With autumn nights approaching, Peccadillo Pictures is offering a chance to share some intimate moments in the LGBTQ+ community, taking in some emotional personal journeys across the world. In France, you can reflect on the lasting pangs of first love whilst in Germany military discipline controls darker desires. In Canada, basketball leads to conflicting passions in and out of college, whilst the boxing ring in New Zealand promises a heavyweight bout between parental dreams and personal identity.
Released on October 23, French film LIE WITH ME (2022, 98 mins) is directed by Olivier Peyon and stars Guillaume De Tonquédec, Victor Belmondo, Jérémy Gillet and Julien De Saint Jean.
Olivier Peyon’s powerfully emotional drama sees successful novelist Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) return to his hometown for the first time in decades. As a local celebrity, Stéphane has been invited to be the brand ambassador for its famous cognac distillery.
On arrival he is stunned to discover that one of the company’s executives is Lucas (Victor Belmondo), the son of his teenage first love Thomas. This triggers for Stéphane vivid memories of their passionate but secret adolescent affair – at a time when homosexuality was kept in the shadows…
A moving meditation on the intoxicating force of first love, the critically acclaimed Lie With Me is a beautifully photographed and superbly acted adaptation of the best-selling novel drawn from author Philippe Besson’s own adolescent memories.
Canadian film GOLDEN DELICIOUS (2022, 120 mins) is directed by Jason Karman and stars Chris Carson and Cardi Wong. Film is released October 30
For high school senior Jake, life’s pressures weigh heavily on his adolescent shoulders. If it’s not his father’s insistence he makes the basketball team, it’s his girlfriend making it abundantly clear she is ready to take their relationship to the next level. She’s even got the condoms to prove it. But when Aleks, a basketball-loving, out and proud cutie pie moves into the house across the street, Jake’s interest in shooting hoops and losing his virginity suddenly skyrockets. This is not quite what his father and girlfriend had in mind…
Jason Karman’s impeccably crafted debut is pure teen movie heaven, which hides a quietly complex exploration of sexual identity, societal pressure and familial obligation underneath its sweetly nostalgic veneer of familiarity.
PUNCH from New Zealand (2022, 94 mins) is directed by Welby Ings and stars Tim Roth, Jordan Oosterhof and Conan Hayes. Film is released November 13.
Seventeen-year-old Jim (Jordan Oosterhof) is a small-town boxing hero who carries the hopes and dreams of his father Stan (Tim Roth, The Hateful Eight) on his shoulders. But when he becomes aware of his strong attraction to Whetu (Conan Hayes), a feisty gay Maori teenager ostracised from the local community, Jim starts to see the limitations of his world, and understand what he and Whetu must do to break free.
New Zealand filmmaker Welby Ings’ powerful film is a beautifully shot and moving story about finding queer love and identity in the face of overwhelming odds.
German film EISMAYER (2022, 87 mins) is directed by David Wagner and stars Gerhard Liebmann, Luka Dimić and Julia Koschitz. Film is released November 20.
Inspired by true events, David Wagner’s acclaimed drama Eismayer tells the story of a secretly gay military officer whose tough façade conceals a clandestine double life. Sergeant Major Charles Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) is known and feared as the toughest training officer in the Austrian Armed Forces, ruthless with recruits and unwavering in his discipline, order and machismo.
But when he unexpectedly starts to fall in love with Falak, a recruit who unashamedly embraces his homosexuality, Eismayer’s closeted existence is shaken to the core as he is forced to reconcile his fiercely masculine identity with desire for another man.
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