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)
