Set during a hot and sultry New York City summer, Barrio Boy stars Dennis Garcia as Quique (pronounced KEE-kay), a Nuyorican barber living in a rapidly changing Brooklyn neighborhood who embarks on an erotically-charged odyssey of self-discovery. A chance encounter on a basketball court sparks an instant attraction between Quique and Kevin (James Physick), a handsome Irish stranger who is passing through town to settle his late father’s affairs. As a friendship blossoms between the two young men, so do suspicions about the nature of their relationship – especially to the jealous eye of Cuz (Ke ..read more

Testosterone is almost like an extra character in the hot dude-packed hangout movie Taekwondo. Set in a beautiful country house in a chic suburb of Buenos Aires, the film follows Fernando (Lucas Papa) and his many attractive buddies, who are about to enjoy a rowdy “boys only” weekend. Disconnected from the outside world, they do little more than bask in the hot sun, play around in the swimming pool, smoke lots of pot and drink – naked or half- naked pretty much the entire time. On this particular occasion, Fernando decides to invite along a newcomer named Germán (Gabriel Epstein), a close frie ..read more

An 8-minute Australian short from director Lee Matthews and screenwriter Ben Chuah, Chasin’ observes an impromptu meeting between a Gen-X daddy and a Gen-Z twink. On a hot summer night, the pair meet up in a public park after flirting on Scruff. The differences between them are immediately apparent. But after the two jump the fence of a nearby recreation center and the older man injures his ankle, the pair of would-be lovers share in a moment of vulnerability and unexpected connection. Suddenly it seems like this may be more than just a casual hook-up. Featuring charming performances from lead ..read more

The Man with the Answers first introduces us to Victor (Vasilis Magouliotis), a hunky, twenty-something ex-diving champion now working in a furniture factory and living with his sick grandmother in a seaside town in Greece. Distraught after her death, he decides to dust off her old car and travel to Germany to visit his estranged mother. On the ferry to Italy, he meets the dreamy Matthias (Anton Weil) – a talkative, inquisitive young German who is on his way home. Matthias persuades Victor to take him along for the journey. As the pair drive north, Victor’s uptight, repressive personality clas ..read more

A father and son (Karim Ashtari and Ali Ashrafiju) take to the road for a driving lesson. It’s a scenario that will be familiar to many, but in Iranian writer-director Hadi Khanmohammadi’s The Word, the roles are reversed. In this intriguing 15-minute short, it’s the son who is teaching his aging father how to drive. But as this potential bonding moment plays out, an increasingly tense and difficult conversation ensues. As the two men begin to air their grievances with one another, we get a strong sense of the abuse and patriarchal entitlement the son has had to endure. The father also wants t ..read more

The lingering effects of abuse and trauma are explored in Into Temptation, a deeply provocative 20-minute drama from writer-director Quinn da Matta. Michael, played as an adult by Juan Manuel Salcito and as a young boy by Jaxon Ballenger, was abused by his priest, a trusted authority figure and friend, as a child. Tom McClaren, who plays the priest in both flashbacks and the present setting, starts the film off tied to a bed. As a kid, Michael took the older man’s manipulative declarations of love literally. He doesn’t feel like a victim, but rather an equal partner whose romance was unfairly ..read more

After a three-week stint at a French-language camp, high-schooler Phil (Louis Hofmann) returns home to find that his mother (Sabine Timoteo) and twin sister (Ada Philine Stappenbeck) aren’t speaking to one another. Not willing to confront his family during the last days of the summer holidays, Phil escapes to hang out with his best friend, Kat (Svenja Jung), eating ice cream and playing dress-up. As the school year begins, a new student arrives – the handsome and mysterious Nicholas (Jannik Schumann). Smitten, Phil watches his crush as he runs around the track after school, and is thrilled whe ..read more

Let’s hear it for our 100th Dekkoo Digest ..read more

Set in a Bulgarian mountain village, where prejudice simmers, Liuben follows a summer romance that develops between two young men from very different worlds. Twenty-seven-year-old Victor (Dimitar Nokolov) has a nice life in Madrid with his partner, Jose (Ramón Esquinas). But after returning to his childhood home in Bulgaria for his grandfather’s funeral, he decides to stay for the summer. While reconnecting with his father and their village’s way of life, he unexpectedly finds love in the form of Liuben (Bojidar Iankov Asenov), an eighteen-year-old Roma boy. Despite their differences, and the ..read more

A trippy, visually inventive British drama from director Leanne Hanley and screenwriter Harry Hains, Sapphire tells the story of a troubled young poet who is caught between two identities. Ethan (Andreja Pejic) struggles with an addiction to both love and drugs. When they meet an alluring man on the street, a relationship develops that sends them deeper into their worst tendencies. The films flashes back and forth through time, observing different periods in Ethan’s life – the abyss of addiction, the thrill of first love, a moment of reflection and honesty in a therapist’s office and, finally ..read more