John, Love

The latest in Peccadillo’s critically acclaimed series – now established as a leading showcase for new and emerging queefilm-makingng talent from around the world – features a fresh and exciting selection of the very best contemporary gay short films. Each self-contained drama in this diverse and thoughtfully curated collection offers fascinating and insightful new perspectives on the gay experience – sensual, affecting, sometimes provocative and always entertaining. The 8 short films are: Have We Met Before? (2019); The Act (2020); First Position. (2019); Winter [Invierno] (2021); The Suit Weareth the Man (2020); Infinite While It Lasts [Infinito Enquanto Dure] (2019); Melon Grab (2017); Thrive (2019).

Calvin has early onset Alzheimers and plays by his own rules. With Claire his unorthodox caregiver, he navigates the friendships and antics in his Senior Living Community, while grappling with his own sense of loss.

Rod Goldman and Al Silverman are street performers who work the tourist scene of Times Square. Goldman gets no respect and Silverman is the first one to make sure of that.

Kader, the trainer of a teenage football team, refuses to see that Estelle has feelings for him. An outing to a nightclub with his best friend will perhaps enable him to see more clearly.

Like the ebbs and flows of waves in the ocean, a woman rides out different stages of an anxiety attack and through memory and space regains control and relief.

A Theatre Company prepares for season previews under a manipulative Director, whose fanatical tactics blur the line between illusion and reality.

Marie relaxes at the beach under a parasol. The only problem is that it is night time.

A family therapy session takes a disturbing turn.

An unexpected encounter, an uncertain ending...

Party girl, Erica, wants an old-Hollywood romance and will stop at nothing to get it. Her obsession with a new boy she sees at the club leads her down a familiar dark path.

After surviving a horrific assault by her husband, Helen uses the time of his incarceration to plan her revenge. She painstakingly rebuilds herself into the entity that will have the most power over him: a beautiful woman.

It’s Valentine’s Day at Finja‘s school, and this year, the fifteen-year old is responsible for delivering roses and letters to the other students. Everything goes to plan until, at the last minute, her little brother Malte hands her one final letter – to a male classmate.

A young man digs a well by hand in a dry area. His brother dies; there is a funeral. The man sleeps next to his grave. At work, women bring him water and food. Leaning on the well, he loudly mourns his brother. It begins to rain.

Sometimes first love is found in the most unlikely of places, like in the carpark outside the Te Kaha pub.

A young guy asks a prostitute to go down on him while singing La Marseillaise.

From the music of UK composer Anne Dudley, Belgian filmmaker Stijn Coninx crafts a story of a hearing-impaired woman on various runs, determinedly straight ahead of herself, crossing deserted forests, meadows and swamps, in different get-ups. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

Two men and two women sitting around a table where they're playing strip poker.

After months of ignoring her father's phone calls, a stubborn young addict is finally forced to make her way home.

Conflit de canards

Johnny Lingo, one of the sharpest traders in the south pacific islands decides to bargain for a wife, and offers a record price of eight cows for Mahana, a plain girl who shuns contact. This causes quite a sensation on the island. A year later Johnny and his wife return for the first time since the marriage, and all find that something miraculous has occurred to Mahana. Johnny explains that by paying eight cows he proved that she was worth more to him than any other woman on the island. He gave her a great gift, that of self-worth.