Must Watch: AGUA (2015) Short Film

This wonderful short started as a film school project for director Ricardo Esparragoza at the University of Guadalajara. In 2015, it kind of took off in the LGBT film festival circuit around the world showing in places like Holland, Brazil, Argentina, the USA, Ireland, and more than we have time to list. Thankfully, it is finally available to the public.

AGUA, is a beautiful, understated short about a University swimmer feeling at home in the water but awkward and shy around his fellow teammate and mancrush. It's very sweet and remarkably well made. It's worth twelve minutes of your time.

Must Watch: Bromance Episode #1

A new web series is exploring what happens when your overly flirtatious straight roommate sends mixed signals. Do things ultimately go to far? What happens in the aftermath if they do? Bromance is a pretty interesting take on this all too familiar situation. Writing/Directing team Nicholas Swatz and Alexander Norris are off to a great start in Episode 1 of this three part web series. We will definitely be on the lookout for Episode 2.

Must Watch: Just Tonight (2015) Short Film

Check out Just Tonight, a terrific four minute short written and directed by filmmaker Stephen Boyer. It's an exceptionally realistic depiction of what happens when two men meet via hook up app and they have very different expectations of how the night is supposed to go. As is often the case in real life, one is looking for sex, the other is looking for love. In just four minutes, Boyer manages to convey some fairly complex emotions and tackles this subject matter in a pleasantly mature and forthright manner. It's totally worth four minutes of your time.

You can check out Stephen Boyer's other work here.

Must Watch: "Sticks and Stones: Bambi Lake" Documentary

Director/Filmmaker/Musician Silas Howard's latest documentary covers the mesmerizing life of of Bambi Lake, a landmark transsexual punk rocker from San Francisco’s fringe art scene. Howard’s documentary has Lake herself recount the story of a young woman who winds up in the midst of a red light district lifestyle in San Francisco and somehow found her ways on stage opening for David Bowie. The 15-minute film touches upon the early, pre-AIDS epidemic queer scene filled with promiscuity and hustling that Bambi called home.

From the official description:

“Every street has a story.” Sticks & Stones is an intimate documentary about a song, a street, and a diva. Bambi Lake, a notorious San Francisco transgender performer and entertainer, takes us on a stroll down Polk Street, sharing anecdotes and the history behind her song "Golden Age of Hustlers," which was written about her time as a street hustler in the mid-70’s. She landed on Polk Street after a stint with the Cockettes and prior to regular gigs at renowned 80s/90spunk venue, the Mabuhey Gardens.

Honestly, I was in awe of the stories of hanging out with Bowie and Iggy Pop in Europe. The insane list of lovers, friends, and mentors, some in the punk scene, some not, includes Henry Rollins from his Black Flag days, Exene Cervenka from X, The Stranglers, Ginger Coyote, and so many more.  But more touching are the tales of being a stripper, friends passing away, homelessness, transgender struggles, and now being banned from some of the bars and clubs that she loves.

In the interview with Pitchfork, Silas Howard talks about his involvement with the early San Francisco queer community and his role as a guitarist in the queer punk band Tribe 8. When asked about his first time meeting Bambi, Howard said, “I went to the gay pride parade and all of a sudden there was this commotion on the sidelines and there was this tow truck pulling a fake cop car, and it was surrounded by all these punks and drag queens with baseball bats and high heel shoes smashing the cop car. And then in front of it it said "NO APOLOGIES, NO REGRETS." It was this really wild, good-looking, sexy, performative group of people that were very irreverent. The humor was really gallows humor. For myself, I was 18, and knew "that’s my people."

Silas Howard has been named the first Trans director of Jill Soloway’s original Golden Globe winning and Emmy winning series Transparent. He is also known for directing Hudson Valley Ballers, award winning, Sundance premiered By Hook or By Crook, SXSW-premiered Sunset Stories, and is currently working on a musical film for legendary artist Peaches.

Sticks & Stones is totally worth fifteen minutes of your time. Watch below.

Must Watch: AMIAS (2013) Short Film

Wonderful gay themed short film AMIAS has thankfully been released for public viewing after spending a year and half on the festival circuit. Written and Directed by Italian first time filmmaker John Giordano, AMIAS has been shown at numerous film fests throughout Europe and the US winning  Best Short Fiction at the 65th Montecatini Short Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Azores Fringe Festival.

The official synopsis is as follows:

Amias develops two subsequent relationships, one with Nina and the other one with Ariel. Only when his heart breaks twice, he realizes he has to look inside.
Its the journey of a boy from the priviledged point of view of his deepest unconscious.
The story catapults us into a dreamlike dimension somewhere between dream and reality, constantly torn between what is now, what was and what could be, not just for him but for each of us. A universal engaging theme but at the same time so intimate and private that by watching this short film one has the feeling of being elephants in a china shop breaking everything they touch within this delicate balanced triangle. A balance so precarious that it disintegrates in the moment of a race towards themselves, to nowhere, to the truth.
"Amias", he is what he seems to be, helpless and naked in front of us, he leaves the viewer free to get lost in the poetry that erupts in the images, from the composition of the shots to the gestures so simple yet so powerful. He allows thousands of different possibilities in interpreting the scenes.

AMIAS is way more fulfilling than most short films. At just nine minutes long, AMIAS is a quick watch that masterfully manipulates us into feeling like we have been part of a much longer film experience. It is very much worth your time.

Filmmaker John Giordano is currently in the early stages of his next short film A Deer Died Here and finishing up a Master’s Degree at the prestigious London Film School.

Must Watch: Stray (2015) Short Film

Filmmaker Tyler Glodt and writer Lewaa Nasserdeen bring us the hilarious twenty-four minute long short film Stray. What's it about? So glad you asked. It's set in a parallel universe where the sexual bias favors homosexuals. Eric, a struggling heterosexual, submits himself into gay conversion therapy in hopes of curing his deviant lifestyle and fitting in with societal norms.

I know, I know. It seems like this film could go really bad, really fast. But, it doesn't. It's terrifically wonderful and deadpan. The acting is sincere and natural. It's a total relief from the campy silliness of films that have come before. Stray will make you laugh out loud without a single over the top, "hey look how gay and funny I am" performance. The actors even stay in character while delivering rehab/recovery lines like, "I'm out of scrubs, I can almost do the splits, and I'm starting to emotionally shut down."

Anyway, rather than me going on and on, watch it for yourself. It's well worth your time.

Gay Themed Animated Short Film "Cruise Patrol" Finally Available Online!

Dutch animator Bobby de Groot and the team at House of Secrets finally made their 2013 gay themed, sci-fi animated short Cruise Patrol available to view online for free! I guess they needed to finish up their 2014 Festival circuit that included more than fifty film fests in twenty two countries.

Cruise Patrol was also nominated for some pretty prestigious awards including Grand Prix of Dutch Animation at the Holland Animation Film Festival, Best International Short at Suspiria Fest, Best Short Animated Film at the Shortcutz Film Festival, and more!

Anyway, since the movie is only seven minutes long, I am not going to give away too much of the plot. The only thing I will say is the first couple of minutes you will wonder where this is going. Stick with it. It takes an unexpected turn into craziness!

Watch: Suck-A-Thumb Trilogy by Gay Filmmaker Richard Mansfield

So, if you like fairy tales, if you like over the top campy story telling, if you like dark stories about kids behaving badly, you kinda owe it to yourself to watch Richard Mansfield's animated short film Suck-A-Thumb trilogy. It is a collection of parables warning kids of the dangers of misbehaving told through wonderfully crude puppetry and animation. The first Suck-A-Thumb film was screened as part of the London Lesbian Gay Film Festival (now FLARE). Since then, each of the two follow up films have become more ambitious in scope warning children to mind their Mothers or terrible things will happen.

The stories in the Suck-A-Thumb series are based on the German fairy tale book Der Struwwelpeter by German psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffmann. Mansfield explains:

The original rhyme of Suck-A-Thumb was one of my favourite stories growing up. The story of a young boy sucking seemed perfect to make into a camp horror animation that was both funny and cruel. It was great to be able to expand the story and turn it into a horror series. My dream is to turn the stories into a stop-motion feature film.

I think there is a strong sexual undertone to Suck-A-Thumb, whether it's intended or not by Hoffmann. The story is certainly is often read as masturbation by modern audiences. We played the sexual innuendo from the tale right up making it as rude as possible from the sucking of the thumbs in the first film to the erection-cutting off in the third one! One blog said the films were 'Explicitly homosexual' which we thought was fantastic. 

Richard Mansfield is not alone in this undertaking. He and his husband Daniel, who voices the narrator and Mother in the Suck-A-Thumb trilogy, founded the production company Mansfield Dark in 2011. Together they've put out host of uniquely wonderful movies ranging from the outrageous comedy of ‘Showgirls 3’ to the chilling horror of ‘The Mothman Curse’. Their first official DVD release was LGBT period-drama 'The Secret Path.'  Coming 14th April is gay vampire thriller 'Drink Me'. You can watch 'The Secret Path' below!

If you would like to explore the Mansfield Dark films on your own, we suggest their Website, Facebook, and Twitter! Otherwise, enjoy the trilogy below! And be sure to check out their trailer to The Secret Path!

Gay Independent Filmmaker Branden Blinn Set To Release Compilation of Nine Gay Short Films

Gay independent filmmaker Branden Blinn has compiled nine of his gay short films into a new release titled Remarkable Shades of Gay. The premiere happens on February 27th in NYC at Cinema Village. The nine shorts include some of his better known work such as Thirteen or So Minutes and Triple Standard as well as some charming newer titles like Truth or Dare and A La Carte.

They released a teaser trailer for the event today. Not too much info given yet, I am sure more details will come soon. In the meantime, here are two of the short films included in the compilation that Blinn has made available online.

Also, be sure to check out his great web series Derek and Cameron. They are 5 episodes in thus far. And it's pretty darn entertaining. It's all about trying to make a relationship work though one of the two partners is struggling with his sexuality.

Watch: Grind (2014) Short Film/Musical

Written and directed by Zachary Halley, Grind is an interesting mix of short film and music video. The story line follows a few friends navigating the world of hookup apps while the people mysteriously go missing in their city. We won't divulge too much more info because we don't want to give spoilers. Grind also, has won itself a ton of awards at LGBT film festivals around the world including:

Best Short Film- Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival
Best Overall Short Film, Best Cinematography and Outstanding Artistic Achievement- FilmOut San Diego
Best LGBT Film- NYC Downtown Shorts Film Festival
Best LGBT Film and Audience Favorite (LGBT Film) at SENE in Providence, RI

Here's their official synopsis:
GRIND is a short film musical that takes a sexy and artistic look at the ways we connect in today’s multi-screened hook up culture and asks, “Do you REALLY know who you’re talking to?”

Once you get into the rhythm of the back and forth acting scenes interspersed with well done music numbers, Grind is a pretty entertaining film. It's definitely worth 34 minutes of your time!

Watch: Talk to Me Now (2012) Short Film

For the first time, Brazilian filmmaker Joaquim Lino has made his 2012 short film Talk To Me Now available for mass consumption with English subtitles! Lino wrote and co-directed (with Karina Ades) this wonderful film about love, family, and compassion in the face of some particularly nasty and brutal sexual intolerance.

Here's the official synopsis:

Julio, a 40 years old man who lives with his father and his grandmother who he helps looking after, works as a cross dressed jazz singer. Julio's father does not approve his work but has to deal with all his anger when his favorite son looses all his money and Julio has to take over all the house's expanses. But the biggest challenge comes to both of them when Julio discovers that his father has a fatal illness. Julio has very little time to destroy the wall between them to win his love and he'll do whatever is necessary to succeed.

This barely scratches the surface of the true nature of this charming movie. Julio's brother Manu (short for Emanuel) and Grandmother embrace Julio and respect him and the financial support he gives the family. But, the Father is a different matter altogether. He is a seething ball of hatred and rage who also happens to be dying of an undisclosed terminal condition. In one particularly gut wrenching segment, Julio and Manu are the victims of gay bashing outside a nightclub while at home, their Father is destroying Julio's room and clothing out of disgust for his cross dressing. The acting is so wonderful by the father in this scene that you easily feel his own self-hatred and fear boiling over, causing him to last out.

Talk To Me Now is a really well put together short film. Though just 17 minutes long, it really feels like a full length movie. And, the dark and brooding cinematography do a great job of capturing the mood of the soulful, sentimental jazz that Julio sings to make his living. It's more than worth a watch!

Watch: Violin (2012) Short Film

German writer/director Roman Ilyushenko brings us Violin, an incredibly sweet twelve minute short that winds up being so sensual it will leave you quivering with desire. Two young men share an insanely intimate moment during an impromptu violin lesson. Really gotta hand it to the European shorts, they are all incredibly well acted and beautifully filmed. Watch this. You won't be sorry.

Watch: Utopia (2012) Short Film

Originally released in 2012, Manfred Rott's Utopia follows two young French men from different social backgrounds as they spend time getting to know each other. They explore the suburbs around Paris and visit vacated utopian architectural projects built in an era when a better future for all was still the goal of society. Inspired, they hope for their own personal utopia where they are free to love each other. It's a fairly charming movie. Subtitled. 18 minutes. Winner of Best Short Film at numerous European gay and lesbian film festivals.

Watch: Coming Out in the 1970s Short Documentary

In this terrific fifteen minute short documentary, directors Phil Siegel and Gabriel Gasca enlist four young activists to interview elder gay, lesbian and trans-gender activists who came out in the 1970s. They explore how the catalyst of the Stonewall riots enabled a new generation to come out and begin to organize, get visible and fight for rights. It's definitely worth a watch!