Fest Selects: Best Gay Shorts, Vol. 1
Eight gay shorts culled from top film festivals - A cross-section of some of the best recent gay shorts culled from top film festivals including Slamdance, Outfest, Frameline and more. Included are the award-winners BEDFELLOWS, CURIOUS THING, MY NAME IS LOVE, and STEAM. Whether inspired by a poem about teenage longing or a melange of interviews with gay men in New York, the shorts collected here share one thing in common: they were among the crowd favorites at film festivals across the country.
David Färdmar
Alain Hain
Jonathan Lisecki
Barry Morse
Mark Pariselli
Eldar Rapaport
Guy Shalem
Pierre Stefanos
Also Directed by David Färdmar
One morning it is over. For Hampus it is a relief to break up from their destructive relationship, while Adrian is devastated. Will he be able to survive without the love of his life, or is there a way of somehow getting him back?
Boyfriends Hampus and Adrian are in a destructive relationship. When Hampus finally works up the nerve to call it quits, he finds himself relieved. Adrian, however, is not quite ready to say goodbye. Examining the final week of a gay love affair, award-winning short film director David Färdmar begins with the end.
Miss Maud, an orphan, has grown up in a boarding house, raised by the conservative matron Mrs Frank. In her suppressed desires and love for Mr Eldmann, Miss Maud creates an imaginary world where love is greater than life. Perhaps even greater than death itself …
Love and Sebastian meet each other by a coincidence at a street in the romantic Swedish summer night. They happen to share the same secret, but their encounter is going to cause severe consequences for the both of them. An innocent flirt soon turns in to a dangerously liaison.
As BOYS ON FILM reaches the end of its teenage years, we take a look at those unique boys; Boys who will go one step further, who excite, invigorate, and always impress. Boys who break boundaries, shape their worlds and are more than what they appear to be…
Erik's boyfriend Marely left him. Now, the last chance for Erik to get him back is to make this movie to explain, that the only reason he sold sex was so they could afford to become parents one day.
Elliot Tittensor (TV s Shameless) stars as Daz in headlining film PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, a gripping British film debut that sees him woo a young lad in an underpass, only to be threatened with a break-up the following morning. Passive and submissive roles are tackled and tugged in gay graffiti tale VANDALS and Icelandic grapple-fest WRESTLING, while POSTMORTEM, MY NAME IS LOVE, and Iris Prize winner STEAM look at promising encounters that turn awry. Rounding out the collection are HEIKO, an alternative ode to foot fetishes, BREATH where 12 year old Erik swims out to sea to make a daring move on his best friend s father, and the crème de la crème from this collection TREVOR, which won multiple prestigious awards from Sundance, Teddy Berlinale and even The Academy Awards (Oscar) for Best Short Film.
Also Directed by Alain Hain
Jared is closeted. Sam is straight. They find a connection in each other that they've never had before, but where do they go from there? Over the course of three nights, six gay men sat down for interviews about their experiences, sexual and otherwise, with straight men. Those documentary interviews provide the narration for 'Curious Thing' as we watch Jared and Sam form a friendship that tests the boundaries of what they know about love. But as Jared's walls slowly come down and his passion for Sam grows, things take an unexpected turn.
A collection of six gay-themed short films about relationships and the pain of love, including: REQUITED (directed by Sal Bardo), BOYS LIKE YOU (directed by Daniel Armando), WE ONCE WERE TIDE (directed by Jason Bradbury), REVOLUTION (directed by Abdi Nazemian), THE IN-BETWEEN (directed by Alain Hain) and FROZEN ROADS (directed by Mark Pariselli).
The story or two men who fall in love and move in together.
With a new partner and a quiet life in the suburbs, Jared finds himself tackling new obstacles. How does he live his life as a dignified gay man in a society that does not consider him equal? And how will he handle his partner's constant need to censor any public affection? One horrific event forces them both to figure it out. The finale piece of the Curious Thing trilogy, 'A Lack of Gravity' explores homophobia, activism and gay rights in America. Continuing in the series' format, documentary audio of gay men discussing their experiences with homophobia acts as the film's narration.
Also Directed by Jonathan Lisecki
A gay man and a straight woman decide to have a child together the old fashioned way.
Jenn and Matt are best friends from college who are now in their thirties. Single by choice, Jenn spends her days teaching hot yoga and running errands for her boss. Matt suffers from comic-book writer's block and can't get over his ex-boyfriend. They decide to fulfill a promise to have a child together... the old fashioned way. Can they navigate the serious and unexpected snags they hit as they attempt to get their careers and dating lives back on track in preparation for parenthood? 'Gayby' is an irreverent comedy about friendship, sex, loneliness, and the family you choose.
A single woman focused on her career in New York is forced to deal with the aftermath of a failed relationship when an ex-boyfriend is hired by her company.
Also Directed by Mark Pariselli
An experimental reinterpretation of Andy Warhol's 1963 silent short film of the same name, 'Kiss' recontextualizes his protest against the Hays Code's time restriction of onscreen kissing as an impassioned indictment of laws that prohibit and punish homosexuality in certain countries.
A collection of six gay-themed short films about relationships and the pain of love, including: REQUITED (directed by Sal Bardo), BOYS LIKE YOU (directed by Daniel Armando), WE ONCE WERE TIDE (directed by Jason Bradbury), REVOLUTION (directed by Abdi Nazemian), THE IN-BETWEEN (directed by Alain Hain) and FROZEN ROADS (directed by Mark Pariselli).
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.
Three teenage boys idealize and fantasize about an older teenage football player until they witness his death.
An accident on the way to the cottage has horrifying consequences for an interracial queer couple contemplating parenthood.
This short film tells the story of a Halloween night hookup turning into something more for a pair of morbid misfits costumed as Horror Cinema's most iconic female characters.
Also Directed by Eldar Rapaport
August tells the story of two former lovers, Troy and Jonathan, who reunite after a long ago painful breakup. After spending several years in Spain, Troy returns to Los Angeles and decides to phone Jonathan and meet for coffee. A seemingly innocent rendezvous turns into an attempt to revive passions past. Only this time it's not that simple as Jonathan has a new beau, Raul, and is trying to make the right decision a second time around.
Two ex-lovers meet after years a part and examine the painful break up and what they should do now.
A series of eight short films dealing with the varied experiences of gay men and boys.
Facing thirty, Elliott realises he has skewered the potential of every relationship that has come his way. The weekend his brother shows up on his doorstep and a bizarre neighbour begins spying on him; Elliott is driven to the edge in this uneasy psychological tale of obsession. Directed by the winner of the 2011 Iris Prize, Eldar Rapaport, who has since gone on to direct feature films, including the beautiful August.
Two men trapped inside a steam room without a way out are trying to make sense of the situation and each other until a devastating revelation. Moving between anxiety, reflection and fear, two strangers try to make sense of their predicament...stuck in a steam room. Heat increasing, they need to get out but can't find the door. What is this place and how did they get here?
Elliot Tittensor (TV s Shameless) stars as Daz in headlining film PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, a gripping British film debut that sees him woo a young lad in an underpass, only to be threatened with a break-up the following morning. Passive and submissive roles are tackled and tugged in gay graffiti tale VANDALS and Icelandic grapple-fest WRESTLING, while POSTMORTEM, MY NAME IS LOVE, and Iris Prize winner STEAM look at promising encounters that turn awry. Rounding out the collection are HEIKO, an alternative ode to foot fetishes, BREATH where 12 year old Erik swims out to sea to make a daring move on his best friend s father, and the crème de la crème from this collection TREVOR, which won multiple prestigious awards from Sundance, Teddy Berlinale and even The Academy Awards (Oscar) for Best Short Film.
Also Directed by Guy Shalem
Amateur 'chefs' from around the country compete for a million dollar prize in the ultimate food fight.
A celebrity-packed short — with a musical twist — about the bar scene in West Hollywood. A first collaboration between acclaimed director Guy Shalem, 5-time Grammy-winning producer, composer, and lyricist Mervyn Warren, and Tony-award winning composer and lyricist Jeff Marx (Avenue Q).
In early 2010 Chatroulette.com, a website that allows people to meet other online strangers via web cam, became an internet sensation. Gaysharktank.com is a film about the first gay site told through the interactions of 25 strangers looking for love, lust, and other things you might look for on a random gay video chat.
A young man comes to terms with his sexuality and his hidden love for his best friend.
Also Directed by Pierre Stefanos
A man's journey to the southern coast of England becomes complicated when a tourist's dangerous promise changes both of their lives.
The film 'Bedfellows,' told in the style of an old children's fairy tale but set against the modern-day backdrop of New York City, follows the adventure of 20-something Bobby as he returns to the gay bar where he got his heart broken for the first time. Upon meeting and spending the night with an attractive stranger named Jonathan, Bobby dreams about what a lifetime relationship with him could be like. The dream takes us on a thirty year journey of ups and downs in life and love. But what will happen when Bobby wakes up to reality in the morning?