Friday, April 29, 2011

Cibrâil (2011)

cibrail20111

Cibrâil (2011)

Director: Tor Iben
Scenario: Tor Iben
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Year: 2011
Duration: 70 min
Rating:

Actors: Sinan Hancili, Martina Hesse, Peter Beck, Volker Figge, Oliver Weidner, Deniz Kara, Murat Urun, Ingmar Skrinjar, Niklas Peters

 

 

 

 

 

cibrail00Cibrâil, a young policeman, lives happily with his art-dealer girlfriend in Berlin. Everything seems fine, money is not a problem, and Cibrâil is well integrated into German society, despite his Turkish origins. What is the reason for his sleepless nights? A gay cousin of his girlfriend who lives permanently in Rome, comes to visit them but that does not seem to disturb their relationship, or at least on the surface. The guest is friendly, free and enjoys being on his own. He wanders around in town and takes pictures. cibrail21He has also some love affairs. Cibrâil gets close to him, almost unwittingly: they jog, go for a stroll and confide their secrets to each other. But sometimes attraction can be fatal. In Berlin, a cold city where disturbing episodes of homophobia take place, a story about undisclosed passions told in a frigid, unemotional and minimalist style. –Torino GLBT Film Festival

 


Cibra by dinho_lisbon

More about this movie:

1. FilmesTemaG

2. Sugue Tu Destino

Thursday, March 24, 2011

La otra familia (2011) –The Other Family

1347_MX01

La otra familia (2011)

Director: Gustavo Loza
Scenario: Gustavo Loza
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Year: 2011
Duration: 100 min
Rating:

Actors: Jorge Salinas, Luis R. Guzman, Ana Serradilla, Bruno Loza, Carmen Salinas, Ana Soler, Nailea Norvind, Juan Rios Cantu, Dominika Paleta, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Andres Almeida, Silverio Palacios, Mario Zaragoza, Alejandro Calva, Alex Bakalarz

 

otra-familia-3

 

The other family

la_otra_familia_pianoTHE OTHER FAMILY is the story of Hendrix (Bruno Loza), a 7-year-orld child that’s been abandoned by his crack-addict mother Nina (Nailea Norvind). Ivana (Ana Serradilla), her best friend rescues Bruno,
however, she can’t take care of him because of an ongoing trip to Houston with her life partner (Ana Soler), to analyze the possibility of having an in vitro fertilization. Jean Paul (Jorge Salinas) and Chema (Luis Roberto Guzmán), an adult, stable, gay couple, and friends of Ivana, were given the task of taking
care of Hendriz while his mother spends some time in rehab. Patrick (Andrés Almeida), Nina’s lover and dealer is bien chased by Caimán (Mario Zaragoza), a drug warlord, because of a huge debt. In an
la-otra-familia1attempt to get the money he tries to sell Hendrix to a young, straight couple (Dominika Paleta y Juan Rios) who just lost a baby. While Nina tries to escape rehab in search of her son, Hendrix slowly
adapts to his new lik with Jean Paul and Chema. Patrick’s running out of time and urges Nina to find her misplaced son.

What’s best for Hendrix? Return to his crack-addict? Live with a homosexual couple that will offer him a better life quality? To be sold in an illegal fashion to a straight couple? or Surrender to the authorities and be sent to an foster house?

 

26 September 2011 | by jotix100 (New York)

vlcsnap2011081015h14m06Jean Paul and Chema are a gay couple that has been together for ten years. One can see their relationship is solid, proved to be real, as they decide to get married. In a macho dominated society the union between two men is a rarity that came to be legal only recently. It is clear these two men are in love and have decided to make a commitment that speaks loudly than words.
When Nina, a drug addict is sent to prison, her young son, Hendrix, is left to fend for himself. A friend, Ivana, a lesbian in a serious relationship with Gloria, decides to bring the boy to her friends Jean Paul and Chema. The men, uneasy at first, take a liking to the little boy whose innocence captures their hearts. After the initial misgivings, the couple end up loving Hendrix. Unfortunately, Nina wants her son back. Because of her connection with unsavory characters, the plight of the boy takes center stage for criminals that want to sell the boy to a wealthy couple. Jean Paul, and especially Chema, will fight to stand by the boy.
otra-familia-1Directed by Gustavo Loza with sure hand, this Mexican entry surprises because of the way the subject matter is treated with honesty in dealing with the issue. Mr. Loza, who also wrote the screenplay, presents us with a drama that in other hands might have degenerated into a sensational account of the two gay couples that are being examined. That, and the fate of the boy, with an uncertain future, is examined with a clarity that speaks volumes as to the intentions of the creator of the film.
There are solid appearances by Jorge Salinas and Luis Guzman as Jean Paul and Chema. The actors do a solid job in the way they approached their roles to make them real. Young Bruno Loza, whom one suspects is the son of the director, is perfectly sweet, in a surprising performance. Ana Serradilla, Ana Soler, Nailea Norvind and the great Carmen Salinas contribute to the over all excellence of the film.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

3 (I) (2010) aka Trojka

3
3 (I) (2010) aka Trojka

Director: Tom Tykwer
Scenario: Tom Tykwer
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Year: 2010 Duration: 119 min(Venice Film Festival)
Rating: 8/10

Actors: Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper, Devid Striesow, Annedore Kleist, Angela Winkler, Alexander Horbe, Winnie Bowe, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Peter Benedict, Georgette Dee, Michael Dorn, Cedric Eich, Christopher Karl Hemeyer, Hans Hohlbein, Senta Dorothea Kirschner






Assured Filmmaking from a Mature Director, 6 September 2011
8/10
Author: wordmonkey from San Francisco, Ca.
drei16Tom Tykwer has come of age as a director with this film, and has dropped his sparkling visual flair in favor of straightforward yet sophisticated storytelling. His camera and editing are spot-on yet smart, as he carefully weaves a layered tale of two lost adults who rediscover and remake themselves through their relationship with another man.
His nuanced trio of characters deliberately play against gender types: Simon, the husband, is passive, quiet, artistic, and metaphorically female; Hanna, the wife, is assertive, successful, opinionated, and symbolically male; Adam, their paramour, a fertilization specialist who "brings life" to their dull routine, has both male and female sides.
drei20The way their lives intertwine is both surprising and entertaining, and Tykwer not only explores their raw cores of emotional and physical need, but deftly and expertly exposes the humor in Hanna and Simon's awkward fumbling for new purpose.
What Woody Allen does for New York, Tykwer does for Berlin, showcasing the city as a vibrant center of art, culture, and yes, sexuality, filled with creative inhabitants who have gone there to remake themselves.
His intermittent visual collages of the character's lives inject new vitality to the stale montages we've all seen a million times; it's not that the screen has never been subdivided this way before, but that Tykwer's method of visual construction is meticulous and succinct -- like every frame of this film.
The result is an engaging, truthful, and non-traditional romance that leaves you feeling hopeful that love can tear down our seemingly permanent walls; yet another reason to set it in Berlin!
Highly recommended.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

One on One (2010)

o One on One (2010)

 

Director: Luis Fernando Midence
Scenario: Luis Fernando Midence
Genre: Short, Sport, Comedy, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Duration: 10 min
Rating: 5.8/10

Actors: Gerry Altamirano, Robert Bell, Timothy Paul Brown, Shain Clark, Gregory Alan Cooke, Braulio Cruz-Ortiz, Alekz Gerard, Ryan Hill, Charlotte Livingston, Erica Manuel, Nick McMahan, Shelley Ohmes, Crystal Taboada, Erica Wrice, Cheol Young Park

From GayCeluloid.com

Built on solid production values, this University of Texas, Dallas student production charms with the tender tale of a pair of gay lovers, only for one to be more at ease in expressing his sexuality in public, than the other. Not that this suits macho lover boy Trevor who views affectionate lip-service from his latino partner Alex, even when on an empty basketball court, as some form of social statement. Only could a gentle waltz under the tuition of Ms Hilda see Trevor finally lower his guard, one-on-one style?

Made in collaboration with The Dance Ensemble at the University of Texas, Arlington, here writer and director Luis Fernando Midence of Affinity and More Coffee fame delights with a short film that is gay to the core. For in a world in which many a man, sexuality and indeed ethnic origin aside, finds it difficult to openly express their emotions, this short resonates with the beauty of dance as a means of binding lovers together.

True the result is far from earth shattering. But then it was never intended to be, given the allure of this piece lies in the dance class itself, one in which looks of alarm are courtesy of the raised voices of warring parties, rather than a gay couple taking to the floor. That first time actors Timothy Paul Brown as Trevor and Braulio Cruz-Ortiz as Alex create a believable "working it out" relationship, makes for a sweet tale of Come Dancing, sexuality irrelevant style. Need more be said?

 

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Curious Thing (2010)

ctcoverCurious Thing (2010)

 

Director: Alain Hain
Scenario: Jason Mills
Genre: Short, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Duration: 8 min
Rating: 8.1/10

Actors: Danny Bernardy, Matthew Wilkas, Rebecca Pappa, Phoenix List

 

 

 

Description:


ctcover2Based upon a set of true stories weaved together by writer Jason Mills, here we find director Alain Hain walking the more than familiar cinematic ground of falling in love with your best friend; albeit with a markedly straight variant.


For like Marco Berger's captivating exploration of male friendship and sexuality that is Plan B, this part love story, part coming out and part documentary work explores the growing bond between two men, both straight to the world, but equally aware of their burgeoning feelings for each other, emotions are set to test the boundaries of their bromance styled friendship.


Curious_Thing_1Curious Thing by Alain Hain Told via a series of audio interviews / voiceovers, courtesy of six gay men's experiences, sexual or otherwise, with straight men, this telling short poignantly showcases the intense love that Jared feels for his best friend Sam and the hurt it brings, when they see the other flexing their heterosexual muscles, hand-in-hand with a girl.
Curious_Thing_6Beautifully played out by all parties, including Matthew Wilkas previously seen in Jonathan Lisecki's Gayby as a man petrified by that curious thing called love, gay fashion, this movingly honest piece cuts to the core in the sole scene in which the narrative is broken, spoken words that achingly detail a heartrending decision destined to set both men upon their sexual path in life. That the Mills / Hain boys then go on to illustrate the consequences of that life changing moment, makes for a short film, the first of three, that in examining the lives of gay men in New York City, sets out to say it - like it is.

 

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Boys on Film 5 (2010)

bof5

 

Title: "Boys on Film 5"
Directors: Various
Writers: Various
Genre: Drama | Romance
Awards/Festivals/Release Info: Cannes, Sundance, Outfest, Frameline
Runtime: 147 min
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, French
Subtitles: English where applicable

 

 

 

 

"Nine more award-winning short film favorites from the hugely popular Boys On Film canon, from four different continents and celebrated film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Outfest, Frameline and many more.
Boys will be boys in Pascal Alex Vincent's FAR WEST and CANDY BOY, where a farmyard and an orphanage get a gay makeover. GO GO REJECT sees Flashdance obsessive Daniel aims for the stars, as SWEAT has Holby City's David Paisley infiltrating a bath house with unexpected results. Meanwhile, love proves to be timeless when LAST CALL unites past and present, but TWOYOUNGMEN, UT hints at an uncertain future. Looking back on the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, BLOKES focuses on the sexual awakening of a peeping Tom. A confused JAMES and mute DAVID, both reach out for an experienced hand, but will they find what they are looking for?"
Candy Boy
Dir. Pascal-Alex Vincent
(France) 13 min. 2007
Panic at the orphanage! Children start falling mysteriously ill left right and center. Candy Boy, the most valiant of the orphans, leads the inquiry. But our heroes investigations are complicated by the arrival of a beautiful new resident...From the director of Give Me Your Hand.


TwoYoungMen UT.,
Dir. Sam McConnell
USA) 17 min. 2009
Will and Eli meet by chance in a bar and head to the salt flats searching for a party. In the process, however, they take the first steps towards finding and accepting themselves.

 


Blokes
Dir. Marialy Rivas
(Chile) 15 min. 2010
Santiago, Chile, 1986. Blokes tells the story of the sexual awakening of a boy during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Desire can result in a very different outcome depending on the moment that you live.


Last Call
Dir. Nick Corporon
(USA) 18 min. 2009
After a tragic accident, Gavin is offered the chance to re-live three memories he shared with his ex-boyfriend, who recently passed away, by a mysterious bartender. Gavin takes the offer, but Fate has other plans...


Go Go Reject
Dir. Michael J Saul
(USA) 20 min. 2010
Daniel Ferguson yearns to leave his job at Yogurt World and fulfill his childhood dream of becoming the Jennifer Beals of male go-go dancing, yet his Flashdance fantasy comes a cropper when the clubs specify only muscular dancers. Undaunted, Daniel turns his small frame into a huge success.


David
Dir. Roberto Fiesco
(Mexico) 14 min. 2005
Unemployed businessman José, looking for work in the city, finds instead David; a much younger man who while mute, has no problem in communicating his desire for sex. Roberto Fiesco is the producer of Broken Sky, Bramadero and Raging Sun, Raging Sky.


Far West
Dir. Pascal-Alex Vincent
(France) 17 min. 2003
Eric is forced to spend his holidays on his grandfather's farm in the countryside. Bored out of his mind, an unexpected visit from OTT friends Mika and Koko, and the appearance of a hunky farmhand, pull Eric out of the doldrums. From the director of Give Me Your Hand.


Sweat
Dir. John Lochland
(UK) 15 min. 2009
Starring David Paisley and shot in the bath houses of London's Vauxhall, Sweat portrays Simon's first steps in the sauna scene. How much trouble can one boy get into, or out of?


James
Dir. Connor Clements
(Northern Ireland) 17 min. 2009
Focusing on a boy in Northern Ireland isolated by his sexuality and alienated from his family due to his parent's marital troubles, James reaches out in desperation to his teacher for support and guidance.


Independent Review:
"Go for it!"
"The BOYS ON FILM series no longer needs any introduction. This fifth volume is as engaging and diverse as its predecessors, and it is satisfying to see a range of nationalities represented, including Chile, France and Mexico. Synopses of the individual films are provided in the product description - so a few observations will suffice to introduce the variety of themes.
As always with short film collections, there are clear highs and lows. "Sweat" (UK) is a fairly tedious and predictable troll through a Vauxhall sauna, and "Last Call" (USA) is a dull and unoriginal reminiscence by a man-in-purgatory of mistakes that he has made. Happily, these quickly-forgettable shorts are in the minority, and the remaining seven films all have something to offer.
French director Pascal-Alex Vincent ('Give Me Your Hand') is afforded two slots in this collection: "Far West", a clever and entertaining story in which an urbane dancer finds himself in a rural outback town; and "Candy Boy", an unusual, anime-style adventure of a boy in an orphanage whose leadership is challenged by a troublesome yet enticing new arrival.
"David" (hailing from Mexico) contributes a touching lyricism, in its depiction of a mute young man's desire for an older Mexican man; and "Go Go Reject" is worth a mention for its injection of camp comedy into a generally serious collection.
Finally, pride of place to two absolutely outstanding shorts, each of which is - alone - worth the price of this collection and qualify it for its 5-star rating:
First, Connor Clements's "James" from Northern Ireland: a truly wonderful, and highly authentic, portrait of an isolated 15-year-old male, whose palpable desires for physical connection are consistently denied to him by our culture.
Second, director Marialy Rivas's spectacular "Blokes". An exquisite and intense short film, this is a quietly thoughtful study of a 13-year-old Chilean boy's lust for an older neighbor. Its intimate eroticism is highly compelling, reinforced by a powerful backdrop invoking the fleeting transience of life under the Pinochet dictatorship."
~ Son of Nietzsche "Refuse orientation. Refuse identity."(United Kingdom)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sasha 2010

9

  Sasha

Year:
2010

Genre:
Comedy, Drama

Country: Germany

Director:
Dennis Todorovic

Duration:
102 min

Media type:

Actors: Sascha Kekez, Predrag Bjelac, Ljubisa Gruicic, Zeljka Preksavec, Gosia Konieczna, Tim Bergmann, Jasin Mjumjunov, Yvonne Yung Hee, Werner Strenger, Christian Lessiak, Ozgur Cebe, Fang Yu, Lucy Schaaf, Anastasia Clemens, Jonathan Ewald

Description:
While Sasha's mother is dreaming of her son's great career as a pianist, Sasha is left speechless for other reasons: his beloved piano teacher Mr. Weber tells him, he is leaving town forever. Sasha is heartbroken, and the only person in whom he can confide his feelings, is his best friend, Jiao. As a son of an Ex-Yugoslav family even in Germany one rarely lives outside the closet, and Sasha is grateful that his homophobic father believes Jiao is his girlfriend. But what begins as a useful lie becomes a large and complicated one, when Sasha's younger brother, begins an affair with Jiao. All lies get exposed and what appears to be a catastrophe is in fact the revelation of new possibilities in the lives of Sasha's family.