"Love Is The Device"
A lonely New Yorker serendipitously meets a mysterious foreigner and sparks ignite. A meditation on life and love in the digital age.
Social & External
American
Foreigner
Old Friend
New Friend
Vogue
Sidekick
Bartender
Even as a young boy, Beethoven marched to the beat of a different drummer. Trained in the traditional music methods by his father, Beethoven was an accomplished pianist by the age of 12. But he yearned to try new sounds and persevered until audiences heard his music. By his early twenties, this persistent young man performed for Joseph Haydn, who compared him to the great Mozart. Sadly, Beethoven began to lose his hearing, but he threw himself even more deeply into his music, composing "Fur Elise," "Sonata Pathetique" and the dramatic "Fifth Symphony" years later, audience members heard what he could not and leapt to their feet in ecstatic appreciation for such passionate music. His creativity gave the world then, as it does today, music that stirs the soul. The video begins in 1827 with 30,000 people paying tribute to the great Beethoven in Vienna, Austria. Then the video switches to his life as a child...
A short film about a man who struggles with his sexuality.
Sleazy director "auditioning" actresses for a movie and trying to get them to commit to more to get the part.
Former lovers Pich and Shane reconnect through Thai floral art, but Pich’s illness leads Shane to seek peace by becoming a monk.
While discovering the cure for cancer, Dr. Castle (Jenna Castle) has an unexpected delivery.
An actor goes out at night to cover a second job and meets two passengers who invite him to make a detour.
Michael is faced with a dilemma, when a night of drinking with friends, turns into a sensual exploration of sexual identity.
Lost at war, two soldiers struggle to find their moral grounding before their ultimate demise.
A masked man is stalking a young couple, Bette and Anthony
Torn between the desire to protect his little brother in a violent world and the longing for the utopia of a queer community, Hector (23) embarks on a journey between reality and fantasy to reflect on his own experience of violence and to find closeness to his brother again.
The circus dancer Lulu is a thoroughly liberal being. Although she loves her former savior, the clown Alfredo, she begins a relationship with the noble Henri von Reithofen. Henri kills himself ruined by the horrendous expenses for Lulu. She however is fishing for the next rich patron, the much older Baron Waldheim. His son knows Lulu and warns his father that she will also hurt him. Waldheim succumbs to Lulus's insinuations and punishes his son.
Short film from Taiwan.
A lonely young lady strolls through the busy streets of a big city in the evening and casts meaningful glances at passers-by. Short conversations ensue and a man finally invites her to his place. He laboriously prepares dinner for her, but she becomes increasingly bored and suddenly disappears. She walks through the streets again and finally enters a record store. With ambiguous words she attracts the attention of the salesman, then the movie ends.
Short film directed by Orly Toren
A word or phrase whose meaning does not change whether spelt backwards or forwards. A young man loses everything he has in one day. He is fired from his job, kicked out of his hotel, betrayed by his colleagues and turned down by an old flame. We see this ordinary tale told backwards in time
Two best friends attend the funeral of a Hebrew school classmate who died by suicide and accidentally damage their friendship beyond repair.
A family faces a difficult farewell after breakfast one morning.
A dance group rehearses for their latest performance Inabitáveis about black homosexuality. While the choreographer conducts research and gives guided tours, he meets Pedro, a young trans girl looking for her own means of expression. She desperately wants to be taught by him.
Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.
A woman watches time pass beside the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn't understand that his master has abandoned him.
A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
At a birthday party in 1968 New York, a surprise guest and a drunken game leave seven gay friends reckoning with unspoken feelings and buried truths.
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
A disconnected teenage girl enters a relationship with a man twice her age. She sees him as the solution to all her problems, but his intentions are not what they seem.
A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.