Set in the slums of Manila, the purity of first love is pitted against squalor and corruption. Gay pre-teen Maxi is deeply committed to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and his two brothers, until he meets Victor, an honest, principled, and handsome policeman. The two become friends, and Victor inspires Maxi to hope for a better life, but their relationship draws the ire of Maxi’s family.

Event Info↗

his is the first British Dogme 95 film and was made on a shoestring budget by first-time director Jan Dunn. It tells of the impact of Tasha, a Czech refugee who affects one unhappy British working-class family. The same story is told from three radically different perspectives: that of the good-hearted mother who welcomes Tasha, the teenage daughter who turns against Tasha, and the fed-up father who loathes Tasha. The bare-bones style (no music, no artificial lighting, and actual locations) gives the story a documentary realism that, combined with a determination to tackle a taboo subject head-on, makes this similar in many ways to the films of Ken Loach. Description adapted from the Borderlines Film Festival.

Event Info↗

Take Bad News Bears and set it on Bend it Like Beckham’s playing field, and you’ve got Guys and Balls, a light-hearted send-up of all the macho sports movies your straight friends forced you to see. Ecki is a sweet, closeted gay man who works in his family’s bakery and plays goalie in his small town’s soccer team. When he both loses the big game, and is caught flirting with another player, his homophobic teammates throw him out. He vows to return one day with an all-gay team that will grind the heteros into the dust, so he sets off to find his “dream team.” The final game is a delicious clash of straight machismo and gay fabulousness that will have you both laughing and cheering down to the ultimate showdown. In German with English subtitles. Description adapted from the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Event Info↗