VIDEOBUTIKK
@videobutikk.bsky.social
Obscure and overlooked international gay cinema
I saw many great films this year, and though it was difficult, I think I finally narrowed down my top ten.
December 16, 2025 at 1:54 AM
I saw many great films this year, and though it was difficult, I think I finally narrowed down my top ten.
Consequences/Posledice is a 2018 Slovenian film directed by Darko Štante. Eastern European filmmakers have a knack for making strangely beautiful feel-bad films, and this one about a generally good-hearted young criminal falling for the meanest guy in his detention facility is no exception!
December 3, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Consequences/Posledice is a 2018 Slovenian film directed by Darko Štante. Eastern European filmmakers have a knack for making strangely beautiful feel-bad films, and this one about a generally good-hearted young criminal falling for the meanest guy in his detention facility is no exception!
"All true artists are hated. Only conformists are ever adored."
-Catherine Breillat, the great French director
-Catherine Breillat, the great French director
November 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"All true artists are hated. Only conformists are ever adored."
-Catherine Breillat, the great French director
-Catherine Breillat, the great French director
Udo Kier
October 14, 1944 - November 23, 2025
October 14, 1944 - November 23, 2025
November 24, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Udo Kier
October 14, 1944 - November 23, 2025
October 14, 1944 - November 23, 2025
Wild Reeds/Les Roseaux sauvages is a 1994 French drama directed by André Téchiné. It's a wistful classic. Star Gaël Morel went on to be a director and has cast his Wild Reeds co-star Stéphane Rideau in his films. The title was inspired by Jean de La Fontaine's 1668 poem The Oak and the Reed.
November 17, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Wild Reeds/Les Roseaux sauvages is a 1994 French drama directed by André Téchiné. It's a wistful classic. Star Gaël Morel went on to be a director and has cast his Wild Reeds co-star Stéphane Rideau in his films. The title was inspired by Jean de La Fontaine's 1668 poem The Oak and the Reed.
François Ozon manages to make films that are both subversive and ardently reverent toward classic French cinema. The Crime is Mine/Mon crime! I'll watch anything with Isabelle Huppert, and it's always good to see Ozon regulars like Dans la maison star Fabrice Luchini, and Été 85 star Félix Lefebvre.
November 15, 2025 at 10:14 PM
François Ozon manages to make films that are both subversive and ardently reverent toward classic French cinema. The Crime is Mine/Mon crime! I'll watch anything with Isabelle Huppert, and it's always good to see Ozon regulars like Dans la maison star Fabrice Luchini, and Été 85 star Félix Lefebvre.
Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen's 2017 film Rift (Rökkur) is an intensely unsettling Icelandic psychological thriller. Ambiguous enough to be either a cerebral horror or a relationship drama. Also works as a morbid Christmas movie!
October 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen's 2017 film Rift (Rökkur) is an intensely unsettling Icelandic psychological thriller. Ambiguous enough to be either a cerebral horror or a relationship drama. Also works as a morbid Christmas movie!
David Secter's 1965 film Winter Kept Us Warm, filmed at the University of Toronto, was the first gay-themed film to screen at Cannes. It's a haunting, heartbreaking film. Secter's classmate David Cronenberg has said the movie inspired him to pursue filmmaking.
October 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
David Secter's 1965 film Winter Kept Us Warm, filmed at the University of Toronto, was the first gay-themed film to screen at Cannes. It's a haunting, heartbreaking film. Secter's classmate David Cronenberg has said the movie inspired him to pursue filmmaking.
The Heroes of Evil, directed by Zoe Berriatúa, is a 2015 Spanish film that tells the story of a trio of bullied students who join forces against their tormentors. It's a strange, genre-defying film, sort of a suspenseful, angsty, dark comedy horror with a disorienting, uptempo classical soundtrack.
October 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The Heroes of Evil, directed by Zoe Berriatúa, is a 2015 Spanish film that tells the story of a trio of bullied students who join forces against their tormentors. It's a strange, genre-defying film, sort of a suspenseful, angsty, dark comedy horror with a disorienting, uptempo classical soundtrack.
François Ozon's When Fall Is Coming is the second French movie about mushrooms and murder (Alain Guiraudie's Miseracordia being the other) I've encountered this year. Delightful to see Ludivine Sagnier and Malik Zidi reunited 25 years after Ozon's 2000 feature Water Drops on Burning Rocks.
October 20, 2025 at 1:10 PM
François Ozon's When Fall Is Coming is the second French movie about mushrooms and murder (Alain Guiraudie's Miseracordia being the other) I've encountered this year. Delightful to see Ludivine Sagnier and Malik Zidi reunited 25 years after Ozon's 2000 feature Water Drops on Burning Rocks.
This scene in Luis Ortega's 2018 film El Ángel, a pivotal moment in Carlitos' evolving infatuation with his crime partner, Ramón, features the song "Corazón Contento," originally composed and performed by Palito Ortega, the director's father, in 1968.
October 8, 2025 at 12:22 PM
This scene in Luis Ortega's 2018 film El Ángel, a pivotal moment in Carlitos' evolving infatuation with his crime partner, Ramón, features the song "Corazón Contento," originally composed and performed by Palito Ortega, the director's father, in 1968.
Hannah and Her Brothers, a 2000 film directed by Vladimír Adásek, is the first feature-length gay film to emerge from Slovakia. It's one of many obscure international films first brought to DVD by Water Bearer Films, and long overdue for a restoration.
September 15, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Hannah and Her Brothers, a 2000 film directed by Vladimír Adásek, is the first feature-length gay film to emerge from Slovakia. It's one of many obscure international films first brought to DVD by Water Bearer Films, and long overdue for a restoration.
Animals, a 2012 Spanish film directed by Marçal Forès, is undoubtedly the darkest coming-out movie I've ever seen, and the only one that features a walking, talking teddy bear.
September 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Animals, a 2012 Spanish film directed by Marçal Forès, is undoubtedly the darkest coming-out movie I've ever seen, and the only one that features a walking, talking teddy bear.
"Remember this feeling, this anger, otherwise it'll just turn into nostalgia one day."
Kanarie, a 2018 film by Christiaan Olwagen, tells the story of a young man serving in a South African military choir in the 1980s. It's a witty, heartbreaking coming-out drama, and a surreal Culture Club musical.
Kanarie, a 2018 film by Christiaan Olwagen, tells the story of a young man serving in a South African military choir in the 1980s. It's a witty, heartbreaking coming-out drama, and a surreal Culture Club musical.
September 4, 2025 at 12:11 AM
"Remember this feeling, this anger, otherwise it'll just turn into nostalgia one day."
Kanarie, a 2018 film by Christiaan Olwagen, tells the story of a young man serving in a South African military choir in the 1980s. It's a witty, heartbreaking coming-out drama, and a surreal Culture Club musical.
Kanarie, a 2018 film by Christiaan Olwagen, tells the story of a young man serving in a South African military choir in the 1980s. It's a witty, heartbreaking coming-out drama, and a surreal Culture Club musical.
Portuguese director Carlos Conceição's Tommy Guns is the fifth great film I've seen this year. It's a tumultuous, genre-shifting movie about the horrors of war and colonialism that unexpectedly becomes a zombie movie in the final twenty minutes.
August 8, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Portuguese director Carlos Conceição's Tommy Guns is the fifth great film I've seen this year. It's a tumultuous, genre-shifting movie about the horrors of war and colonialism that unexpectedly becomes a zombie movie in the final twenty minutes.
Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey/El Jockey is one of those films that takes some time to process. What do you do when you realize you no longer have a place or purpose? When reinvention is not enough, but death and resurrection might be? Not sure, but I am now a Nahuel Pérez Biscayart fanboy.
July 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey/El Jockey is one of those films that takes some time to process. What do you do when you realize you no longer have a place or purpose? When reinvention is not enough, but death and resurrection might be? Not sure, but I am now a Nahuel Pérez Biscayart fanboy.
Luis Ortega's El Jockey/Kill the Jockey! Wow! What an unpredictable and exciting film about radical transformation (reincarnation?). It has the same style and energy as El Angel (and some of the same actors), but it's far more surreal. Three of the best films I've seen this year are from Argentina!
July 14, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Luis Ortega's El Jockey/Kill the Jockey! Wow! What an unpredictable and exciting film about radical transformation (reincarnation?). It has the same style and energy as El Angel (and some of the same actors), but it's far more surreal. Three of the best films I've seen this year are from Argentina!
Sometimes, I worry that contemporary French films are overly influenced by Hollywood, but then I come across a quiet, elegant movie like Zeno Graton's Lost Boys (Le Paradis), starring Khalil Ben Gharbia (also in François Ozon's Peter von Kant) and Julien De Saint Jean (Olivier Peyon's Lie with Me).
July 3, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Sometimes, I worry that contemporary French films are overly influenced by Hollywood, but then I come across a quiet, elegant movie like Zeno Graton's Lost Boys (Le Paradis), starring Khalil Ben Gharbia (also in François Ozon's Peter von Kant) and Julien De Saint Jean (Olivier Peyon's Lie with Me).
Kirill Serebrennikov's 2016 film The Student follows Veniamin Yuzhin (Pyotr Skvortsov), an emotionally troubled student who becomes dangerously preoccupied with religion, leading him to believe he is the messiah. I think it pairs well with Robert Bresson's The Devil Probably.
July 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Kirill Serebrennikov's 2016 film The Student follows Veniamin Yuzhin (Pyotr Skvortsov), an emotionally troubled student who becomes dangerously preoccupied with religion, leading him to believe he is the messiah. I think it pairs well with Robert Bresson's The Devil Probably.
I rewatched Alfonso Cuarón's excellent 2001 road trip film Y Tu Mamá También, and its message sure hits harder when you're older! Also, I just noticed that the film features a cover of Kraftwerk's "Showroom Dummies," performed by German composer Uwe Schmidt's alter ego, Señor Coconut.
June 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I rewatched Alfonso Cuarón's excellent 2001 road trip film Y Tu Mamá También, and its message sure hits harder when you're older! Also, I just noticed that the film features a cover of Kraftwerk's "Showroom Dummies," performed by German composer Uwe Schmidt's alter ego, Señor Coconut.
Norwegian directors Svend Wam and Petter Vennerød collaborated on 14 films: Lasse & Geir, Det tause flertall, Hvem har bestemt..!?, Svartere enn Natten, Liv og død, Julia Julia, Leve sitt liv, Åpen framtid, Adjø solidaritet, Drømmeslottet, Hotel St. Pauli, Bryllupsfesten, Lakki, and Sebastian.
June 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Norwegian directors Svend Wam and Petter Vennerød collaborated on 14 films: Lasse & Geir, Det tause flertall, Hvem har bestemt..!?, Svartere enn Natten, Liv og død, Julia Julia, Leve sitt liv, Åpen framtid, Adjø solidaritet, Drømmeslottet, Hotel St. Pauli, Bryllupsfesten, Lakki, and Sebastian.
The movie that began my obsession with international film was François Ozon’s Water Drops on Burning Rocks, an incredibly dark comedy based on a 1965 play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Malik Zidi and Ozon muse Ludivine Sagnier. I make everyone I know watch this, and most of them hate it.
May 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The movie that began my obsession with international film was François Ozon’s Water Drops on Burning Rocks, an incredibly dark comedy based on a 1965 play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Malik Zidi and Ozon muse Ludivine Sagnier. I make everyone I know watch this, and most of them hate it.
Luis Ortega’s 2018 film El Angel is magnificent. That is all.
May 17, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Luis Ortega’s 2018 film El Angel is magnificent. That is all.
"When you don't have any more doors to open, death is a door."
The 2024 film Los Frikis is based on the true story of a group of young Cubans who purposely contracted HIV in the 1990s in order to be quarantined at a sanatorium, where an unexpectedly utopian community flourished.
The 2024 film Los Frikis is based on the true story of a group of young Cubans who purposely contracted HIV in the 1990s in order to be quarantined at a sanatorium, where an unexpectedly utopian community flourished.
May 12, 2025 at 11:10 PM
"When you don't have any more doors to open, death is a door."
The 2024 film Los Frikis is based on the true story of a group of young Cubans who purposely contracted HIV in the 1990s in order to be quarantined at a sanatorium, where an unexpectedly utopian community flourished.
The 2024 film Los Frikis is based on the true story of a group of young Cubans who purposely contracted HIV in the 1990s in order to be quarantined at a sanatorium, where an unexpectedly utopian community flourished.
Stéphane Riethauser's 2019 documentary Madame tells the story of a gay activist and his adventurous, unorthodox grandmother, who, in different eras, rejected the prevailing conventions of their conformist societies and the pressures of their Swiss bourgeois family. It's a delight!
May 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Stéphane Riethauser's 2019 documentary Madame tells the story of a gay activist and his adventurous, unorthodox grandmother, who, in different eras, rejected the prevailing conventions of their conformist societies and the pressures of their Swiss bourgeois family. It's a delight!