Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine

Manufacturer: Kino Lorber films Brand: Kino

One of the first gay-themed films in the history of cinema, Different From the Others was banned at the time of its release, later burned by the Nazis and was believed lost for more than forty years. Using recently discovered film segments, still photos and censorship documents from different archives, Filmmuseum Muenchen has resurrected this truly groundbreaking silent film for DVD. Enacted in 1871, the German penal code's Paragraph 175 sentenced thousands of accused German homosexual men to jail terms for "unnatural vice between men." In 1919, director Richard Oswald (Tales of the Uncanny) and psychologist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld created a film intended to expose the unjust Paragraph 175 and help liberate the "third sex" from legal persecution and public scorn. Different From the Others casts Conrad Veidt (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) as Paul K+Ýrner, a gay concert pianist blackmailed by a closeted low-life named Bollek. When K+Ýrner's budding romance with a handsome young music student runs afoul of Bollek's extortion, K+Ýrner goes to the German courts for protection. But the draconian Paragraph 175 makes criminals out of both accuser and accused, and the love K+Ýrner has found may cost him his career, his freedom or his life. Conrad Veidt's uncompromising performance (the same year as his legendary portrayal of Cesar the somnambulist in Caligari) places a human face on Hirschfeld's reformist fervor and Oswald's tragic melodrama. In its frank depiction of gay bars,...

Manufacturer: TLA Releasing

After taking a wrong turn in their car, a young gay Russian couple witnesses what they believe is a vicious gay bashing; their quandary over what to do about it propels them, and this suspenseful drama into ever more dangerous territory. Anton and Vlad share a loving and natural chemistry in the comfortable privacy of their Moscow apartment. For Anton, the burden of what they may have witnessed outweighs Vlad s fear of probing too deeply into the incident. Convinced of the police s indifference of recent events make this a terrifyingly plausible scenario. Anton talks his skeptical lover into launching their own amateur investigation into the hate crime. Their risky search for the truth has unexpected and grim consequences.

Manufacturer: Strand Releasing Model: 2250385

Tropical Malady

Manufacturer: Hornbill/BDF Brand: BDF

In the second installment of the Straight Boys Gay Boys series from director Toby Ross, open-minded straight boys get manipulated by smart, clever and very cute gay boys... and - guess what - they love it! Rarely has a sequence of shorts been hot, sexy and funny at the same time. This criss-crossing, carnal bridge between straight and gay is where it all happens. This is a small, fun ride for your fantasies to come alive told in six well-scripted, fully developed stories.

Manufacturer: Breaking Glass Pictures

Alex is a young addict who sells his body in Montreal's Centre-Sud district. He's flanked by Bruno, Simon, Jeanne, Eric, and Velma, all of them caught in the same spiral of compulsion. They are the fallen angels of a dark and violent time. Yet their beauty somehow survives, rebellious amid the ruins. From one fix to the next, desire becomes a life raft, as their bodies seek drugs to sooth their addiction. Like orphans of a wild tribe, they live and love in the shadows of society's indifference. DVD EXTRAS INCLUDE....2 Short Films by the Director - Titre Falardeau and Scato

Manufacturer: TLA Releasing

Each day after work, Carlos, a language school teacher, frequents the heady surroundings of his local cruising ground. One evening he encounters a teenage boy from his class named Toni, and the two engage in brief sexual tryst. As the relationship between teacher and student begins to develop, some dark truths emerge about the young man and his mysterious group of friends. EVERLASTING LOVE is thrilling cinema, guaranteed to shock and excite in equal measure.