In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves.
Seb and Aaron have overspent and built up debts on their credit card. Aaron decides to take matters into his own hands and secretly films their sex life to broadcast online. The money pours in until he gets caught! Realising that the scheme could sort their financial problems, Seb agrees to allow things to continue until they are back in the black. When their friend Jem arrives and suggests a third party might help them make even more cash, things start to get a little tricky....
Vanessa embarks on a solo trip after the death of her best friend, Jennifer. However, her self-care plans change when she finds Jennifer standing in her kitchen, claiming to be an extraterrestrial.
A woman, married and with a child but becoming increasingly distant from her husband who is already cheating on her, reluctantly enters a secret relationship with her neighbor, a teenage boy.
29-year-old Eban has retreated home to his parent's house in Seaside Oregon after the dissolution of his teaching job in Seattle. There he courts 15-year-old Charlie and eventually the two start a sexual relationship. As the age of consent in Oregon is 18 years and given the age difference, the adults in this drama take a dim view of this development.
Historian Steve Humphries examines failures in policies and legislation put in place to protect youngsters from sexual abuse, and discovers radical new solutions proposed by an increasing number of child-protection experts, which challenge deep-rooted attitudes and emotional reactions to paedophiles. Senior lecturer Sarah Goode believes the most promising way to reduce the number of child-abuse cases is to encourage people to seek treatment before they target victims. Her theory is supported by an interview in this programme in which Humphries meets a man who makes an extraordinary confession on camera.
A Southern librarian puts excitement in her life with a found murder weapon and a false confession.
In this short movie featuring familiar characters from Azumanga Daioh, Osaka is yet again having a strange dream of Chiyo-Chan's pigtails being posessed. As Chiyo-Chan's pigtails bounce out of the window, who knows if young Chiyo will ever be happy again.
A series of intertwining tales involve "pleasure seekers and pleasure providers" during the course of one night in Geylang, Singapore's red-light district. There are three distinct stories, united only by the presence of characters from all the stories in a streetside eatery:
A documentary about the history and production of the mockumentary television series TRAILER PARK BOYS, directed and presented by Annemarie Cassidy (wife of TRAILER PARK BOYS director Mike Clattenburg).
Short film about a young man discovering pants in a nudist world. A parable of the societal intolerance to anything different.
Robert works as a gamedev in Hamburg and, together with his team, which includes his best friend and flatmate Ole and his girlfriend Lorna, is on the verge of completing an innovative first-person shooter. Before the Chinese businessmen arrive, Robert goes to the nearby sausage stand with Ole and messes up his gray suit with ketchup. On the spur of the moment, he goes to a nearby dry cleaner and asks the ladies working there for quick help. Normally he would have to wait a day, but Monika promises to clean the suit within two hours. Robert's reaction seems a little strange, but no one can yet suspect that he has just fallen head over heels in love with the attractive woman in her mid-forties.
Young judge Thirza Zorniger's dream comes true when she is offered a temporary position at the Higher Regional Court in Munich's historic Palace of Justice. Neither the high expectations of her superior Kaspar Epha nor the mountain of old cases she has to work through can dampen her euphoria.
Following his son Gabriel’s death, Jorge travels from conservative Bolivia to New York City to confront Gabriel’s boyfriend Sebastian. While the two battle over Jorge’s inability to accept his son, Sebastian channels his grief into a bold new play in honor of his lost love, in which Gabriel’s inner turmoil is transformed into an eye-popping gay fantasia.
Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.
The year is 1938, and Mahatma Gandhi's groundbreaking philosophies are sweeping across India, but 8-year-old Chuyia, newly widowed, must go to live with other outcast widows on an ashram. Her presence transforms the ashram as she befriends two of her compatriots.
A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
The year is 1764. For over a year, Josef has been leading a precarious life in Venice. He hopes to become an opera composer. The city, full of talented and already-established composers, seems closed to him. Looking for work as a violinist, he comes into the orbit of a rich young woman. Thanks to her, he gets the opportunity to play at salons. But his real opportunity arises when he becomes the lover of a libertine marquise. She teaches him worldly manners, rids him of signs of a provincial upbringing and introduces him to a hedonistic existence free from religious intolerance. Thus transformed, Josef gets an incan incredible commission: to write an opera for the San Carlo, Europe's largest theatre.
Théo and Hugo meet in a club and form an immediate bond. Once the desire and elation of this first moment has passed, the two young men, now sober, wander through the empty streets of nocturnal Paris, having to confront the love they sense blossoming between them.
Carla's (Rita Magdalena) sister commits suicide. Devastated, she decides to go to the province.. where she wreaks havoc among the men.
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.
When Shima nearly drowns trying to retrieve a picture, he’s saved by a merman named Isaki. Despite their differences, they begin to bond, but love across species isn’t simple.
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
This is the story of the beautiful young Pervirella. Set in the mythical English land of Condon, the grotesque, power-mad Queen Victoria builds a wall around the country and establishes a "Monarchy of Terror." Intellectuals and "pervs" are prosecuted and killed, or driven underground to form the "Cult of Perv." Their leader, the Demon Nanny gives birth to a possible savior, then dies. The infant Pervirella grows to maturity with supernatural speed and shows amazing abilities, including raging nymphomania whenever her magical necklace is removed. Pervirella is sought by various rebels, agents of Victoria, the Cult of Perv, and a trio of witches. Eventually she teams up with Amicus Reilly, a James Bond spoof played to stiff, campy perfection by the late David Warbeck. Wild adventures ensue!
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
A computer wizard infiltrates a London sex club to get evidence for a shutdown, but falls for the proprietress.
Jean, a young videographer, turns to arms and revolts after the death of a friend during a police arrest. While imprisoned and awaiting trial, spirits visit him.
When a solitary writer adopts and bonds with a Great Dane that belonged to a late friend, she begins to come to terms with her past and her own creative inner life.
Ryan meets Nathan and they fall in love over the course of their first date. It's only later, as their relationship progresses, that Ryan starts to wonder: is my boyfriend who I thought he was? Am I who I thought I was? They experience joy and pain together, trying to overcome the painful fear of whether or not you can truly know another person.
Scott gets a visit from Connor which brings his past back to haunt him, but will it change his future?
An honest, genuine writer discovers the painful truth of a handsome and charming yet manipulative and toxic love interest.
A Jewish New Yorker is bedridden patriarch dying of lung cancer, confesses for the first time to son that he was always attracted to men. Despite his long-lasting marriage and faithfulness to wife.
Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Youngest son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.
Six people in New York are adrift. Zeke and Luke work in a sex shop: Zeke takes gay liberation seriously, Luke likes to sparkle and takes nothing seriously. He's offended when Stephen calls him a gay cliché, then, surprisingly, they find each other attractive and interesting. Stephen, it turns out, has a great apartment, trust fund, and artwork he's painted on his walls. Meanwhile, Peter, a neat-freak, and Derek, nice to everyone, move in together. Peter's compulsiveness threatens the relationship. Last, newly-engaged Marilyn, a recovering alcoholic stuck at step 2, can't stop obsessing about wedding details. Can these folks sort out civilization and its discontents?
A charming comedy about going on a rather long walk. Félix is a laid-back guy living in the bleak northern coastal town of Dieppe. He lives happily with his lover Daniel and is a soap opera enthusiast and HIV-positive. After losing his job, Félix decides to find the father he never knew in Marseilles. Agreeing to meet Daniel in the southern port city in a week's time, Félix throws on his backpack and starts hiking. On his way, he discovers that family need not always be connected by blood.
When Zelda Sparks comes back to the small town of New Essex, two old high school buddies Craig Blackshear and Terry Seville decide to pull a vicious prank on Craig's meddling former girlfriend Zelda -- but Terry is appalled to learn that the prank may have taken a deadly turn...
Getting away, that's the only thing that's real. For Manue, here there's nothing to hope for, whereas in America everything is possible. On the next pier, a container ship is heading for Massachusetts and they're looking for sailors. Gaffia agrees to hold Manue's hand for the long voyage.
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.