Director Marco Berger’s films are nearly always worth a watch, partly because he’s extremely good at creating sexual tension. That looks to continue with his latest film, Young Hunter, which follows in the footsteps of his other extremely watchable gay-themed films, such as Plan B, Absent, Hawaii and Taekwondo.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Ezequiel, a fifteen year old boy on the cusp of his sexual awakening, meets handsome, twenty-one-year-old Mono and quickly starts a relationship. Mono invites him to his cousin’s villa, to spend a weekend together, but while returning from the trip Mono disappears, no longer responding to Ezekiel’s texts. Ezequiel is surprised and confused until Chino, Mono’s cousin, sends him a hidden camera video of Ezekiel and Mono having sex, blackmailing him into making his own sex tape with a minor to be sold on the dark web, in order to keep his secret hidden.
‘Ezequiel, with an impossible choice, decides to seduce Juan Ignacio, a thirteen-year-old boy whom he knows from school and suspects has a crush on him. Ezequiel turns from prey to hunter against his own will and begins a seduction work on Juan Ignacio.’
The film hits DVD and VoD on October 26th. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]
When Everybody’s Talking About Jamie headed to London’s West End – after debuting at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre – many wrote off its chances of success. After all, it was an increasingly rare thing – a musical not based on a known property (although loosely based on a documentary), with a gay lead character and original songs. It was a big risk but it’s proven a massive success, playing for two and a half years at the Apollo Theatre before Covid-19 resulted in a pause – but it’s due to return to the stage in November with socially distanced audiences.
One of the few positives of 2020 is that it has forced film festivals – and the filmmakers hoping to get their work to audiences – to think of new and inclusive ways of working. One of those ways is to go online, which has afforded far more people the opportunity to take part as you no longer need to be in a particular city to take part. This week two major British queer Film Fests open, and both are going to be available online across the UK.
It’s great to mark the return of Big Gay Picture Show with news about the latest edition of one of our very favourite things in the LGBTQ film calendar – the Iris Prize Festival. Some of the very best work in gay-themed cinema takes place in the medium of short film, and Iris Prize is one of the world’s premiere showcases for it. Alongside its always great shorts programme, it also presents a series of features films and other content. All of it leads up to the Iris Prize itself, where one short film will win £30,000 in support to make a new film.
Synopsis: ‘Somewhere in Lower Austria; the school term is drawing to a close and the summer holidays are not far off. Boarding school pupil Paula, seventeen, is secretly in love with her girlfriend Charlotte. But Charlotte’s go- ing out with Michael. Lovelorn, Paula decides to try and take her mind of things by getting involved with schoolmate Tim, whose feelings for her are at least genuine. Paula has no idea how often Charlotte thinks of her. And then there’s Lilli, who is just dying for someone to fancy her and tries to play the wild seductress. Paula must decide if she wants to follow her own feelings or yield to other people’s.
Synopsis: ‘Lorenzo is a good and studious teenager who lives with his family in a small town in Patagonia. One day his father decides to help out an old friend by offering his son to stay with them for a while. The young and handsome Caito arrives, mysterious and rebellious. Lorenzo is at first suspicious of Caito but gradually the boys form a bond without suspecting the consequences of this new friendship….but Caito has a secret…and maybe Lorenzo too….’
I’m always a bit dubious about reports that a film prompted walkouts, as it can’t help but sound like a marketing ploy. However, there were apparently quite a few people who didn’t get through to the end of the screenings of Sauvage at Cannes, due to its graphic approach to its story.
Synopsis: ‘Magda is a young unassuming lesbian who works at the airport. She has friends, she has lovers and she loves to party! Nina, on the other hand, is settled in her life – she enjoys her job as a teacher even though her mother is the school’s headmistress. She has a loving husband, Wojtek, whom she lives with in an elegant apartment paid for by Nina’s mother. And yet something is missing…. One day, by accident, Nina and Wojtek meet Magda and decide to invite her for dinner. They plan to ask Magda to be a surrogate mother for them but do not tell Magda their intentions right away…
Synopsis: ‘What happens when two gay men in a disintegrating relationship leave the big city to spend some time alone, together in nature? Is it possible for nature to reveal their true essence and help them to change? Can these two wounded men; traumatized, hurt, and desperate on a remote beach find a way back to innocence? Is there a way back to reality, back to love? A romantic, poetic and explicit rumination on modern gay love He Loves Me is British queer cinema at its finest and most authentic.’