Bitter Sweet is the new instalment in NQV Media’s short film collection The Male Gaze, continuing their anthology of gay shorts from around the world. This collection has gathered six diverse films from Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Spain and France; take a look at each below.
MEMORY OF AN AFTERNOON ON A ROOFTOP (Mexico)
Starring: Leonardo Castell, Paulino Razo
Director: Tavo Ruiz
Two best friends are on a rooftop together. Unclear whether this is fantasy or reality, the pair reminisce over one encounter when the line was crossed beyond their friendship into something far less clear. With the clarity of hindsight, the two now know what they want, but is this meeting even real? Ethereal, contemplative and pleasingly ambiguous, this is an atmospheric and sensual short about the benefit of retrospection.
AFTERNOON SUN (Portugal)
Starring: Miguel Baltazar, Ana Arinto, David S. Costa
Director: Gonçalo Pina
In a wordless short, Carlos lies in the afternoon sun, still but discontent. That is until he sees Mateus, a handsome young man. An unembellished film about a moment of an attraction, this is simply an assembly of linear long-shots that capture the slow progression of flirtation. With lingering looks and moments of stillness, the pair catch each other’s longing as we observe the normalcy of their interest. Unremarkable yet undeniably sweet, this is a straightforward yet well-observed short.
SWEET WATER (Brazil)
Starring: Túlio Starling, Danielli Mendes, Jesuíta Barbosa
Director: Antonio Miano
Following the death of their grandfather, two cousins return to his house in the countryside, preparing to sell the property to a sugarcane farm. They have not seen each other for many years, but as they reminisce over the past, unfinished issues resurface between them. As one stays on the farm and the other elsewhere, the former descends into fevered hallucinations as the isolation begins to plague him. This is an enigmatic and dark drama that takes a nasty twist toward its conclusion. Moody, trippy and arrestingly tense, this is a surprising short that takes you in a complete different direction than you’d expect.
COR PETIT (Spain)
Starring: Max Pulido, Joel Ávila, Ayoub Ouardi, Ilian Pudev, Adil Boulaft, Farran Grau, Khalid Guessaid, Gerard Larrondo. Director: Manu Roma.
Gael is a young aspiring actor, who barters his way into the new play by his idol, director Luca. During rehearsals, strange events begin to occur, leading the director to begin to question who this unknown boy actually is. Competing for the role of Cor Petit, Gael will seemingly stop at nothing to gain the role. An ethereal supernatural short that feels like Black Swan within a male company of actors, this terse thriller is suggestive without being gauche, alluding to the powers of this mysteriously dangerous young man.
HAIKU (France)
Starring: Tim Rousseau, Florian Lesieur, Delphine Rollin, Mickaël Sabah
Directors: Tim Rousseau, Florian Lesieur
Adam and Evan live in a small village in the French countryside but have never spoken. They are the complete opposites of each other, but when they are both caught participating in a prank, they are forced to spend time together as they complete their punishment. An innocent coming-of-age drama about two young men finding solace in each other, this is a very sweet short about burgeoning romance on the cusp of adulthood.
THE BOY WHO WANTED TO FLY (Spain)
Starring: Pablo Mérida, Jorge Muriel, Mariana Cordero, Lucía Braña. Director: Jorge Muriel.
In 1980s Madrid, five year-old Ivan is confused about the future because his parents are expecting a new child. Leaving him the middle child, he doesn’t know where this will leave him in the pecking order of his family. Fascinated by the way that birds can fly, he begins to yearn to be taken away from his family, whom he believe have stopped loving him. A sad story about the misconceptions of children, this is a moving and poignant short.
These six shorts are a clutch of compelling stories sounding clearly with the voices of talented filmmakers from across Europe and South America. While all are strong shorts, it is Cor Petit and Haïku that are the collection’s stand-outs.
UK Release: Out now to watch on VOD, released by NQV Media.
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