NQV Media’s latest collection of short films, The Male Gaze: Breaking Dawn, explores the transformative effects of the night as a new dawn approaches, featuring films from France, Switzerland, Brazil, and Romania. This tour de force collection of short films is nothing short of outstanding, as each exquisite story embraces themes of fear, change, rejection, rebirth and belonging. NQV Media’s The Male Gaze: Breaking Dawn is now available to rent, buy or stream on Prime Video and Payhip worldwide.
Some sayings are integral to our shared experience; no one knows precisely when or where they first appeared, and many have been used or adapted over the years. “Everything will look better in the morning” is one of those sayings. It is often used to highlight an eternal truth: we, as humans, do generally feel more positive in the morning, but it also speaks to the turmoil, transformation and questions that can surround those dark hours before dawn. Humans are typically more emotionally reactive at night, with inhibitions lower; evidence also suggests that nighttime amplifies worry, and hormonal shifts can lead to behavioural change. Yet, it is at night that personal transformation often occurs, as the darkness creates space for reflection and growth.
NQV Media’s latest collection of short films, The Male Gaze: Breaking Dawn, explores the transformative effect of the night as a new dawn nears, featuring films from France, Switzerland, Brazil and Romania. This tour de force collection of short films is nothing short of outstanding, as each exquisite story embraces themes of fear, change, rejection, rebirth and belonging.
Red Love (Rouge amoureuse) opens this divine collection, directed by Laura Garcia. As young Gaël pulls his car into a secluded layby near a silent town hidden under cover of night, he nervously applies lipstick and eyeliner before downing some pills from an unmarked bottle, and as he opens the car door, his high heels glimmer in the moonlight as he begins his walk into town, stopping regularly as if an invisible force is holding him back from his mission. Gaël’s destination is the apartment of his ex-lover, the much older Victor, who has left him for a woman. As he arrives at Victor’s door, banging on it and shouting to be let in, all his pent-up emotions —anger and confusion — spill out. But will Victor let him in? Or could this be Gaël’s darkest night, where he is forced to shed his old skin under the moonlight and walk toward something new?
Garcia’s often uncomfortable and striking portrait of pain, loss and despair is held aloft by the unflinching central performance of Gabriel Acremant and a series of artistic choices that pay homage to filmmakers ranging from Gaspar Noé to David Fincher. Uncompromising and, at times, brutal, Red Love is a stunning exploration of infatuation, pain, and anger, as well as the urgent need during youth to attempt to heal wounds that are, in reality, beyond treatment.
Next up in The Male Gaze: Breaking Dawn is the outstanding Flush, directed by Diego Freitas. A College bathroom, daubed with homophobic graffiti, is rarely a space of individual transformation, yet for two students whose paths would never typically cross, this unloved concrete bunker of urinals, sinks, and stalls is about to become a transformative space.
It’s 10.21 pm on a typical college day when a young male law student (Nicolas Prattes) walks into the bathroom amidst a heated conversation with his dad on his mobile phone. He needs space, and it feels like his dad is smothering him, but before the conversation concludes, his battery dies. Tired, he stares into the mirrors above the row of sinks, thinking he is alone, when a young trans woman suddenly emerges from one of the stalls. Disgusted, he quickly makes for the door. However, it’s now 10.40 pm, and the door has been locked until college reopens in the morning.
Freitas’s tender, beautifully performed and directed short story is about two worlds colliding in a room with no escape, and how questions, fears, and uncertainty can yield unexpected, life-changing answers during the darkest and longest nights. As the sun rises and the door is unlocked, a new world is born, one that remains uncertain but no longer repressed.
The third exceptional film in the collection takes us to Romania, where a junior football team is about to welcome a new goalkeeper handpicked by their coach. But nothing is quite as it seems as the long-haired and beautiful Cristea attempts to settle into a tight-knit team that doesn’t want him there.
Thankfully, one boy is different: the quiet and reserved Robert. However, his interest in supporting Cristea hides a dark secret among a team of full-blooded alpha males. Directed by Bogdan Alecsandru, The Night Practice (Antrenamentul de Noapte) is an eerie, atmospheric horror that slowly builds toward its bloody conclusion, as Robert sparks Cristea’s interest with horrifying results. The less said about this spine-tingling short, the better, but as night falls on team practice, sexual interest meets a different kind of desire on a silent football field away from public view.
Just as day follows night, adulthood follows adolescence, and changes in our social groups, sense of belonging, and individual needs accompany it. This transition can be painful, slow, and uncertain as we question what comes next while saying goodbye to people we thought would be by our side forever, especially as young teenagers. Arthur has had a secret crush on his friend Nassim for years, but never had the confidence to tell him. But now, as Nassim prepares to leave town and his friendship group celebrates the final days of summer before the adult world invades, Arthur can no longer hide his feelings.
Arthur knows it is too late and that the world he once knew is ending in director Jérémy Piette’s haunting and beautiful tale of endings and beginnings, The Blue Shelter (Le garçon qui la nuit). Piette’s emotional and tender exploration of a young man navigating his innermost feelings and an oncoming, unavoidable change is beautifully shot and exquisitely performed by a young, exceptionally talented cast. Piette’s film reflects on the emotions we have all experienced in our youth, regardless of our sexuality or gender. However, what makes The Blue Shelter stand out is its ability to weave a moonlit fantasy into what starts as a sun-drenched drama.
The final film in The Male Gaze: Breaking Dawn is the wonderful Waking Up in Vegas, directed by Michèle Flury. Our early teenage years are a minefield of questions and emotions as we attempt to find ourselves and figure out where we fit in school, with friendships, and within our families. Yael admires his weightlifting big brother but isn’t sure that’s what he wants, despite his brother’s attempts to train him. But at the same time, his brother has ten thousand Instagram followers, and he seems to have his life pretty much sorted compared to his. Then there’s his best friend Aaron, whom he loves and adores. But Aaron has recently started painting his nails and making statements like “I think you’re beautiful” to him, and while Aaron avoids questions about his sexuality, he can’t help but think Aaron might be gay. It’s all so confusing, and to add to it, he really doesn’t know who he is or what he wants to be.
Of course, we all understand because we have all been there, and it’s not long before Yael works out that true friendship means supporting someone’s emerging identity, even if you have to cycle through the night to meet them. Tender, loving and sweet, Waking Up in Vegas offers a snapshot of a transformational moment in Yael’s adolescent journey as a friendship enters its teenage years and the truth of his brother’s “perfect world” becomes clear.
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