#hubert milkowski

Every once in awhile I like to share a list of movies that folks might not have heard of or seen. So here are a list of some queer movies made outside the U.S. that are available to stream in the U.S.

In chronological order of U.S. release:

Fin de siglo (End of the Century) (2019) (written and directed by Lucio Castro) - Fin de siglo is an Argentinian film in which Ocho (Juan Barberini) travels to Barcelona and meets Javi (Ramón Pujol). At first, the film looks like it's going to be a movie in a similar vein as Andrew Haigh's "Weekend": two men meet, hook up, and end up having to contend with the fact that one of them is soon leaving. But that's not what's really going on here. Instead, time jumps backward partway through the film, and then forward again. The film ends up being about both the subjectivity of one's memory and the possibilities of imagined futures.

Los fuertes (The Strong Ones) (2020) (written and directed by Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo) - Los Fuertes is a Chilean film in which the middle class Lucas (Samuel González) and working class Antonio (Antonio Altamirano) meet, fall for each other, and have to contend with the fact that one of them is soon leaving. But more than that, the film is about exploring the choices people have (and don't have) when forced to deal with bigotry. Do you leave? Do you stay? Los Fuertes examines both possibilities and refuses to pass judgement on either option.

Monsoon (2020) (written and directed by Hong Khaou) - Monsoon is a British film in which Kit (Henry Golding) portrays a British Vietnamese man who goes to Vietnam for the first time since his family fled when he was a child. While there, he meets Lewis (Parker Sawyers), an American businessman who is living in Saigon. The film is about Kit exploring his sense of identity and relationship to Vietnam, as someone who had been forced to leave at such a young age.

刻在你心底的名字 (Your Name Engraved Herein) (2020) (written by Yu Ning Chu and directed by Kuang-Hui Liu) - Your Name Engraved Herein is a Taiwanese movie set in 1987 about a teenager, Chang Jia-han (Edward Chen Hao-Sen) as he meets and grows close to a new student at his school, Wang Po Te (Jing-Hua Tseng). The film depicts the specificity of Taiwan at the end of martial law, with accompanying toxic masculinity and homophobia. The film also manages to depict two teens who are trying to figure out their sexuality, without ever resorting to making their sexuality a mystery for the audience. Trigger warning for a non-consensual sex scene.