French Touch: Desires (2021)

Desert Hearts

While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.

Everything Is Illuminated

A young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II—in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.

Summer Storm

Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.

Mala Noche

Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.

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.

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.

Bend It Like Beckham

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

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.

7 Virgins

Tano is 16-years-old and is already sitting in jail. In 48 hours he’s a free man and off to the wedding of his brother. In the two days he recounts his neighborhood in a section of Sevilla.

Fire

In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.

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.

Breathless

Jesse, a small-time criminal, high-tails it to Los Angeles to rendezvous with a French exchange student. Stealing a car and accidentally killing a highway patrolman, he becomes the most wanted fugitive in L.A.

Ghosts

Nina, an end-of-teenage orphan with mental problems, starts a new job as a garden cleaner when she meets Toni. They fell in love with each other, but soon Toni starts betraying Nina. In the meantime, Francoise is picked up at a psychic department of a Berlin hospital by her husband, Pierre. After seeing Nina, Francoise believes that she has found her kidnapped daughter Marie, but neither Toni nor Pierre believe her. Nina is unsure about what to think...

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Lonely Hearts

In the late 1940s, a murderous couple known as the 'The Lonely Hearts Killers' kills close to a dozen people. Two detectives try to nab the duo who find their targets via the personals in the paper.

Notes on a Scandal

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

Frida

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

Shortbus

In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

Alexander

Alexander, the King of Macedonia, leads his legions against the giant Persian Empire. After defeating the Persians, he leads his army across the then known world, venturing farther than any westerner had ever gone, all the way to India.

Anatomy of Hell

A woman employs a gay man to spend four nights at her house to watch her when she's "unwatchable".

Emo Valley

A foster care survivor, living in the streets of Phoenix, Arizona; Is being stalked by an individual from social media.

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.

I Like You, I Like You Very Much

A tense love triangle unfolds as You struggles with his affair, questioning his identity and desires while caught between two men who change his life forever.

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 Lovers

A shallow, provincial wife finds her relationship with her preoccupied husband strained by romantic notions, leading her further towards Paris and the country wilderness.

Him

Andri, an anxious teenage boy, hides and represses his sexuality in fear of his masculine father's reaction but, on the eve of Andri's first date, he finds a clever way to reveal his secret.

Antonia's Line

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

Irreversible

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

Raphael or the Debauched One

In 1830s France, a virtuous widow falls for a self-destructive debauchee obsessed with death. Initial resistance gives way to a desperate and cynical romance.

Love Has Many Faces

A woman lives in Acapulco with moochers and a husband who married her for her money.

Edge of Seventeen

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

Like Love

An offbeat love story about campus life around the An Zi Yan and Mai Ding who start military training as college acquaintances, Mai Ding was the one who made the first move to An Zi Yan, they have a good relationship and gradually felt sparks. After their relationship strengthens, their relationship is obstructed by their family and friends, like An Zi Yan’s sister Ansul who has a difficult attitude. An Zi Yan secretly asks help from his ex-girlfriend Bai Xiao Si. Based off the best-selling novel of the same name by Angelina.

Savage Fire

In the city of Cajamar, in the middle of ruined nature, lonely characters deal with the police, rodeos and mysterious fires.

Admiral

When the young republic of The Netherlands is attacked by England, France and Germany and faces its own civil war no less, only one man, Michael de Ruyter, can lead the county's strongest weapon, the Dutch fleet.

Salt

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

The Angry Toy

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

G O'Clock

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

L'Animale

Riding on their tuned-up bikes, Mati and her posse of male friends intimidate their neighborhood and harass the girls. In their village, they rule. But when her closest pal Sebastian falls in love with Mati and her enemy Carla unexpectedly turns into a friend, Mati is in danger of losing her standing among her male friends. Meanwhile Mati’s parents have a decision to make: What's more important, appearances or reality?

Wildhood

Link and his brother flee their abusive father and embark on a journey where Link discovers his sexuality and rediscovers his Mi’kmaw heritage.

The Bridge

A gay Australian man reflects on the immigration problems of his young Russian boyfriend.

Shakespeare's Sonnets

A Harvard dandy circa 1946 lures his best friend away from the privileges of conformity.

Bumping Heads

Craig is an older, average-looking man who isn't handling aging well. Gary is a hot, blond young stud at the center of attention. They literally bump heads one night, and become best friends. But Craig wants to be boyfriends, while Gary has other issues. They work things out (somewhat) during a night in the emergency room.

Shall We Kiss?

When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel's offer of "a kiss without consequences". Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else's life.

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.

The Basketball Diaries

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

Inocentes

A voyeuristic journey through the homoerotic work of Alair Gomes.

Follow Me

Jasper (20), on the edge of adulthood , wanders around lost in the Port of Ghent. Fragments of a phone call betray a loss.

Only You

Yonatan decides to get himself out of an unequal BDSM relationship. He tries to live a “normal” life, focus on work and date a “normal” guy, but in the end he can’t stop the thoughts and longing for the way he felt in his previous relationship.

The Poet and the Boy

Trapped in routine, a Jeju poet finds himself drawn to a boy—and to emotions he’s never dared name.

Stand Up!

Irish anti-homophobic bullying advertisement, created as part of BeLonG To Youth Services annual Up! LGBT Awareness Weeks.

The Symphony of Silence

17 year-old writer Zach struggles to survive in the 'dog eat dog' world of high school where he is tormented by bullies. There is no chance of finding comfort at home as one of the bullies happens to be his 18 year-old brother, Sean. In order to escape his bullies at school, he resorts to hiding in the restroom during his lunch breaks.

Laio

While out with his friends for fun one night in São Paulo, Leandro is confronted with glimpses of his own violence. The film is loosely inspired by the homophobic attack that occurred in the Paulista Avenue area, in which teenagers used fluorescent lamps as a weapon.

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When the two meet pathetic drag novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez — one of the losers that evening — the charmed Vida and Noxeema agree to take the hopeless youngster under their joined wing. Soon the three set off on a madcap road trip across America and struggle to make it to Los Angeles in time.

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.

Jerker

The movie, adapted from Robert Chesley's homoerotic play of the same title, revolves around two men who started out as phone sex buddies who grew on each other through time. The fragility of this kind of relationship is put to fore when Bert (Tom Wagner) got sick and couldn't return his calls. J.R. was left with nothing to hold on to but blank hope. No warning. No goodbye. Bert is gone.

Fallen Fruit

A heartbroken 20-something reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Miami, where he's forced to reevaluate his relationships in the face of a looming hurricane.

Max

Max and Antoine, two best friends, are having a drink together. Something will interfere with their night: Antoine tries to kiss Max, but Max pushes Antoine back. Max wants to make Antoine understand that he doesn't like men but Antoine thinks the contrary...

In Half

After his twin's wake, James spends an afternoon with his brother's ex-boyfriend, learning more about his brother and more about himself.

The Latin Boys: Volume 1

From Mennonite musings on the Amazonian pampas to wild Havana nights and bittersweet Rio love songs, if a roller-coaster of same sex desire is what you seek, The Latin Boys will take you there. The 6 short films are: Unicorn [Unicornio] (2014); The Good Friend [El amigo] (2017); Mila Caos (2011); Pray for Us [Ruega por nosotros] (2019); Carlito Leaves Forever [Carlito se va para siempre] (2018); I Am Yet to Make You a Love Song [Ainda Não Lhe Fiz Uma Canção de Amor] (2015).

Fair Play

Marie and Steven appear to be a happy couple, but Steven's secret relationship with another man begins to threaten his idyllic home life.

Swinging Blossom

Elderly Gu Si Jun, haunted by memories of a lost love, meets designer Ma Ming Jin—who looks just like the boy from his past—rekindling feelings he thought long buried.

Fine Dead Girls

Iva and Marija, a young lesbian couple, rent an apartment in Zagreb, in a building that seems to provide a quiet and safe environment for their love, but over time the atmosphere in the building becomes more and more threatening. The elder landlady Olga dominates the building. Other tenants include her calm husband, her grown-up son Daniel who has a crush on Iva, the prostitute Lidija, an abused housewife, a widower keeping the corpse of his newly deceased wife, a gynecologist performing abortions in one flat of the house, and an ex-soldier who regularly plays martial music at night. After Olga finds out that Iva and Marija are lesbians, the situation escalates .

Milk

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

Boys On Film Presents: Campfire

BOYS ON FILM is proud to present the complete short film collection of Bavo Defurne (North Sea Texas [Noordzee, Texas] (2011)), a beautiful imaginative series that reflects on different aspects of youth and sexuality. Defurne’s short films have wowed festival audiences all over the world and won numerous awards. His fluid directing style playfully takes reference from works of art and legendary filmmakers and creates something unique and original. The short films collected in Boys on Film Presents: Campfire showcase the foundation of an unusual directing talent with astonishing visual flare. Includes: Campfire [Kampvuur] (2000), Particularly Now, in Spring (1996), Sailor [Matroos] (1998), Saint (1996).

Musical Utena ~ Bud of the White Rose

The 2018 Revolutionary Girl Utena musical, marking the 20th anniversary of the series, ran from March 8-18th at CBGK! Theater in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Peace

A down-low queer relationship really questions what it means to be at peace.

Summer Friends

Tom and Ellis have been friends forever, spending their summer holidays fishing by the sea. One day, they meet Lucie, a new arrival at their village. As days go by, feelings amongst the trio grow more intimate.

Lakeview

A queer ensemble comedy set over a weekend at the lake house of a group of lifelong friends