The Guest(1999)

Eros, O Basileus(en)

Structured in nine tableaux each a study of a simple action or situation involving a lone, naked figure, the blind Eros, searching for fulfilment, for self. The objects he touches - books, paintings - can be seen as icons of the creative spirit; there is also a motor cycle and film equipment. In succeeding scenes he appears to try on identities offered by institutional doctrines of religion and social traditions of (overt) masculinity. Much of the film was constructed in-camera with a small amount of editing afterwards. An innovation was the use of in-camera fade-outs as phrase markers, not as terminal points, within a single set-up or shot.

Undertow(es)

A married fisherman struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town's rigid traditions.

Back Room(es)

In the back room of a gay club in Barcelona, the camera stalks the men (privy to their inner thoughts in voice overs), who stalk each other on a typically busy Saturday night.

House of Boys(en)

It is 1984. Frank is a determined English teenager who runs away from high school to find an alternative gay lifestyle in Amsterdam. He finds a home and a job at the "House of Boys", a bar-cum-brothel run by a strict Madame who has an eye for what his punters crave. Frank works his way up from barman to on-stage dancer and falls in love with some of his housemates, Jake. The first intimations of what is described as 'the gay cancer', casts a long shadow over Frank's tight-knit group of friends. Yet despite the troubles that cloud the hopes and dreams of young Frank, his perseverance, along with support from a willing doctor, will carry him through.

Hideaway (Le refuge)(fr)

Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich and in love. But drugs have invaded their lives. One day, they overdose and Louis dies. Mousse survives, but soon learns she's pregnant. Feeling lost, Mousse runs away to a house far from Paris. Several months later, Louis' brother joins her in her refuge.

The Last Straight Man(en)

Lewis is a closeted gay man throwing a bachelor party for his straight best friend and secret crush, Cooper. After a night of drunken sex together, the two men decide to meet in the same hotel suite on the same night each year to hook up and catch up. Over the course of twelve years, we see four additional nights that depict how the two men grow and how their friendship changes.

A Proper Man(fr)

Étienne is dumped by his girlfriend who criticizes him for not behaving like a real guy. He is then caught up in three episodes by his past, represented by his ex-partners, Lucas and Caroline, as well as his mother and sister, who appear one after the other in his apartment. Étienne falls back into his old patterns, his relatives only wanting an image of the virile man they have made of him and whom he is trying to embody. He becomes aware of it the moment a young man appears and thus has the chance to drop his mask, to assume who he is, in an unexpected way but unique to himself.

Fag(fr)

Thomas, a 17-year-old high school student, finds himself attracted to Esteban, another boy from his school. The rumor of Thomas's homosexuality is spreading fast, and he begins to suffer the gaze of others.

Boys Life 2(en)

Compilation of four short films, "Must Be the Music", "Nunzio's Second Cousin", "Alkali, Iowa", and "The Dadshuttle", of gay interest.

Xue shu qing(zh)

The Burning Boy(en)

A closeted teenage gay boy shares a swim and an afternoon together with his straight best friend. When his looks and longing let his secret out, his friend pleasantly surprises him but an accident occurs and tragedy ensues.

Demolition(en)

An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.

Rutina(es)

A closeted gay teen has to break through a daily routine that keeps him tied into a life full of fear and homophobia, even though the struggle eventually will take him to confront society itself.

The Secret(fr)

Julian is in a dilemma. He loves the person, he is in a relationship with, less than his best friend.

A Boy's Dream(da)

Elias dreams of a family. Christian is happy about their free existence in an open relationship, where they have time and money to travel, buy expensive designer furniture and love each other. Elias has been able to keep his longing at bay for a long time, but when he starts his new job as a psychologist at a school home, it is as if the burden is overflowing. He must face the fact that a life without a human responsibility for others than himself can never be a happy life for him.

Clandestinos(es)

Xabi, a troubled boy, meets Iñaki, a member of the terrorist gang ETA who becomes his mentor and ideological inspiration. Some time later, Xabi is arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail and confined in a juvenile detention center, where he meets Joel, a Mexican, and Driss, a Moroccan, with whom he manages to flee and reach Madrid with the purpose of finding Iñaki and joining the gang.

East Palace, West Palace(zh)

A young gay man, identified as a writer, encounters a local policeman, who arrests him for public cruising in a park. The policeman is more than professionally curious about the young man, who seems to have the cop's number and suddenly kisses him.

Soldiers. Story from Ferentari(ro)

Adi (40), a shy and introverted anthropologist who got recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari, most notorious outcasted neighborhood in Bucharest. He wants to write a study on manele music. The pop music of the Roma community serves as a way out for some, but mostly as one more means for the mafia pimps to make money off their acts and keep them in slave-like dependency. While researching his subject, Adi meets Alberto, a Roma ex-convict and a bear of a man, who promises Adi to help him. Soon, the unlikely pair begins a playful romance in which Adi feeds Alberto with improbable plans of escaping poverty and Alberto reciprocates with well-concocted phrases of love. Little by little their casual affair grows into love. And the funny and sweet teasing turns into something precarious, since Alberto is both dangerous and fragile and belongs to a world whose codes Adi doesn't understand.

Different from the Others(de)

Conrad Veidt plays a famous musician who is blackmailed for being gay. Eventually he stands trial and is convicted. At the end the film pleads for the abolition of §175 (the law that punishes homosexuality).

Chuck & Buck(en)

Chuck and Buck are childhood best friends whose lives have taken very different paths. While Chuck moved away and now has a real life, Buck stayed behind and developed a dangerous fixation—on Chuck's life.