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The Two Sides of the Bed is a spicy, flirty and fast-paced addition to the queer Spanish musical genre – much like the film’s musical interludes themselves. Javier and Marta are about to get married, with Pedro and Raquel soon to follow suit. Or so it seems. Marta and Raquel have their own ideas about how to celebrate a union, and it doesn’t include the boys! Javier and Pedro each harbour misplaced suspicions, while at the same time both being illicitly drawn to the same seductive woman… who has a few secrets of her own. And Rafael, who completes the trio of thoroughly confused men, suspects that Pilar is cheating on him, and recruits his frumpy best friend Carlos to help him find the culprit. But Carlos has his own agenda, not to mention a suspiciously well-chosen new wardrobe. In Emilio Martínez Lázaro’s sparkling ensemble piece, creative choreography and catchy songs round out the musical package for a delightful romp of a romantic comedy, with bed-hopping and homoerotic tension aplenty and enough hilarious twists to keep you guessing – and thoroughly entertained – to the very end. – AZ

What if straight people were the “queer” ones? Featuring Jane Lynch and Margaret Cho, this hilarious short turns the tables on homonormativity.

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Returning from a relaxing and romantic getaway in Tunisia, Anna (the ageless and exquisite Marie de Medeiros of Henry & June, and Pulp Fiction fame) and Mara discover a surprising holiday memento in their trunk. Dehydrated and desperate, a young Moroccan stowaway, Anis, implores them not to report him to immigration officials. Despite Mara’s scepticism, Anna is moved by his plight and takes him under her generous wing. Slowly but surely a family of sorts emerges – as do subtle tensions between Anna, a businesswoman, and Mara, a worker in her parents’ shoe manufacturing operation. As external realities begin to pressure their domestic ones, how will Anna, Anis and Mara survive, and who will they become? Riparo is esteemed Italian director Marco Simon Puccioni’s daring and timely exploration of cultural, economic and social mores surrounding immigration and same-sex relationships. Blending seamlessly themes of class, homophobia and illegal immigration, Riparo is an evocative reminder of the fragility of the human condition and our vulnerability to forces beyond our control. – BP

Set in the Patanal area of Western Brazil and paying tribute to Brokeback Mountain, Cowboy Forever tells the story of the traditional conservative life of Latino cowboys. Emotions are stirred and fantasies assumed as two young, handsome cowboys experience a true love story in the open air.

Hard Hat Required takes the phrase “under construction” to a whole new level.

K and Nelson’s lives are stifled by a routine-governed city that oppresses their identities in this raw and affecting short.

A hard drinking detective, on the tail of a killer, becomes involved in a dangerous cat and mouse chase that may expose his secret life. A finalist in the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards, Lucky Man is a clever noir fantasy.

An homage to Jean Genet, UroPop is the pause that refreshes.

A young man has two very very different one-night stands.

Boyfriends, an impromptu party, and a gay branded beauty product called Boitox all come together in this animated hilarity about West Hollywood fags.

A dark black comedy in which tango mirrors the story of four people driven by love to desperation, deception and infidelity.

An allegory about love, loneliness and the healing power of acceptance, Rock Garden: a Love Story is a tale of two neighbours who struggle and toil with everyday existence and how the most unlikely of objects changes them both.

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In hot pursuit of Factory Girl, comes first-time documentary filmmaker Esther B. Robinson’s award-winning documentary A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory. A chance encounter leads to Robinson’s discovery that her uncle, Danny Williams, an electrical genius and film editor, was also a filmmaker at the Factory, and probable lover of Andy Warhol. Williams’ intricate lighting schemes and innovative use of strobes were instrumental in defining the atmosphere of Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable happenings. However, the man dismissed as “the Harvard electrician” crafted 20 avant-garde, silent films, featuring the trademark theatricality of his composition, editing and lighting. Robinson respectfully teases out truths about Williams, juxtaposing contradictory and revealing interviews with Factory stars Brigid Berlin, John Cale, Paul Morrissey, and documentary wunderkind Albert Maysles. As Robinson attempts to make sense of his mysterious disappearance after a family dinner in 1966, she recovers the clean-cut, matinee idol Williams from the Darwinian rivalries and drug-addled personalities that characterized the Factory. A softly-lit and thought-provoking homage, all black-and-white footage aside from the Chelsea Girls excerpts are Williams’ own work. – BP

A woman explores her position as a Trinidadian dyke and her complex relationship with black men.

A short celebration dedicated to those who know sexuality is a translation of being capable of surpassing words and understanding. Striking images blend with a graceful slowness in this local short about the inherent knowledge there is no need to apologize.

The title says it all!

An old story of love and circus. Photo in motion, shot in a fast paced sad winter in Montréal.

Original, wickedly witty, reverent and irrevent, Trannymal throws the covers off tranny genitals and shows ‘em all dressed up and ready to educate.

A captivating short doc about Liam, a 21-year-old transgender man living in Sweden. Following him through months of his transitioning and meeting his family and friends, what emerges is a young man of conflictions, challenging the notion that once gender is set straight, everything will be alright.

Using the Rip van Winkle model to extrapolate from the past into a possible future, The Gendercator is a short satirical take on female body modification and gender.

A city symphony starring Toronto’s divine Boyschoir of Lesbos.

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------ A professional tattooist, Takeko’s austere routine of caring for brother and work is disrupted when bubbly, childlike Jade (Taiwanese actress/pop-starlet Rainie Yang) enters her studio. Believing tattoos would spice up her soft-porn webcam performances, Jade’s memories of unrequited passion are triggered by a golden spider lilies’ design, which symbolize love to Jade. For Takeko, however, the design has a darker significance. A cautious flirtation between feisty femme Jade and softly butch Takeko evokes memories of a seismic event… Flashbacks reveal an intricate web of absentee parents, family guilt and repressed memories. Can Takeko overcome her attachment to a tragic past to reclaim their future? Powerful myths and traditions and complex yet subtle emotional portraits mould a unique story of paradise lost – and possibly regained. Brilliant performances, piquant subplots and magic have ensured Spider Lilies a place among Taiwan’s top-grossing films. A fluid cinematic style and light CGI touches gently warp the divisions between imagination and reality. A lesbian Ang Lee, Chou’s (Butterfly, Splendid Float) high-profile, hypnotic Spider Lilies garnered the Berlinale’s Teddy Award for Best Queer Film. – BP

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Kyle, a young scientist, is struggling to build a time machine when he is confronted by an arrogant future version of himself. Shocked to discover that his future holds a preoccupation with body hair removal and boiled eggs, Kyle vows to change the course of his life.

Bobby Riley (writer and director Pete Jones) is a good old Irish Catholic boy from Chicago. A meat’n’potatoes, beer’n’baseball man’s man just like his three brothers. Well, maybe he’s a different type of man’s man - Bobby is gay. Bobby has kept his sexuality from his militantly straight brothers: fun-loving Luke, married porn addict Connor and no-nonsense eldest brother Jack, who is a priest. Only sister Maggie, a lawyer, knows the truth. Although Bobby lives with his boyfriend Andy (MAD TV’s Michael McDonald), he has maintained a fake relationship with lesbian friend Carly for five years that, ‘like most peoples’ real relationships, is based on lies and no sex.’ But now that his parents are both dead, his sister is pressuring him to drop the charade and tell his brothers. After Bobby finally decides to come out of the closet, his brothers all think he is joking. When it becomes clear that he is not kidding around, his siblings each have decidedly different reactions and, it turns out, are hiding some secrets of their own. Director Jones has produced a film that deftly balances humour and real-life drama in a story of honesty, acceptance and the ties that bind. – SF