From a heartfelt and long-overdue conversation between an Indonesian man now living in the Netherlands and his ailing father back home, to a young man uncertain whether his feelings for his best friend are something more, and a Romani man living in Sweden about to face head on a traumatic event that continues to haunt him, ‘The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies’ packs a dramatic punch.
We all have secrets, and occasionally we all tell lies. Sometimes we keep secrets because airing them could change everything. For the same reason, we may decide to evade specific questions or fabricate our responses to protect ourselves or others. Secrets and lies are as much a part of our shared human experience as love and friendship.
From a heartfelt and long-overdue conversation between an Indonesian man now living in the Netherlands and his ailing father back home, to a young man uncertain whether his feelings for his best friend are something more, and a Romani man living in Sweden about to face head on a traumatic event that continues to haunt him, The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies packs a dramatic punch. Over six short films, secrets are shared, and lies, both internal and external, are uncovered as we travel from the United Kingdom to Taiwan and from France to Sweden.
The first short film in The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies collection is SCIENCE AROUND US, directed by Arif Abdillah. A wild party is always fun, but the cleanup often isn’t! As Budi begins the process of cleaning up an apartment where one dazed party guest continues to wander around in nothing but a jock strap, his phone rings. It’s Budi’s brother in Indonesia, and he’s calling about their dad.
Budi has had a strained relationship with his father ever since his teens, a relationship he ultimately fled for a new life in the Netherlands, where he could be out and proud. But now, as his dad faces ill health and the need for urgent medical treatment, the distance between them suddenly feels too vast. As the phone conversation moves from his brother to his ailing dad, and Budi continues to attempt to clean the apartment, a lifetime of repressed emotions and unsaid words are about to be freed. Abdillah’s short story beautifully explores the emotional complexity and unspoken barriers that sit behind many father-son relationships.
Blossom
There’s an old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It’s a nice idea, but in reality, hope, optimism, and solutions are sometimes hard to find when so many lemons have been thrown at you. Over the course of just one day, Taiwanese Drag Queen “Cherry” will split up with her partner, after finding out he is cheating, find an abandoned baby with a nappy full of narcotics, realise their friend’s drug problem is far from being consigned to history, and have their club set ruined by local police storming the stage. It’s fair to say Cherry’s day couldn’t get much worse in BLOSSOM (Fan hua sheng kai), directed by Han Lin. Yet, the arrival of a baby also sparks something in Cherry that they had not expected, a maternal instinct they could either embrace or walk away from.
Han Lin’s beautiful short may not give us the ending we would like, but as the film draws to a close, it’s clear we have witnessed a moment of transformation that will likely play out over the weeks, months, and years ahead.
The third short film in The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies collection is director Bar Neiman’s DROWNING DUCK, based on writer Dorian Zfadia’s own experiences growing up gay in Tel Aviv. A queer young man, Gabriel, is tormented and threatened by a group of bullies after attempting to kiss a popular kid, Roei, in a bathroom encounter. What else can Gabriel do but run? But who is he really running from? Roei? His home life? The gang that wants to beat him up? Or himself? It soon turns out that Gabriel isn’t the only person running; Roei is too, and the fumbled connection in the bathroom is about to become an opportunity for something more.
Sometimes the urgency of uncovering another person’s secret can become all-encompassing, especially when that person bathes in wealth and privilege built on lies. João, a young Afro-Portuguese man, has travelled to London for work at an exclusive house in one of London’s tree-lined, affluent neighbourhoods. This house is frequented by the rich, the famous, and the powerful, looking for one thing, and one thing only: a fit, young man for a night of secretive sex. But João’s motives for being in the business run far deeper than the money he could earn with his chiselled body.
LOVE LOST, directed by London Film School alumnus Pablo Saura, is a gritty, charged story about the lengths one man will go to uncover a truth long hidden. It is the story of a young man, a family secret and an opportunity for honesty and connection that may or may not be received with grace.
Love Lost
Friendships and love can be complicated. We have all, at some point or another, asked ourselves whether a close friendship could be more than that. In turn, we have all struggled with the decision of whether to be honest about our feelings or to stay silent and protect the friendship we have.
Young Stari is facing a dilemma as he grapples with his feelings for his closest friend, Harry, and he thinks his only avenue for advice is an AI chatbot. But sometimes those around us have already picked up on the vibe that a friendship might be something more, and the reasons why it has not developed. Directed by Joachim Larrieu HOW DO I KNOW? (Comment savoir?) is a beautiful exploration of one young man asking himself a challenging yet urgent question: “Am I in love with Harry?” and of a Chatbot that, for all its insight, can’t replace the need for human connection.
How Do I Know?
Our final film in The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies is the beautiful and powerful CHAVO (Tjena tjavo), directed by Alecio Araci. In a small town in Sweden, Tommy’s Grill has been at the heart of the Romani community for years, a meeting place where locals gather to discuss, argue, debate, and celebrate. But for the owner, Tommy, the grill no longer holds the joy it once did.
Tommy’s wife left him sometime ago after his teenage son died, and instead of facing the truth behind those events. Tommy has opted to place his emotions in a sealed mental box while he continues to fry chips, cook eggs and dish up kebabs. But that’s about to change when a young man enters the grill, who is the subject of community rumour and bullying surrounding his sexuality. Suddenly, the traumatic events of the past scream to be set free as Tommy takes the boy under his wing, despite the community’s reaction, allowing the ghosts of the past to finally find peace.
The Male Gaze: Secrets and Lies is now available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
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