Fernando is on holiday with his closest male friends in a beautiful country house in a suburb of Buenos Aries. On their own without their girlfriends in a “men only” environment, the hunky young studs bask in the hot sun, play in the pool, smoke pot, and drink, most often semi-clad or naked. In this freewheeling and testosterone-infused environment, they talk of their desires and strengthen their individual bonds. Fernando invites a new friend from his taekwondo class, Germán, a dark-haired Brad Pitt look-alike to join them. Germán is easily accepted by the others but he brings something different to the group that he hasn’t shared with them – he’s attracted to men. As the emotional intimacies and the sexual lethargy ripen in the baking heat, Germán begins to realize that he might not be the only gay man in residence. The latest homoerotic slow burn from director Marco Berger (co-helming with Martin Farina), TAEKWONDO is his most sensual treat yet and is sure to raise the temperature of male voyeurs to the boiling point. Desc. courtesy of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ International Film Festival.

The director interviewed 100 teenagers aged 17- 19 in Bangkok and then created this feature that blends documentary style with dramatic intersections. All sorts of passions, preoccupations and questions about sex, gender and life choices come up and get talked about with open minds and hearts. A captivating and vividly imaginative work that encapsulates the experience of growing up in modern Bangkok.

Bacon sizzling in fat, a young woman thanking the subscribers of her YouTube channel, a corpse neatly wrapped up in black garbage bags and floating down a river – as clear as the first few images of Travis Mathews’ mystery thriller may be, the connections only become clearer gradually, as if they were emerging from the subconscious. This elliptically edited story, which revolves around a man who can no longer be described as young, is accompanied by an eerie soundscape. Filmmaker Alex lives in a van. He sets up his camera in rural areas in the US, in the no-man’s land near highways. During a visit to his mother, a former alcoholic, she shares with him a well-kept secret. There is also a small boy, with whom Alex develops an unexpectedly close relationship. Director Mathews chronicles a modern day gay existence in the West – from anonymous sex to heterosexual porn in a sex bar cabin, or as a service in a motel room. A small house and a life on the margins of society. Meanwhile, on the radio, we are treated to a steady stream of right-wing slogans against everything that is not white and heterosexual, here in Texas. Desc. courtesy of the Berlin International Film Festival.