aBloom

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Directed by Anthony Rangel Coll, short film ‘aBloom’ follows Nick. After undergoing gay conversion therapy, Nick returns home determined to move on from his former partner. While spending time with his friends, he meets a mysterious stranger whose gaze ignites a spark within him.

Nick struggles to reconcile his true self with the expectations of those around him, but the stranger’s presence forces him to confront his deepest desires. Nick swims between embracing his true self and drowning in a lie. The strange visit of the past and the sweet gaze of this stranger will finally make him sink to the bottom of his heart and be reborn.

 

The “Bury Your Gays” Trope

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The “Bury Your Gays” trope is the presentation of deaths of LGBT characters where these characters are nominally able to be viewed as more expendable than their heterosexual counterparts. In this way, the death is treated as exceptional in its circumstances.

In aggregate, queer characters are more likely to die than straight characters. Indeed, it may be because they seem to have less purpose compared to straight characters, or that the supposed natural conclusion of their story is an early death. But where did this trope come from?

Louder Than Words

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Louder Than Words follows a young musician named Ansel (Luke Farley), and his unexpected encounter with Niall (Marty Lauter also known as Marcia Marcia Marcia from Season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race), an endearing, deaf dancer.

When forced to share a studio space, artists Ansel and Niall find themselves awkwardly beside each other, performing song and dance respectively. They have an underlying connection, and that is a closeted interest and admiration of each other. While Niall can read lips, an obvious language barrier still stands between him and Ansel. In order to communicate, Ansel and Niall must step out of their comfort zones, because even though they share similar passions and quickly inspire each other, the inevitable risk of miscommunication—both in language and emotion—remains, rendering their hidden affection almost impossible to express.

The film explores the sheer struggle that queer people often face in a culture that is yet to fully foster accepting spaces for courtship and love. At its core, the story portrays how difficult it can be to communicate romantic interest as a queer person, and in this case, the added impediment of being deaf.

Stum

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In Stavanger, Norway, a heart-warming Valentines Day short film tells the story of two teenage boys in love. A film by Eilidh Gow and David Bonecker.

Heartstopper is back this summer

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We are heading back to the halls of Truham Grammar School for Boys this summer when season two of Heartstopper returns. Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) come back for season two on August 3.

The queer coming-of-age tv series based on the script and graphic novel by author Alice Oseman follows teens Charlie and Nick on their journey of queer self-discovery, their growing relationship, and the friends within their orbit. Season two will bring the boys back in front of the camera, with the upcoming season based on volume 3 of the graphic novel series.

“Season 2 is based on Volume 3,” said Oseman. “So we had a good foundation. But there’s not enough in the book to take a whole season of TV, so there had to be a lot of creation of new stuff.”

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Mila Caos

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Every weekend at an illegal drag show in the suburbs of Havana, Sebastián, a 17 year old Cuban teenager, transforms into ‘Mila Caos’, his empowered, flamboyant alter-ego. When he returns to his daytime self, Sebastián suffers from his mother’s indifference, dreaming that one day she will see him on stage for who he truly is.

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Strange Way of Life: Pedro Pascal’s gay Western to debut in May

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Fresh from the The Last of Us finale, Pedro Pascal is ready to ride into his next role – as the gunslinging Silva in queer new Western romance Strange Way of Life. The 30-minute short film, which is reportedly set to open the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May, stars Pascal alongside Dead Poet Society actor Ethan Hawke, who will play a sheriff named Jake.

Manu Ríos, star of Netflix’s queer teen drama Elite, is also on the cast list, in an as-yet untitled role, while Pedro Almodóvar will be behind the camera in the director’s chair. Considering the internet’s seemingly undying fascination with Pedro PascalStrange Way of Life will almost certainly end up on must-watch lists. As such, here’s everything we know about the film so far.

Openly gay director Pedro Almodóvar has let little slip about the premise of Strange Way of Life. What we do know though, according to IMDb, is that Silva (Pascal) will ride a horse across the desert in an attempt to find his friend Jake (Hawke), after 25 long years apart. In an interview with IndieWire, Almodóvar suggested some sort of “showdown” between the two, implying that the pair are, or were, very much more than just “friends”.

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Wolves

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‘Wolves’ is the story of Josh, a sixteen year-old boy from a small town in the English countryside. Living alone with his father with whom he has a complex and often confrontational relationship, Josh finds refuge and solace in the nearby woods where he spends his time drawing and catching bugs; and it is in this forest that a mysterious encounter will pave the road to self-discovery.

The first gay movie on US TV

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Starring a young Martin Sheen and developed by the guys who created Columbo just a few years earlier, the TV movie That Certain Summer was a groundbreaking project that many thought could never be made. Before it was even filmed, the movie caused an uproar behind the scenes and in public.

On one side were those who felt that it should be banned from the airwaves … and on the other, a handful of brave writers, actors, and producers who fought to smash a television taboo.

And when the dust settled, this broadcast helped bring about a TV revolution, and had an impact that even its creators couldn’t have anticipated. This is the story of That Certain Summer — one of the most important TV movies ever made.