Shadows On Skin is the new instalment in NQV Media’s short film collection The Male Gaze, continuing their vast anthology of shorts from around the world. This collection has gathered four diverse films from Brazil, Germany and Argentina; take a look at each below.
OFFLINE (Brazil)
Starring: Julio Oliveira, Lui Avallos
Director: Lui Avallos
Two neighbours have been intimate via webcam, only to find that when the nation’s internet is suspended, they must bring this connection to fruition in person instead. With slow-burning sexual tension, the pair break into a house together, creating a temporal space where they can build their relationship IRL. Atmospheric but somewhat stagnant, this is a short that tries to wrap online personas in enigmatic realities, winding up annoyingly nonchalant, focusing on characters that have very little to say.
HEDON (Germany)
Starring: Tanju Bilir, Saladin Dellers, Peter Kotthaus, David Hugo Schmitz
Director: Julian Dietrich
A man heads out into the night, bouncing from sexual encounter to sexual encounter. As each situation delves deeper into his sexual psyche, he is taken aback to come out the other side having made a connection someone. And his surprise manifests in the darkest of ways. An animal depiction of a man indulging his inner beast, this is unsexy erotica that exposes the grim underbelly of desire. There’s nothing attractive about the cold rooms and twisted men he meets, descending through hedonism all the way to depravity.
ADAN AND ESTEBAN (Argentina)
Starring: Gabriel Miner, Santiago Leguizamo
Directors: Nicolás Alan Medina, Lucía Rivera López.
When childhood best friends Adan and Esteban return from a night out together, one is much drunker than the other, bathing and putting his friend to bed. As they both fade in and out of consciousness, sexual curiosity builds between them as they observe and feel the charge of each other’s presence. A sexy short about crossing beyond friendship, this is a wonderful film about the joy of discovering something new in something you’ve had for years. And discovering yourself along the way. With considered cinematography and nuanced editing, this is a well-composed little nugget of cinema.
PRIVATE PHOTOS (Brazil)
Starring: Lucas Galvino, Vinicius Neri, Antonio Miano
Director: Marcelo Grabowsky
When a sweet couple invite a man they’ve met online to have a threesome, it initially appears that they have bitten off more than they can chew when an intense and direct stranger appears at their door. His earnest energy goes off like bomb in their relationship, spicing things up but also ripping open the wound they didn’t know was there. A character piece about how sometimes the people you know the shortest time can have the largest impact, this is a well-scripted and well-cast short that captures the heady energy of a brief encounter perfectly.
An alluring collection of four sultry shorts, this sensual and sexy clutch of films peeps through the curtains of male desire. Though some are definitely stronger than others, these are the kind of short films you’ll want to watch alone with the curtains drawn so you can savour each longing look, furtive glance and breathless touch on your screen.
UK Release: 26th February 2023, released by NQV Media