Gay Drama, a list by Jef Westerveld

7.1

/3006/

66

/37/

59

/30/

3.5

/2165/

84

/4/

German photographer Daniel Bert, who comes to Istanbul to do photo shoots, meets Can, who is a zenne at a nightclub, and Ahmet, who comes from a conservative eastern family.

42

?

4.4

/141/

45

/5/

34

/9/

Two Brits, Ravi and Paul travel to India where they meet Murthy and Anna an older gay couple that have managed to form a partnership and live together for over 20 years. When Ravi meets and falls for Mani an Indian national who is betrothed to be married. He turns to the older couple for advise and help but traditions die hard in India.

52

?

6.5

/168/

58

/7/

34

/10/

For Johannes and Lydia Klare, their faith in God comes first. Together they lead a small community in Stuttgart, successfully. People listen to them, they are becoming more and more close to them. There are even plans to make the donor-funded community much bigger by the generous contributions of Volker. First of all, the couple have quite different, more urgent points to take care of. When one day they watch the homeless street-boy Simon drifting back and forth in drug-related crises, they take him in for a short while. Together they want to help him again on the right path. But it is not just the drugs that are causing conflicts. Simon's homosexuality also presents the two with great challenge, since it is not so easy to unite with their faith.

81

7.3

/9508/

77

/546/

78

/279/

4.0

/100540/

89

/9/

92

/52/

age 16+

In 1987, as martial law ends in Taiwan, Jia-han and Birdy fall in love amid family pressure, homophobia and social stigma.

82

7.9

/7876/

83

/350/

84

/198/

4.0

/86060/

91

/22/

97

/59/

69

/4/

3.0

14-year-old Elias increasingly feels like an outsider in his village. When he meets his new neighbour of the same age, Alexander, Elias is confronted with his burgeoning sexuality.

51

?

5.6

/261/

64

/15/

34

/7/

Tom and Joe have been together for years. And to some extent, have been together alone. You Are My Sunshine charts their humble beginnings in a world only just waking up to homosexuality, to present day, and a world facing their elder selves. As present day brings further conflict as well as the potential change in the air, Tom and Joe's story will be shown from its first monumental day all the way to its loving last.

61

35

5.9

/1380/

62

/64/

66

/46/

2.9

/1200/

Summer in Berlin. Jonas is planning a trip through the little known area of the Uckermark in preparation for a photography project. He invites his best friend, Phillip, to come along. When they pick up a hitchhiker named Boris, the friendship of the two starts to fray. Maybe three’s a crowd after all? By the end of the summer, things between Jonas and Phillip won’t ever be the same again.

?

6.8

/122/

57

/7/

25

/3/

Based on Tim Realbuto's critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play, YES tells the story of washed up child star Patrick Nolan who decides to mentor 17-year-old Jeremiah Rosenhaft. What begins as an innocent acting lesson turns into something much more intimate between two surprisingly common minds.

37

?

4.7

/57/

10

/3/

54

/15/

Todd Verow's experimental narrative feature heralding the end time. Split up into 20 short films, the film explores the fear and longing of several characters as they wait for some unspecified apocalyptic event. Some try to escape physically, emotionally or sexually while others welcome the end with open arms. A woman (PHILLY) is busy dragging her own corpse, trying to find a resting place for it, when she encounters an old lover (MICHAEL BURKE) who used to be a she but has transitioned to a man. He wants to get out of town but she wants to stay it's the end of time when nothing is a crime. Several gay men engage in more and more extreme sexual activity, they want to experience it all before the big collapse. Two gay ex-lovers try to reconnect and feel something, anything but total emptiness. Porn actors and producers make more unsafe films as fantasies grow darker and more violent. Will the world end with a whimper or a bang? Or worse will it not end at all.

42

?

6.6

/154/

20

/1/

42

/5/

Three naked couples sleep, make love, and awake in an empty skyscraper littered with millennium party debris in one of four provocative shorts from France's most acclaimed young director, Francois Ozon. Segments: "Scènes de lit"/Bed Scenes/Bedtime Stories, "Action vérité"/Truth or Dare, "X2000", "La petite mort"/Little Death.

59

16

6.1

/458/

65

/6/

53

/14/

57

/19/

A gay man in Soho looking for a new roommate tries to come to terms with a new reality after 9/11.

?

6.7

/57/

50

/5/

10

/2/

A first-time model, a webcam sex worker, and a power-hungry homophobe journey through their insecurities and vulnerabilities. This hedonistic and seductive feature film challenges toxic hyper-masculinity and the abuse of power through three vignettes.

31

8

3.7

/546/

46

/33/

40

/18/

4

/6/

An edgy drama about a gay teen's tumultuous decent into drugs and anonymous sex, Wrecked smashes cinematic taboos while it spins its cautionary tale. Ryan is an earnest 18-year-old trying to develop a career as an actor and getting his life on the right track. This course is quickly threatened with the sudden arrival of his sort-of ex, Daniel, who arrives at Ryan's door wanting a place to stay.

49

?

5.8

/270/

45

/8/

35

/4/

Two men--a gay, HIV-positive artist and an adopted garbage collector--struggle in the face of stigma and loss to find meaning in work, love, and family.

65

17

6.8

/254/

64

/12/

54

/10/

3.5

/1086/

It is the 1960s at the University of Toronto. Doug is a well-liked senior with an equally popular girlfriend. Peter is a shy Finnish freshman who is new to the big city. The two become best friends and begin doing all sorts of activities together — until Doug starts viewing their relationship differently.

50

12

6.4

/190/

10

/1/

55

/6/

3.6

/788/

Living together in an isolated house, three women go to murderous lengths to keep strangers out of their private retreat.

75

59

6.9

/2117/

69

/105/

64

/45/

3.7

/8522/

100

/37/

86

/18/

69

/8/

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

71

6.9

/18914/

70

/337/

65

/282/

3.3

/18807/

72

/50/

72

/426/

70

/26/

3.5

age 15+

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

59

47

6.0

/2705/

55

/50/

56

/40/

3.4

/1297/

67

/24/

59

/150/

52

/11/

A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 14-year-old boy who learns to cope with his new found sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school.

64

36

6.4

/1167/

63

/27/

57

/29/

3.5

/585/

63

/16/

80

/18/

52

/10/

A transgender woman returns — with her two male lovers — to her family home in the countryside to look after her dying mother.

?

6.1

/58/

62

/4/

43

/3/

On this night, the seven acquaintances get radically honest about their lives around a fire after a party. Unknowingly, they all come to the gathering at a crossroads–one they have each been avoiding, for perhaps their entire life. After an unyielding game of Truth or Dare, the “exemplary” couple opens up about what they’re going through–that they’re not as perfect as they seem. This sets the stage for the rest of the group to open up lives, unspoken desire…and secrets. The following morning back in their bedrooms, each couple must choose a path. Will they integrate their newly exposed truths…or choose to act as if nothing had happened?

58

?

5.9

/279/

67

/9/

47

/6/

age 13+

Set in 1973 and inspired by true events, 'Wild About Harry' follows the havoc wreaked in a teen girl’s life when she discovers that her widowed father is gay. Alternately comic and tragic and anchored by an impressive ensemble cast, the film captures both the freedoms and the homophobia of the time – all set against the backdrop of small town America on Cape Cod. British widower Harry Goodhart decides to make a fresh start and moves with his teenage daughters to Cape Cod in 1973. But Harry can't leave behind the secret that threatens to tear his family apart. Adjusting to their new lives proves difficult for the girls when they discover that the connection between their dad and his partner is more than just a working relationship.

49

?

5.6

/335/

56

/11/

25

/4/

3.1

/371/

Mario, a young dancer living in a small village has to face the loss of his beloved best friend Lenz, victim of an attack in a gay club.

?

5.6

/33/

30

/4/

David and Chris spice up their stagnant relationship by turning to a gay dating app, but this unwittingly throws their lives into turmoil.

43

10

5.4

/587/

58

/33/

44

/17/

16

/10/

A hot, young and charming man with ulterior motives enters the lives of a tight-knit group of gay men in New York City and at first adds excitement and intrigue to their group, but events soon spiral out of control as he deliberately attempts to destroy their relationships.

?

6.5

/54/

32

/5/

Dez and Terri, a mixed-race couple married 20 years and adoptive parents, they are the trailblazing lesbians of the New South Africa. But, have these freedoms guaranteed them happiness? Asanda, their 18 year old adopted daughter, is the poster child for South Africa’s diversity but describes herself as “an experiment”, being made up as she goes along. She meets Shado, an enigmatic Tommy Boy from Khayalitsha, a township on the edge of Cape Town, and a different picture of the New South Africa emerges.

49

?

5.7

/130/

41

/4/

Sebastian, a young male prostitute, is one of Georgs few remaining chances to break through his hermit-like everyday life in exchange for a few fleeting moments of being together with someone at least for a few hours. Georg loves Sebastians easy-going and playful manner. He loves the absurd stories that the boy spontaneously comes up with and Georg never knows whether to actually believe all of them or not.

45

?

5.1

/277/

50

/12/

36

/8/

This anthology film explores three sudden acts of violence and examines the impact on the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire: In Binghamton, New York, an ESL instructor faces domestic violence at home and even greater peril at school. Friends take a night out in Paris only to find themselves caught up in a horrifying situation. And two lovers at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando fight to survive a chaotic night of terror.

?

6.8

/56/

45

/6/

Mirinda, a French sex worker, lives day by day in the outskirts of Phnom Penh. His meeting with Panna, a young abandoned girl, left to her own devices, will shatter his equilibrium and give him the courage to change his life.

?

6.9

/88/

55

/2/

34

/5/

As she struggles to connect with her estranged homophobic brother and admit her true feelings for her gay best friend, artist Lea Costa sets out to unite them all as the family she never had.

69

?

7.6

/511/

81

/23/

50

/15/

When widowed cabbie Ray and retired teacher Jim meet by chance, they discover they long for the same things from life: adventure, challenge and love. Together Ray and Jim discover that being 64 means a new beginning: it's time to try the things they never dared in their youth.

49

?

5.8

/254/

51

/7/

38

/8/

After eighteen years of marriage, Alice finds herself confronted with the fact that her husband Frank feels more and more attracted to men. Not only Frank, but also she and their three children undergo an irreversible change.

53

?

6.1

/274/

56

/16/

43

/12/

What We Have is is the tale of Maurice, a prisoner of his past who is unable to connect with the people in his new Northern Canadian small town, a community that is only too ready to welcome this European misfit into their arms.

78

7.3

/5595/

72

/91/

69

/113/

4.1

/11596/

85

/55/

79

/132/

79

/20/

3.5

A street vendor with a grim home-life forges a connection with a young woman on her way to Paris.

52

?

4.9

/243/

58

/12/

50

/12/

In the midst of a freezing winter on the island of Sylt, Cem comes across Jesús, who is on the verge of committing suicide. The two young men become fast friends, with their friendship unexpectedly threatening to develop into something more. Cem and Jesús - laconic, alienated loners - find their previously uneventful lives starting to spin out of control now that each has someone who means something to him.

44

?

4.8

/345/

40

/10/

45

/16/

New Zealand independent drama following a young Māori man who moves to the country to rebuild his life after facing prejudices around his sexual orientation. He takes on a job on a farm where he grows attached to the farmer’s son. But when their relationship grows, the situation steers into darker territories…

?

7.5

/46/

75

/2/

10

/2/

Aliya, a 36 year old Kazakh lesbian, has, for the first time in her life, tried to play the Green Card Lottery and won. Now she cannot decide whether to leave Kazakhstan or stay. On one hand, Aliya is tired of the stagnation, corruption, and dictatorship of the Kazakh society, she wants changes in her life. But on the other, she is afraid of uncertainty and to start all over again in a foreign country.

37

?

6.2

/127/

10

/1/

41

/7/

When a Chicago teen is arrested for drug possession, the ensuing investigation reveals that he has had sexual contact with an older man. Discovering his sexual encounter, other students start shunning him and call for his expulsion from school. His conservative blue-collar dad also rejects him, while his mother does try to offer support.

77

34

6.6

/616/

78

/20/

67

/25/

3.3

/1111/

93

/15/

96

/2/

It's July 1976, and two Nova Scotian teens, Kit and Alice, are hitting the road with their sights on Sydney and their minds on the future. With them is Kit's new imaginary friend, who looks conspicuously like Andy Warhol, but who assures Kit that he is a spirit animal. Kit and Alice have big dreams, but do they really want the same things?

79

7.6

/34310/

76

/1036/

72

/552/

3.9

/46311/

95

/87/

86

/468/

81

/18/

3.0

After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.

?

6.2

/76/

10

/1/

10

/2/

The story of rising stars Jason and deMarco, two attractive pop stars - both Christian and gay - and lovers. They sing Christian rock, including dance remixes. They are gay and they have been a couple for four years. They talk about their childhood and youth - Jason belonged to a Pentacostal church, deMarco was raised Catholic. They and their parents talk about family, coming to terms with sexuality, and the changing views of homosexuality within some churches. Jason and deMarco's particular mission is to reach gay youth with an anti-suicide message, helping them to reconcile the spiritual with the physical.

?

7.9

/33/

80

/1/

Saad, a young Moroccan illegal immigrant, is planning a perilous journey to Canada with Reza, his Iranian lover. In Montreal, Saad is called upon to save his beloved from certain deportation to Iran, where inevitable punishment awaits.

75

6.9

/4781/

73

/242/

64

/144/

3.8

/12207/

92

/102/

76

/37/

80

/27/

3.0

Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an imagined world all his own.

48

?

5.4

/259/

50

/13/

42

/8/

Five Sydney-based youngsters navigate life, experience friendship, seek love, delve into their sexuality, and face the challenges of being a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

61

29

6.4

/1692/

64

/54/

56

/41/

3.1

/382/

60

/21/

Carter, a troubled teen stays with a friend of his dads and starts flirting with her son Danny. After the weekend school returns, however Carter a school jock tells Danny he does not want to be seen with him at school. Their relationship grows outside school hours though & soon enough Danny falls in love with Carter & after Danny is attacked romance ensures, but can it last.

43

?

5.3

/114/

35

/2/

40

/9/

This coming of age story is about a gay boy, Goyo, as he discovers himself. Living with his Mexican family in the Coachella Valley, Goyo has a hard time hiding his sexual preferences. Although Goyo seeks acceptance from his father Ramon, Ramon will not accept that his only son is gay. Adding to the situation is that his sister Rosa and Goyo both fall in love with the same guy.

42

13

5.3

/1183/

47

/24/

45

/20/

24

/6/

Having left England for a romantic escapade in the South of France, Olivier and James invite Caroline along at the very last minute. The trio arrives in a little Provencal village, somewhat cut off from the world. Though everything seems calm between the pool, sunshine and a village visit, Olivier finds himself more and more intrigued by Caroline. A tension of sexual jealousy and possessiveness will then escalade between the three of them.

?

8.4

/37/

80

/1/