher is the suspect to her. Minzy and Hyejin collect evidences to prove that the teacher takes pictures of high school girls secretly. When Minzy and Hyejin report the teacher's behavior to another teacher, Minzy realizes something unexpected.

Crows Zero II

Genji and his victorious G.P.S. alliance find themselves facing down a new challenge by the students of Hosen Academy, feared by everyone as 'The Army of Killers.' The two schools, in fact, have a history of bad blood between them. And the simmering embers of hatred are about to flare up again, burning away any last remnants of the truce they had so rigorously observed until now.

The Chosen

In a 1940s New York, two Jewish teenage boys are determined to remain friends despite the deep differences between their two families.

About Us

Two young students, Matheus and Diego, experience their first love.

Magalir Mattum

A progressive-minded documentary filmmaker reunites three older women who have been separated since college and takes them on a trip.

Five Steps to Accept Farewell

YeJoo and EunMin spent two years as a couple so far. One day, YeJoo wants to finish the relationship that she had with EunMin. EunMin gets angry and asks if there's another girl. Yejoo says she got a boyfriend.