Shot on location in San Antonio, Texas, El Abuelo is an intimate portrait of local educator and poet, Joe Jimenez. Through the meditative process of ironing his clothes (a duty often identified as "women's work"), we experience Joe in that familiar goal of finding the perfect crease. Of all domestic chores, ironing is the only one a "homeboy" is more than happy to master, as masterful ironing is the key to reaching an appearance of perfection; perfect creases work hand in hand with the power of attraction. In voiceover, Joe reads the lines from his poem "El Abuelo," as we learn the potency these perfect creases possess in capturing the attention of his "first vato" -- his first love of another man.
Himself
After convincing his husband to retire their old lumpy futon, Nelson is forced to come out in a spectacular way while shopping for a new bed at Drowzy's Mattress World.
Former Danish servicemen Lars and Jimmy are thrown together while training in a neo-Nazi group. Moving from hostility through grudging admiration to friendship and finally passion, events take a darker turn when their illicit relationship is uncovered.
Le Marais is a singular short film, taken from the collection of films set in Paris, used for Gus Van Sant's "Paris: Je t'aime". Two customers walk into a paint business, asking for help, one character has the compulsion to speak to another - and while language barriers restrict the growth of their relationship, the desire for one another is there.
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
Set in the late 1980s, this critically acclaimed indie classic from 1992 portrays a gritty side of gay life in Los Angeles. Ethan (Paul Marius), a 27-year-old photographer, believes he has no need for love or commitments, and is living his life amidst one-night stands. Ethan is coaxed by his "best buddy" Dennis (Jason Adams) into attending a reunion of college friends and lovers at a Palm Springs hideaway. What is supposed to be a restful vacation turns into a round of hard drinking and cruel sexual games. By the end of the "vacation," Ethan feels a need for new friends and returns to Los Angeles. Confronting his troubled family life, he calls his father - who doesn't want anything to do with him. In the end, Ethan realizes that he can make his own "family" with friends who will accept each other without judgments.
A tall and torrid story BUILT FOR ENDURANCE is an experimental short film based on a true story about a violent gay hustler and his so-called girlfriend who attack a man who has been stalking them.
A group of gay friends try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.
A Fantastic Ghost Wedding is the story of a young popular spirit medium, who is hired to find a spouse for a dead teenage boy. The chosen bride turns out to be an unexpected person, and this snowballs into a series of events culminating in a Chinese ghost wedding.
A sumptuous short film of friendship and adoration between boys, based on a poem by Peter LeBerge. Moments of joy, bonding and roughhousing on a school trip to the beach counterpoint one teen boy’s introspective sexual awakenings and questionings. Magnificent cinematography and editing create a visual feast that provides the imagery for a narrated poem by Peter Laberge alluding to early homosexual desires, but with Catholic overtones never directly expressed.
The last day of Patrizia Cavalli’s home. Before it’s all gone.
In 1818, high-spirited young Fanny Brawne finds herself increasingly intrigued by the handsome but aloof poet John Keats, who lives next door to her family friends the Dilkes. After reading a book of his poetry, she finds herself even more drawn to the taciturn Keats. Although he agrees to teach her about poetry, Keats cannot act on his reciprocated feelings for Fanny, since as a struggling poet he has no money to support a wife.
A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.
A closeted boy runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams.
A loosely structured comedy allowing for a series of vignettes based around an ancient coaching inn. The story was adapted from the 1929 novel by Scottish writer Erik Linklater.
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
At a glittering party in 18th-century Paris, the poet Andréa Chenier delivers an impassioned denunciation of Louis XVI. Five years later, the Revolution has given way to the Terror, transforming the power balance between Chénier, his beloved Maddalena, and Gérard, the man who could destroy him...
The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.
In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.