(Dir. Bernard Shumanski & Richard Shumanski. US, 2010. 68 mins).

The Shumanski Brothers follow up controversial gay movie Wrecked with this simple, effective and sexually explicit film about a not-so-perfect crime, tapping the red-hot themes of gay marriage and closet extremists in the process.

The film’s provocative title and initial set-up, wherein two young lovers decide to blackmail a closeted, homophobic evangelist, betray a surprisingly tender and fleshed-out story.

Sam is a rejected son turning tricks to pay his way through college in Chicago. His long-distance boyfriend, Aaron, isn’t too happy about it and when he identifies one of Sam’s sexually aggressive clients, Andrew Tucker, as a gay-hating religious figure from the media, he sees an opportunity for Sam to get out of prostitution for good.

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(Dir. Jean-Claude Schlim. Luxembourg/Germany, 2009. 121 mins).

This confident, semi-autobiographical period drama from first-time writer/director Jean-Claude Schlim comes across like an updated Cabaret with Amsterdam substituted for Berlin and a very different kind of threat hanging over these creatures of the night.

The film is presented in three acts: in the first we meet determined, sexually confident gay teen Frank as he escapes the school bullies and his misunderstanding middle class family by running away to the red light districts of 1984′s Amsterdam. Here he finds employment and lodging in the ‘House of Boys,’ a gay brothel and erotic dancing club run by ‘Madame’ (played by Udo Kier).

Act II settles into the film’s main storyline as Frank falls in love with his straight roommate, Jake, a young American and House of Boys’ biggest draw. Jake sleeps with men for money and sneaks his girlfriend into their room at night, breaking Madam’s house rules in the process.

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(Dir. Kanchi Wichmann. UK, 2011. 102 mins).

First time writer/director Kanchi Wichmann and young stars Kat Redstone and Sophie Anderson are talents to watch in this hip, lo-fi, London-set drama which brilliantly captures the end of love.

With its mouthy, self-absorbed slacker characters this film put me in mind of some recent, edgy British TV output. Liza and Sally are lovers and bandmates at the painful, destructive end of a blazing relationship, one which is dying a slow death.

Their equally messy best friends – straight rent-boy Vin and gay, soul-mate-seeking Jamie are more hindrance than help and Liza smells the whiff of indiscretion… Whatever, there’s a weekend of drunken sex, cat fights, vomit and drug-taking to be had, all leading up to Liza’s surprise birthday party.

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(Dir. Eric Casaccio. US, 2011. 18 mins).

Randall/Sophia is an out-of-work actor who’s life appears to be unravelling before her very eyes (well, ears) in Eric Casaccio’s simple but effective short film.

A zero budget calls for visual shorthand and Casaccio cleverly uses object motifs and repetition to tell a story: a piling up of messages on his answer machine as he rehearses lines for a new acting gig reveals that Randall is broke, making ends meet with dead-end jobs and estranged from his family. His increasingly emotional read-throughs betray a fragile state of mind.

Randall, dressed as a female, escapes to his balcony for some air and crosses paths with a handsome neighbour, also an actor, who’s reading through a script of his own. Randall’s friendly approach is scorned by the neighbour, who cruelly laughs and calls him a “freak”. In Randall’s face we glimpse his deep pain and are left to fill in the blanks of a rejection-filled life, one that is about to change dramatically.

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The LGBT film market is to get a brand spanking new distributor, which is always a good thing.

Guest House Films only came into being six years ago but has already produced five feature films, including Long-Term Relationship and Make The Yuletide Gay, and earlier this year moved into the distribution side of things with the release of Role/Play.

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