The Past

Golden boys, teen lust, self-conscious dolls, chance encounters, a vengeful creature, holiday romance, hidden sexuality — Boys On Film celebrates it's (not so) sweet sixteen with an astonishing selection of the latest international gay short films. Volume 16: Possession features ten complete films: Kai Stänicke's "Golden" with Christian Tesch and Maximilian Gehrlinger; Christopher Manning's "Jamie" starring Sebastian Christophers and Raphael Verrion; Kai Stänicke's "B." starring Susanne Bormann and Andreas Jähnert; Blake Mawson's "PYOTR495" starring Alex Ozerov; Charlie Francis's "When A Man Loves A Woman" starring Tommy Jay Brennan, Jemima Spence, and Diane Brooks Webster; Anthony Schatteman's "Follow Me" starring Ezra Fieremans and Maarten Ketels; Jake Graf's "Chance" starring 'ABS' and Clifford Hume; Andrew Keenan-Bolger's "Sign" starring John McGinty and Preston Sadleir; Oliver Mason's "Away With Me" starring Chris Polick and Lee Knight; and "We Could Be Parents" by Björn Elgerd.

Starting his new job as an instructor at a New England school for the deaf, James Leeds meets Sarah Norman, a young deaf woman who works at the school as a member of the custodial staff. In spite of Sarah's withdrawn emotional state, a romance slowly develops between the pair.

Upon using a modern art museum as the setting for a role play game that goes hopelessly awry, a deaf couple desperate to rekindle their spark finds the reconnection they seek in their shared experience over an abstract sculpture.

A deaf security guard on the night shift observes a man in a midst of a crisis: they find a new way to communicate.

A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.

Luan, a deaf 16-year-old boy, faces an unusual fear. For a long time the boy comes guarding their anguish, born of a past trauma. But the time is coming to confront the unconditional fear that this aberration brings it: a fear that, contrary to what one might imagine, there is nothing funny.

Despite their differences, an aspiring architect falls for her deaf neighbor, who teaches her basic sign language.

In the middle of what would have otherwise been a banal evening, everything Céleste has been trying to hide comes to light.

Deaf-mute Sergey enters a specialized boarding school for the deaf. In navigating through the school's hierarchy, he encounters a corrupt underbelly of criminality, known as The Tribe. By participating in several robberies, he gets propelled higher into the organization, when he meets one of the Chief’s concubines Anya, and unwittingly breaks all the unwritten rules of the group."

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot, but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both the law AND the original killers, can the pair work together to outwit them all?

Middle aged sisters Mimi and Martha still live together. In fact, Martha still cooks, cleans and oversees Mimi’s life, afraid that her deaf sister cannot cope on her own. Mimi, in turn, hides behind a veneer of make-up and wigs to avoid confronting her non-starter life. But everything is not what it seems...

Family drama about a deaf and hearing couple who struggle to decide whether or not to give their deaf son a cochlear implant.

A deaf garbage collector happens upon a broken and discarded surfboard. The discovery plants in him dreams of becoming a surf champion. Encouraged by his also deaf girlfriend, he persists against all odds.

While working a case as an interpreter, a hearing-impaired police detective must confront a group of criminals trying to eliminate a deaf murder witness in her apartment building.

Chloe Keane is an stressed American fashion model living in London who is about to have the worst weekend of her life. She and her boyfriend are invited to attend a party at the house of a former rock-star named Stan and his weird family who live in the countryside. Chloe awakes the next morning only to find her boyfriend has abandoned her at Stan's house and she has been drugged and handcuffed to the bed.

Dress rehearsal for the annual show runs smoothly until a disgruntled deaf girl named Meghan storms into the cafe pursued by her frustrated and furious hearing father, Jim. Meghan has just learned that, instead of spending time with her similarly deaf friends in Indianapolis, she and her family are all going to Colorado for Christmas vacation! But no one there is deaf, and she feels left out. Carlo, Mark and Rebecca offer some valuable and timely advice that results in an unusual and heartwarming Christmas gift.

In a picturesque Guangxi village, deaf Wang Jiakuan falls for Zhu Ling, who is already in love with someone else. Cai Yuzhen, visiting to find her brother, stays with Wang Jiakuan and falls for him. Zhu Ling, pregnant and locked in her room, is discovered by villagers who also learn Cai Yuzhen is mute. Heartbroken, Wang Jiakuan leaves but returns, and Zhu Ling tries to match him with Cai Yuzhen.

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.