SHORTS

Hi, Pres!

A unique partnership between a president and his vice-president – 2025 – Philippines

This is a student project and while it is not translated completely into English, there is enough for anyone to get the gist of the whole story. It is not only a tale of a high school romance but is one that shows a formation of a lifelong partnership and love. It truly has an interesting and unique approach to their union.

Two young men are running for class president. Dwine Cameron (Renz Ferrer Dasig) is elected class president, while Nikko Trinidad (Aron James Ramiso) becomes his vice president. Initially, the two do not get along and there does seem to be an unusual tension between them. However, as time goes on, they become closer and eventually learn to become friends. But then that friendship seems to move into a whole new realm and the two begin to get closer, with a romantic spark taking hold. Guess who goes to the Prom together?

Fast forward 10 years and we see the beautiful result of that unique bond of theirs.

This is simply put a wonderful student film that makes you feel good and tells what I think is a factually-based true story. We need more films like this – reflective of honest and yet hopeful outcomes of gay relationships that began at an early age. Thank you for creating a truly memorable short film that has heart, warmth, and sensitivity.

Two Some Boys

A reconnection of both friendship and love – 2024 – South Korea

This is a mini-series between two guys once in a relationship and a singing group that soured and broke apart. Kang Min Kim Bit and Ki Myoung Je) and Lee Su Ho (Shin Joon Hyung) were once in love, but something broke them up. Now, however, as Min tries to resume his career again, teams up with Su Ho again. Their love was not really lost. Simply put on hold. This story, while short, tries to do just too much and does not quite reach what I think it was striving for. Yet I cannot say I did not like it. I really did.

The kissing scenes are very good and are quite believable and looked authentic. Some of the scenes both between the drunken father and Min and Su Ho are quite good and intense. Of course, I lot of it is filled with tropey and cliché scenes that are cringey especially the female roles. That is too bad as parts of the story were solid and it really shows the seedier side of Korean living, which we rarely see. I thought the protagonists did a solid performance. However, the story tends to get unnecessarily deeply dark and a bit melancholic. But judge for yourself.

Kaathaloram

A music video that metamorphosed into a short BL video – 2023 – Malayalam India

Originally set to only be a music video, it morphed into a short film about a handsome gay couple on vacation. Set in picturesque settings, it is a reflection of two young men who are a couple still madly in love but are going through internal conflicts and emotions. Especially when one of them thinks back on his childhood traumas in his school setting. It is dark but never melancholic. Surprisingly deep for such a short film and astonishingly romantic. Unafraid and unabashed to be open about their involvement. It is both a hypnotic film and a unforgettable music video.

Hope

A korero of the struggles between two men in dolefulness– 2024 – United Kingdom 

What you have here is a masterfully done and creatively filmed discourse between two men inside a church who by happenstance and perhaps fate and maybe by divine intervention find each other. Both are looking for and seeking solace and a certain level of comfort and perhaps a sense of belonging inside its walls. More importantly, they both seek catharsis and a confessional. Lucas (Kyle Brookes) strikes up a conversation with another man who seems deeply in internal pain. Billy (Rich Dees) struggles with his bisexuality and where does he fit in this world of either/or.

They learn over the days to talk about their insecurities and their emotions. In particular, the most powerfully incapacitating one of all – shame.

In an ironic twist, they have found that there is a lot of beauty to be found in religion. They have also found each other. The answer to both their prayers. Ironically, inside a place ‘where the big man upstairs disapproves of men like us.’ Perhaps he does not after all. We see in the end them holding hands. Neither one has burst into flames.

This is a smartly written and well-acted short film that you would think might be a docudrama because it is so realistic and touching. One of the best short films I have ever seen. This is indeed exceptional.

But the fruit of the Spirt is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians: 5: 22-23)

The Spirit is way too busy to worry about who we might want to fall in love with..

After Goodbye

A reflection of grief for a father and son – 2024 – South Korea 

I cannot tell you the impact this short film will have on you! It is significantly introspective and deeply moving with very little dialogue. It is a journey, an internal struggle if you will, for both father and son in terms of dealing with the grief of the loss of his mother and the death of his wife. Each sees it from a different perspective, yet both feel enormous pain and loss. It is quiet. Reflective. And deeply pensive. It is mostly seen through the eyes of the son, Ji Hoon (Oh Dong-hyeon). Until he sees the small gesture from the father in terms of understanding the son’s grief. Then Ji Hoon knows he must now also begin to recognize his father’s grief as well – not just his.

This is an astonishing story of bonding in grief of a father and son. Done quietly, stoically. The pain is being shared now by both.  The healing has begun.

Just a beautiful short film inspirationally filmed and so gently and effectively portrayed by both performers.

Flowers

A journey of friendship and self-discovery – 2024 – United States

This is a brilliantly done short film about the anxieties of adolescent boys who still grapple with who and what they are. Eddie (Henry Leith) is gay and struggling to deal with it. He tries to tell his mother, who crumbles with fear and anxiety worrying about him being alone in life. Josh (Rocco Roberts) is his best friend but must ‘hide’ that fact because he is a member of the soccer team, and his expectations are straight, manly behaviors. Josh’s soccer friend, Rob (Blake Weise), is truly a despicable character who is forcing Josh to be something he is not ready for.

This then becomes their intertwined story of struggle with the winner being friendship and a love that Rob will never know and undoubtedly never experience, be he gay or straight. This short drama could have been maudlin but was not. It became hopeful because Eddie is strong. And so are Josh’s two female friends who provide the strength and the out that Josh needed to deal with is own inner struggles. In the end, we see Josh and Eddie, sitting quietly under a tree after Josh gives Eddie a simple basic flower. The meaning and symbolism of that flower is more powerful than any words can describe. You will understand its significance when you see this beautiful film in total. It captures clearly what these two young men are feeling. Not so much with words but with their looks and in their being together. One of the best short films.

This is a well thought out short film, brilliantly done I might add, that could have gone very dark but did not. Instead, it went hopeful, in a subtle yet still sanguine way. One has a real winner here and the acting has just the right amount of angst. This is as near to perfection for a short film as I have seen!

Oh Yes

A coming out of the closet with real force – 2024 – Germany
Wow! This is a very short film. Just under 4 minutes and shockingly tells a complete story of coming out. Two friends (Luca Muller) and John Luis Rupprecht) are merely sitting talking at a beach. One asks casually to his gay friend when he realized he was gay. They discuss a little and then his gay friend looks at him and ask, “Do you feel you might be into men?” The other one answers, “ No, no no. ….I don’t know.” Suddenly his gay friend grabs him and plants a passionate and intense kiss directly onto his lips. Startled, he looks at his gay friend as he says to him, “I just thought you might want to know.” The rest is for you to experience.

Perhaps, this is almost every gay man’s ideal dream of the way to ‘come out’. Direct, safe, intensely pleasurable, and dramatically therapeutic. Additionally, one finds out quickly if it is likeable or not. In this case, it is.

I wish I had had a friend like this 50 years ago. It would have saved me many years of struggling with guilt anxiety and painfully poor experiences in coming out. But I am ok now. To those who are struggling with whether they are or think they are or wonder if they might be, watch this. While your first experience might not be so forthcoming, try to find someone who will understand what you are going through so he or she can explain the journey. It does, really and truly, get better. No matter how trite or cliché that might sound, it is a truism. Good luck and enjoy your journey of self-discovery.

Stepping Out

A popular student struggles with accepting his sexuality– 2024 – Australia

Max (Darcy Smith) and Will (Will Hutchins) are best friends. But when they walk in together at Max’s house, you could cut the tension with a knife. Thinking that they are alone, Will wants to ‘talk’ about what happened. However, Max does not. Unexpectedly, Max’s sister, Liv (McKinley Markham) interprets and obviously concludes that a massive case of sexual tension exists between the two of them.

When Max and Liv are alone, they talk, and she provides just enough encouragement for Max to understand that no one or no thing should stand in his way of expressing or being with the person he loves. It is, to say the least, quite a beautiful and insightful exchange between brother and sister.

Come Monday morning, Max, when he sees Will walks up to him and…

Oh, this is such a deliciously unexpected and brilliantly done short story and an innovative and very creative ‘coming out’ story. Frankly, I was not prepared for Max’s actions and it caught me by surprise. It is, I am sure, what we might have all thought of what we might have wanted to do with our first love but lacked the courage to do it.

This is a marvelously insightful short film that says and captures a changing time. I love this so much and ought to be a standard film for teaching children about sex or growing up that what they feel and who they love is ok. Really ok. It captures everything you need to know in just under 9 minutes.

Fertilizer

A gay coming of age saga – 2023 – United States

Described as a coming-of-age short film, it is way more than that and significantly deeper than your customary issues revolving individuals coming out of the closet. Karson (Mike Frusci) has his first kiss with a guy who then manipulates his vulnerability into thinking he is the only one worthy enough for him. When Mike finally tells his Christian parents he is gay, the love of his love ‘ghosts’ him. Fast forward a year, and Karson is still trying to recover. He works enough nerve to get back into the dating game. Unexpectedly, he meets someone just before he is ready to go off to college. Lucas (Everett Reed) has his own set of traumas. His family kicked him out when they found out he was gay.

Having met just about a month before Lukas goes off to school, he and Karson form a unique and wonderful relationship. Sex is not the glue to keeping them together. Their own struggles are. Each understands the other and more importantly find comfort in one another from their weaknesses.

It is obvious that Lucas is in love with Karson. Almost from the moment they met. But Karson is haunted by his past demons. And says his goodbyes – with no passion. As he gets into his car to go, he has his epiphany. He sheds his past, finally. Watch to see this wonderfully, warm, honest, genuine, and most sincere creation of a gay relationship that happens more frequently than we perhaps realize. It is pure joy and while not transcendentally inclined, shows the power of love, if you fertilize it. Such a warm and gentle short story. I cried tears of joy. I think you will too!

Without Saying Goodbye

One more night together before goodbye– 2022 – France

We see two young men, (Emmanuel Rol and Robin Gailhac) obviously deeply in love with each other, sit most quiet, reflective, and deeply introspective. We know little about them except one is leaving for an extended period of time to Hong Kong, leaving the other behind. This is a reflective portrait of their last night together with a flashback of when they were at the beach. One breaks a rock, giving the other piece to his partner. Perhaps signifying the separation but maybe the hope that the two pieces can someday be put back together again.

This is beautifully filmed and giving it the right amount of haze and shadowy darkness of forebodingness but not enough to completely make it melancholic. The fact of life is there are times when couples must separate and be separated. It is simply how things are.

This film is an exceptional reflection of that reality.

Straight To Normal

I like you because it is you – 2023 – Malayali (Kerala), India

As Martin (Abilash Nandakumar) waits at a coffee shop for his best friend, he has this worried and pensive look about him. When Hari (Pradeesh Jacob) finally arrives, after the usual pleasantries, Martin stirs the conversation into a more serious subject. Martin whispers that he wants to have ‘an affair’. Initially, Hari laughs and thinks he is joking but he is dead serious. And who he wants to have the affair with is none other than him.I will not spoil the exchange or the outcome. That is for you to absorb and drink it. All I can say is that I believe that this exact exchange has played out many times before. Not in real life of course but in the fantasies of two best friends who were afraid to unfold as these two shadows were. In some sense this is both sad and liberating. Sad for realizing only now how they felt but also liberating that they have shared. Will they go beyond having something to eat? I do not know. But as they both realize, that if they do, there is no turning back. It is only forward. Will they have the strength to do so?

This is a brilliant short film that is deeply touching and profoundly intimate. What is shared is so much more than friendship over the years and both have known it. It is succinct and liberating. Yet I cannot help but feel deeply anxious no matter how they decide to act.You simply cannot watch this astonishing snippet without being traumatized in some manner. Their pain is palpable. Their feelings are evident. Their dilemma, unfathomable. Outcome: Untenable

Avanin Avan

A story of love between two young men whose time is not yet – 2024 – Tamil, India

!“All people should be treated equally regardless of who they are or who they love…” – Ending Quote

This is an astonishing and brilliant expose in connection to the antipathetic forces in today’s world that hopefully will someday be a footnote in history.  Eventually we can look at this particular time-period and say, “Did they really do this to their own, simply because of who they loved!?”

Why does anyone think the glory days are in the past?

This is a simple story, really. A good-looking, young man of college age named Stephen D’Souza (Lakshay) aptly describes himself as ‘an average notable person’. He is quiet, studious, conforming, yet underneath something stirs deep inside him. By accident, he visits a coffee shop and causally notices the waiter. What is remarkable about this waiter is his compassion. One of the customers, because of a disability needs physical assistance and he without prompting simply assists him. A true act of kindness, which seems to only enhance his natural beauty. Perhaps that is what gave Stephen the prudence to write down his number on a napkin and leave it for the waiter (Kishore). Theirs is not a society of acceptance and both take risks in deciding whether or not to meet. Let alone see each other. But the forces of nature are too strong in each and their love and need for one another is simply too great. And it all feels so – right.

But the unthinkable happens. Stephen’s father discovers them together in Stephen’s room and makes it clear to both that he will end this relationship. I wish words could more easily describe the pain and anguish that is experienced next but somehow, it all failed me. The language disappeared from me and all I am filled with is utter anguish and pain and ultimately profound sorrow. The ugliness and bitterness of bigotry, hatred, misunderstanding and the lack of simple acceptance becomes the standard from which we must accept individual behavior. Offering sometimes no way out and no alternatives. Except a tragic one. All for the sake of acquiescence to a false narrative of ‘normalcy’ or truth.

You will cry watching this. I did until my eyes were red. I understood the pain. For me personally, I was there once – a long time ago. Life is hard and at times almost unbearably difficult, when you are faced with being gay in a world that is so universally unaccepting. You are all alone – isolated scared, encased by hopelessness. I was one of the lucky ones. This is a story of the not so lucky ones.

Let us simply strive forward. Taking small step and then even greater ones. This short film represents a great step forward. Kudos. This message is powerful. Feel it. Experience it. Remember this short film represents countless individuals who face this reality every day of their lives. We need to see these people and know their pain is real and undeniable.

The title from Tamil into English means ‘His He’. I was struck not only with its simplicity but by its elegance. If only the rest of the world could see love as simple and as elegantly as it truly is in all its forms.