Other Black Boys

A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.

Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.

Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.

African-American student Malik is on a track scholarship; academics are not his strong suit, and he goes in thinking that his athletic abilities will earn him a free ride through college. Fudge, a "professional student" who has been at Columbus for six years so far, becomes friendly with Malik and challenges his views about race and politics in America.

Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.

A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

A sensitive young man recalls his time in boarding school when the only person who seemed compassionate towards him was his housemaster's wife.

A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.

After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.

When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.

At a birthday party in 1968 New York, a surprise guest and a drunken game leave seven gay friends reckoning with unspoken feelings and buried truths.

In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.

An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.

A woman watches time pass beside the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn't understand that his master has abandoned him.

College student Charlie Banks has to face old problems when the bully he had an unpleasant encounter with back in high school shows up on his campus.

Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love.

In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.

Two brains in jars exist exclusively in a game of PONG, oblivious to the world falling apart outside of their computer.

The story of Amy and Jack, two children from Gateshead struggling to become friends against the odds.

Albert has spent his whole life wanting to travel but he has been stuck at home, living in a small town making enamel signs. He has saved up everything he has and reluctantly sells his home and livelihood to embark on this trip, a lifelong dream that will honor a deceased friend. But the journey he will embark on is not what he has anticipated.

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.

The old man’s daughter married the foreigner and moved abroad. Only his neighbor Gienyk remembers his name. Others call him “Beard”. “Beard” feeds hens, smokes cheap cigarettes, goes fishing as an ordinary villager. But nobody, even Gienyk knows what’s on his mind. His daughter visits him while passing by. He’s not at home at that moment. When he comes back, he founds his daughter on the threshold, ready to leave. The old man sees off his daughter with sadness. And then takes the gun. Everything’s going to change in a moment… The Beard will disappear.

Olia and Zina are sisters. Olia has a husband and children. Zina has a parrot and a cat. Olia moved to Germany, she couldn’t handle her mother who was dying of terminal illness. Zina has left her art career and dedicated herself to mother. Both of the women suffer from insults, innuendos, and self-reproaches. They’re parted by borders and social status. But there’s still something that urges them to arrange a meeting, even if a meeting is going to be virtual. And there’s still something that saves them from tragedy that is about to occur during their meetings.

Two young lovers wander off to a forest on their wedding night where their fate is overcome by the darkness of self- destruction. Finding a field of poisonous strawberries in the forest, she has harmed herself in the worst way possible: losing him.

3 Friends go on a late night drive to get food.

Three characters from various regions in the Middle East seek to find peace of mind by challenging their contrasting political and personal identities before an act of senseless violence brings them together.

When a group of friends stumbles upon a mysterious man covered in blood during a midnight stop, fear drives them to speed away. But as guilt and tension escalate, their frantic journey takes a dangerous turn, leading them to face the unsettling truths about themselves and the limits of their morality.

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

Two strangers wake up in a mysterious white room with no way out or memory of their past. The two must unravel their identity while navigating a corporate metaverse that controls virtually every aspect of its employees’ online reality. A story about finding yourself.

Matías and his younger brother Jaime are left to their own devices in an adult world. When Jaime is caught stealing, Matías must convince a stranger to act as their father.

Louis, 17 years old, is a romantic boy, loving to spend time on a small island lost in the middle of a pond with his lover Thibault. But Thibault is in a relationship with Sophie. So, for Thibault to be all his own, Louis casts a love spell on him. When electricity shuts down during a party, Louis believes that it's the sign his spell worked out. But things don't turn out the way he hoped for.

After trying his luck in Berlin, Mitja returns to Slovenia where he is greeted by his boyfriend Bojan. The reunion turns out to be less than ideal as Mitja struggles to tell Bojan a secret that could cost him their relationship. But before he finds the right moment, things quickly get out of hand.

New friends Erin and Alex discover a mutual attraction that neither of them have ever felt before. While Alex tries to navigate her feelings, Erin refuses to acknowledge that she might be gay and heads down a path of self-destruction. Faced with Erin's denial, Alex must decide whether to follow her own path, or fight for the first person she's ever loved.

May 1998. A young girl named Ita has to run away from her father in a game of "cops and robbers". Fleeing her dad's store with her imaginary friend Beru, she is oblivious to something sinister that has happened in the outside world.