The Male Gaze is a new series of releases from New Queer Visions that showcases short LGBTQ films from across the world. The first instalment, First Kiss, brings together five shorts that are based around men experiencing romantic and/or sexual interaction with other men for the first time. It takes in films from Sweden, Indonesia, USA, Australia and France giving a rounded look at how similar experiences are depicted across the world. The films are: Naked [Naken] (2013); Pria (2017); Walk With Me (2018), One Night Only (2018); Michel's Mouse [Tapette] (2016).
The Tin Drum (1979)
Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess (2016)
Four tales about princesses and adventurers around the world: The Mistress of Monsters, The Wizard Student, The Ship's Boy and His Cat, and Ivan Tsarevitch and his changeable princess.
Roommates (1994)
The story of a macho straight and a well-educated gay man who have to share an apartment at a half-way house for aids-patients. Slowly they become friends.
Something Must Break (2014)
A gritty story taking place in Stockholm, about the passionate love between the self-abusive Sebastian who wants to be a woman, and the easy-going Andreas who is certainly not gay.
Almost Famous (2000)
In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.
American Graffiti (1973)
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
Poppy Field (2022)
A young Romanian gendarme, Cristi, tries to find the balance between two apparently opposing parts of his identity: that of a man working in a macho hierarchical environment and that of a closeted gay person who tries to keep his personal life a secret. Cristi is called in for an intervention at a movie theatre, where an ultra-nationalist, homophobic group has interrupted the screening of a queer film. After one of the protesters threatens to out him, Cristi spirals out of control.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)
Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.
Lucas (2012)
Lucas wants a motorcycle. He meets Alvaro, who will give him money for just some innocent pictures. With them Alvaro is able to create a fake online identity to contact young girls.
The Lulú Club (2023)
Racing against time, a Chilean dad and his friends embark on a mishap-filled adventure across the Andes to gain custody of a daughter he's never met.
Disobedience (2018)
A woman learns about the death of her Orthodox Jewish father, a rabbi. She returns home and has romantic feelings rekindled for her best childhood friend, who is now married to her cousin.
Words of Devotion (2007)
Ootani and Tachibana have been inseparable since high school. Now that they're in college, they live together, they're happy and everything seems prefect. But their little world is disrupted when they meet an old high school friend, Yuki, who seems to have a crush on Tachibana, making Ootani feel jealous and insecure. Will Tachibana really choose him over a pretty girl?
The Fisherman's Daughter (2024)
Samuel, the last free-diving fisherman, has lived isolated in the island of La Aguja since he was abandoned by his wife and son 15 years ago. His life is disrupted when his son shows up now as Priscila, a transgender prostitute from the streets of Santa Marta, Colombia.
Private Photos (2020)
A sweet couple invite a third person over for the night, who brings a lustful energy to spice things up.
Appropriate Behavior (2015)
Shirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite but fails miserably in her attempt at all identities.
Helium (2014)
A young boy, Alfred, is dying, but through the stories about Helium, a magical fantasy world, told by the hospital's eccentric janitor, Enzo, Alfred regains the joy and happiness of his life, and finds a safe haven away from daily life.