Lukas Sperber

Two's company, three's allowed? From family disputes and unexpected babysitting duties to uncomfortable high school memories, manga drawing and friendships pushed to the next level - the Male Gaze series lifts the lid on six very different gay relationships and encounters. When two become three and outsiders enter the fray, what are the group dynamics at play? The short films are: Golden Boys (2017); In Beating Cells [In Pocheden Zellen] (2017); The Middle of a Lake [Le milieu d'un lac] (2017); Gilles (2016); Kiko's Saints [Les saints de Kiko] (2019); With Thelma [Avec Thelma] (2017).

Grim, recently retired 'iron judge' Ernst Blessing lives alone with his dog since his only daughter left angrily 18 years ago. Suddenly he's informed she died in a car crash, which landed her husband, Turkish Kurd Baran Amedi, in hospital. Loner Ernst is now required to mind his grandchildren, which he didn't even know having, resourceful rebel Dilo and his brat sister Hewi. Both sides' prejudices and principles are tested in practice. When Dilo finally respects Ernst and wins his heart, Baran arranges for the kids' 'repatriation' with a backward uncle.

The sun is setting on couples Rico and Eva and Friedrich and Julia's forest road trip. Tight bonds have formed across the group, none more so than between free-spirited Rico and vertical thinker Friedrich, who is coming to terms with a side of his sexuality that had previously remained in the shadows. As the foursome drink, party, swim and while away the hours by a picturesque lake, the food supplies dwindle, and the sheen starts to come off their idyllic escape.