Until recently when watching the gay-themed short film We Are Animals, it would be easy to say, ‘well, that would never happen’, but considering the panic and virtual house arrest imposed on those potentially exposed to Ebola recently, it’s perhaps not as extreme as it might initially seem.

The short takes us into an alternate version of the mid-1980s, where panic over HIV and AIDS has caused chaos and an authoritarian regime to be imposed, where gay and HIV+ positive people are being quarantined, locked up and forcibly castrated. However one young man has to face his own truth after becoming involved in a breakout.

The short gave its name to last year’s gay short film collection, Boys On Film 11: We Are Animals, and at the time we said, ‘We Are Animals is an angry, intense, intriguing and pretty dark film. It’s also very challenging, leaving you to wonder if either side of the argument is completely right or completely wrong, or if intolerance and rhetoric has pushed both sides far further than ought to be justified. It’s a poem to the resolutely queer who will not pass in ways that heteros deem acceptable. However it doesn’t give them a free pass, asking the audience to question what’s going on.’

You can watch the full 13-minute film below. If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

The Tanti Man was made a few years ago but looks much, much older thanks to its 70s/80s setting and being shot on 16mm film. Rather than telling a finite story it’s more of a montage of images and reminiscences of filmmaker Bobby Abate’s youth, from memories of a seaside town to when things got sexy with another young man.

It’s strange and yet oddly hypnotic – oh, and it’s also rather NSFW as the footage includes some rather rude pics, so make sure the boss isn’t watching over your shoulder if you view it.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘A summer memoir of my love affair with Salisbury Beach and a strange and charming drifter. When I lived in Boston, I was obsessed with a beach town on the north shore of Massachusetts complete neon pizza shacks, a run-down amusement park, pin ball machines, and a roller skating rink collapsed into the ocean. Populated by colorful weirdos and misfits, I felt more at home here then I did in Boston — it was a place for those who somehow felt protected amongst the crumbling facades and faded memories. At the time, I felt most comfortable in tenuous spaces and in fleeting encounters with unavailable men. THE TANTI MAN is highlighted by melodramatic, self-destructive journal entries from my teenage years that kept me fumbling though uncertain places and relationships for too long. (Camera: Bobby Abate & Tracey McGuirl and featuring Chad Cooper)’

And if you’re wondering what a Tanti Man is, it’s derived from French Creole/Caribbean term for an effeminate man and/or homosexual.

Take a look at the film below. If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

We loved The Last Time I Saw Richard when we reviewed it as part of the short film collection, Boys On Film 11: We Are Animals, giving it 9 out of 10. Now the fab short is online for all to see and you can watch it below – it’s a film full or surprises, moving from the emotionally affecting to the very creepy, all while building a sense of tension and successfully bringing you into the world of lost teens looking for something to hold onto.

As we noted in our review, the short was designed as a prequel to a movie, and director Richard Verso has given is an update on the project, saying, ‘The feature is called Boys In The Trees.  I’ve written it and will be directing. It’s produced by John Molloy for Mushroom Pictures (Wolf Creek, Chopper) and we’ll be shooting in South Australia later this year.

‘On Halloween 1997, two years after The Last Time I Saw Richard, teen skater Corey encounters Jonah, a former childhood friend and now nemesis. He begrudgingly agrees to walk Jonah home after an accident leaves Jonah concussed. What starts off as a normal walk through empty suburban streets descends into something surreal and magical as they tell each other ghost stories, drawing upon their fears, dreams and memories.

‘Toby Wallace will be returning as Jonah.’

Before that movie is made, we can enjoy The Last Time I Saw Richard, which you can watch below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

I didn’t initially realise, but the director of Think Of England, Chris Young, was also the cinematographer on our first Showcase movie, The Morning After. Think Of England has a rather more melancholic tone, looking at a young man whose life has gone to places he never expected or wanted.

It was Young’s graduation film from the University Of Hampshire, made as an homage to Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro’s character from ‘Flesh’ (something those who know that movie won’t fail to notice when they watch the short).

Callum Turner plays a young hustler looking for himself amongst the detritus of a broken London in the mid 1980s. Take a look below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

After 33 Teeth, director Evan Roberts made the acclaimed short Yeah Kowalski!, but its predecessor is that film’s equal, and shares some of its themes, most particularly a young man finding his place in the world in the midst of new feelings and experiences. And also like Yeah Kowalski!, it’s nice that it’s got a good sense of humour.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Eddie is a hormonal 14-year-old boy living alone with his mother in the suburbs. He has a heightened fascination with the comb of his attractive older neighbor, Chad.’

What that doesn’t mention is that one of the reasons for Eddie’s fascination is that he spots Chad having a bit of a measuring-the-goods moment. Take a look below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

Admittedly, the second entrant in our Gay Short Film Showcase is partially an advert for a porn site, but it is also a genuine short film in its own right, taking us into the heady world of gay nightclubs, the pulse of the music and the rush of hooking up.

Then it takes us back to one of the guys apartments where, err, other things happen (this was funded by a porn studio, after all, so it wasn’t going to end with anything else, was it?).

Here’s the synopsis: ‘We’ve all been there before. As you enter the club, there’s something in the air tonight. You feel open; ready for whatever. A sexy stranger catches your eye. Next, you’re grinding with him on the dance floor, your hands exploring his body for the first time.

‘You get a little carried away. Maybe you drink a little too much. Your lips lock and you don’t care who sees. You lose yourself in the pulsing music under the flashing neon lights. What began as an ordinary night out turns into a wild ride full of uninhibited fun and unforgettable sex, from what you can remember.

‘Filmed at the legendary Rich’s night club in San Diego, Helix Studios presents “Body Language”, our ode to getting lost in the moment.’

Yes, it is about the rush and the pulse, but it also (perhaps inadvertently) makes a few interesting points about the more hedonistic end of gay culture. Take a look below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here. [Read more…]

One of BGPS’s New Years Resolutions is that with all the fab work filmmakers are doing creating LGBT-themed short films, we ought to be posting far more of them on the site. So we’ve come up with ‘Gay Short Film Showcase’, where we’ll be posting shorts we like that are freely available on the web.

We’re starting with The Morning After, by director Bruno Collins.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The Morning After a drunken night out Harry’s (Joshua Berg) world is turned upside down when as he awakens to discover a naked man, Thom (Luke Striffler), in his bed. stunned and confused he tries to make sense of his repressed desires. In an attempt to re-assert his heterosexuality he revisits an old lover, Lucy (Juliet Lundholm), but finds little comfort from the encounter. Harry is left to make a decision: to follow his set path and return to his doting girlfriend Jess (Jane Alice), or attempt to understand his own wants and desires…..’

Take a look at the short below.

If you know a short film we ought to be posting, let us know by getting in touch via our contact page. [Read more…]