XConfessions 29[2021]

Mumbai Cutting(hi)

An anthology of eleven short films from eleven directors featuring stories of life in Mumbai.

Unfinished(ja)

The yakuza have their best days behind them and are only a shadow of themselves. The old rituals seem out of date and their tattoos make them outcasts of society. The inexperienced student Ryō stumbles into their ranks by chance, and before he knows it, he becomes entangled in dark machinations. He quickly succumbs to the fascination of omnipotence fantasies and hedonistic decadence and sinks deeper and deeper into a parallel world of prostitution, blackmail and violence. However, there is one thing that Ryō has not considered in his naivety: once yakuza, always yakuza!

Periphery(de)

August 1st in Zurich. An unbearably hot day. While many are celebrating the Swiss national holiday, five individual fates take their course: 1. As a symbol against capitalism in Switzerland, Vinc is planning an attack in the city centre. 2. Tibetan descendent Sonam is struggling to settle into her new job as a police officer – worse still, she makes a major mistake during her first operation. 3. Hunter Edi’s status quo is unbalanced when a financial predicament puts his morals to the test. 4. Young Ukrainian Sonja arrives in Zurich full of hope to surprise the love of her life – but she is in for an even bigger surprise. 5. Chilean Javier no longer feels at home in Switzerland and decides to return – with his daughter, but without her mother’s knowledge – to his motherland.

Three Times(zh)

In three separate segments, set respectively in 1966, 1911, and 2005, three love stories unfold between three sets of characters, under three different periods of Taiwanese history and governance.

Diamond Moon(ja)

Boys On Film 2: In Too Deep(en)

Created by gay directors and actors, Boys On Film features numerous award-winning shorts that deal with all aspects of gay life. Volume 2: In Too Deep contains nine complete films: Till Kleinert's "Cowboy" starring Oliver Scherz and Pit Bukowski; Håkon Liu's "Lucky Blue" starring Tobias Bengtsson and Tom Lofterud; Matthieu Salmon's "Weekend In The Countryside" starring Théo Frilet, Pierre Moure, and Jean-Claude Dumas; Soman Chainani's "Kali Ma" starring Kamini Khanna, Brendan Bradley, and Manish Dayal; Julián Hernández's "Bramadero" starring Cristhian Rodríguez and Sergio Almazán; Craig Boreham's "Love Bite" starring Will Field and Aidan Calabria; "The Island" featuring director Trevor Anderson ; Arthur Halpern's "Futures (and Derivatives)" starring Kelly Miller, Cam Kornman, and Bill Barnett; and Tim Hunter's "Working It Out" starring Simon Kearney, Paul Ross, and Glaston Toft.

Boys On Film 3: American Boy(en)

Created by gay directors and actors, Boys On Film features numerous award-winning shorts that deal with all aspects of gay life. Volume 3: American Boy contains seven complete films: Adam Salky's "Dare" starring Adam Fleming, Michael Cassidy, and Marla Burkholder; Jody Wheeler's "In The Closet" starring J.T. Tepnapa and Brent Corrigan; Dennis Shinners's "Area X" starring Matt Schuneman and Antony Raymond; Julian Breece's "The Young & Evil" starring Vaughn Lowery, Diana Elizabeth Jordan, and Reggie Watkins; Brian Krinsky's "Dish :)" starring Matthew Monge, Jeff Martin, and Octavio Altamirano; Carter Smith's "Bugcrush" starring Josh Caras and Donald Cumming; and Kyle Thomas Coker's "Astoria, Queens" starring Aaron Michael Davies, James Heffron, Sangeeta Parekh, and Hayley Thompson-King.

Boys On Film 4: Protect Me From What I Want(en)

Elliot Tittensor (TV's Shameless) stars as Daz in headlining film PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, a gripping British film debut that sees him woo a young lad in an underpass, only to be threatened with a break-up the following morning. Passive and submissive roles are tackled and tugged in gay graffiti tale VANDALS and Icelandic grapple-fest WRESTLING, while POSTMORTEM, MY NAME IS LOVE, and Iris Prize-winner STEAM look at promising encounters that turn awry. Rounding out the collection are HEIKO, an alternative ode to foot fetishes, BREATH where 12-year-old Erik swims out to sea to make a daring move on his best friend's father, and the crème de la crème from this collection TREVOR, which won multiple prestigious awards from Sundance, Berlinale, and even The Academy Awards (Oscar) for Best Short Film.

LifeStories: Steve Burdick(en)

Steve Burdick is closeted television anchorman whose lover dies of an AIDS-related illness. Steve decides to come out and then tells his story about being gay and battling AIDS during a special segment of the nightly news. Originally episode eight of LifeStories, it was moved to later in the season due to the subject matter.

Mexican Men(en)

Who’s up for a sensual, seductive trip with some of the hottest Latin men that have ever graced the Silver Screen? ‘Mexican Men’ collects five of the most accomplished gay shorts from one of the homes of groundbreaking queer cinema. From short encounters, emerging love stories and deeply touching connections, these short films are sure to stir the heart... and body. Includes: Atmosphere [Atmósfera] (2010); To Live [Vivir] (2003); Tremulous [Trémulo] (2015); Wandering Clouds [Nubes flotantes] (2014); Young Man on the Bar Masturbating with Rage and Nerve [Muchacho en la barra se masturba con rabia y osadía] (2015).

Kadhaveedu(ml)

Kadhaveedu' is a dedication to Malayalam being accorded the Shresthabhaasha (Malayalam has been declared a Classical language in 2013) status and presents, as a single entity, three different stories penned by the doyens of Malayalam literature - Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer, M T Vasudevan Nair and Madhavikutty. The film is an anthology with adaptations of stories written by renowned Malayalam fiction writers Basheer, M. T. Vasudevan Nair and Madhavikutty (Kamala Surayya).. The stories have been tweaked to fit in a modern setting and the script has been conceived by the director himself.

New York Stories(en)

Get ready for a wildly diverse, star-studded trilogy about life in the big city. One of the most-talked about films in years, New York Stories features the creative collaboration of three of America's most popular directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, and Woody Allen.

Tales from the Rift(en)

Somewhere between the stars is a place that has gone missing. Hazel is a time traveler. Hat is a zealot. Lily is ghost. And something is always watching. Through the lens of five interconnecting stories, the secrets of the Rift are revealed.

Secret Diary of Fanny(it)

Written and directed by Sergio Pastore in 1969. Il diario proibito di Fanny is an anthology film starring Giovanna Lenzi as four different women, all named Fanny. The film touches upon all the hot-button issues of 1968: illegal immigrants from the Eastern bloc, the Prague Spring, the Italian star cult and even abortion.

Luk královny Dorotky(cs)

Some Other Stories(sr)

The film is a high-concept project with five stories exploring the themes of motherhood and pregnancy, directed by women filmmakers from five former Yugoslav republics. “Croatian Story” follows an anguished painter who must decide whether or not to keep one of her unborn twins, diagnosed with Down syndrome. “Serbian Story” finds an expectant mother in the same emergency room with a charming killer. “Bosnia-Herzegovina Story” centers on a financially strapped Sarajevo family whose son?s lover is pregnant. “Macedonian Story” unfolds in a clinic where a drug addict struggles to keep her baby, and “Slovenian Story” ends the omnibus on a humorous note with a nun who finds her own way to immaculate conception.

East Side Stories(hu)

Hungarian tales around the end of the regime(s).

The Table(ko)

Four different women discuss life, love and marriage with people from their past and present during the course of one day at a café in Seoul.

LSD 2: Love, Sex aur Dhokha 2(hi)

In a high-tech world, three intertwined stories discuss identity, online intimacy and the allure of social networks.

Art Through Our Eyes(ms)

As an omnibus of short films, Art Through Our Eyes is inspired by the art collection found at the National Gallery Singapore. Each of the five directors – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Ho Yuhang and Joko Anwar – handpicked a masterpiece from the 19th and 20th century as inspiration for their short films.