Parky at the Pictures (DVD 5/7/2012)

A handful of DVD labels have attempted to celebrate the short film by gathering early works by directors who have gone on to bigger, if not always better, things. Despite presenting landmark works by artists from around the world, the Cinema 16 initiative proved sadly short-lived. But Peccadillo continues to promote shorts through its Boys on Film and Here Come the Girls series. Reviewing these collections is a tricky business, as the sheer number of titles on each disc means that the focus has to be somewhat selective (especially as the brand has now racked up eight editions). So here is an overview of the best and the rest.

Two films stand out from the nine in Boys on Film: Hard Love, which runs the gamut from drama to documentary and from thrillers to comic horrors. Based on a true story Jean Baptiste Erica's Cowboy Forever (2006) follows in the tradition of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005) by considering the subject of homosexual awakening in a staunchly macho environment. Almost docudramatic in its approach, the action focuses on Govinda Machado de Figueiredo, a gaucho on a Brazilian ranch who becomes increasingly smitten with new hand Jones Carlos Fialho de Araújo. Unfortunately, Jones is unwaveringly straight. But he still has the compassion to help his friend come to terms with his realisation and ensure he retains the respect of his companheiros.

A similar theme is explored in a London setting in Timothy Smith's Le Weekend (2007), which follows French film student Omar as he attempts to complete a coursework assignment. Bored with the familiar tourist sites and needing to find a bed for the night, he makes the acquaintance of genial gay Fernando Peres. He has no intention of allowing himself to be seduced. But, as the evening wears on and Peres takes him to places he has never dreamed of going before, Omar (who is the master of deception) begins to wonder whether he has been lying to himself. Shot in Super-8 and with Val Rassi providing a voice-over narration from Omar's perspective, this is clearly an hommage to the nouvelle vague. But, beside its technical surety and its teasing flashes of toned flesh, this is also a poignant and provocative discourse on the lines of demarcation between gays and straights and the surprising each with which they can be crossed.

Completing the slate are Australian Tim Hunter's Packed Lunch (2005), which attempts to ascertain the appeal of Speedos; Hong Khaou's Summer, a first-love saga centring on two British teens who find themselves wishing for different things when they go into the woods to catch a falling leaf; Damien Rea's Scarred (both 2006), a flashbacking adaptation of Gordon Beeferman's short thriller `Scar Tissue' that sets Chris Anderson wondering why blind date David Durham is so comfortable with the wound left on his face by a vicious knife attack; Michael Simon's Gay Zombie, a parable about prejudice that turns on undead Brad Bilanin fighting his desire to eat brains after West Hollywood matchmakers Robert Laughlin and Craig Olsen set him up with best friend Ryan Carlberg; Jason Bushman's Serene Hunter, a raunchy examination of hook-up culture that has Parisian Eric Debets questioning his cruising lifestyle after encountering Bushman's dashing American; Max Barber's VGL Hung (all 2007), a saucy variation on the Cinderella scenario that sees unprepossessing Marcus Proctor transformed into a hunk when he logs on to the ManFinder website; and John Winter's Mirror Mirror (2008), a moving monologue in which ageing Australian drag queen Roy Billing ponders how long he can keep dazzling as his glamorous alter ego.

The overall quality takes a dip in Boys on Film 2: In Too Deep. But Swede Håkon Liu's Lucky Blue (2007) would be a standout on any selection in the series. Indeed, this coming-out crush saga could easily have been expanded to feature length.

Each summer, Tobias Bengtsson accompanies father Johan Friberg to a camp site where he organises karaoke contests with old friend Britta Andersson. As a rule, Bengtsson is happy to stay behind the scenes and hope nobody notices him. But, this year, Andersson has brought nephew Tom Lofterud along and Bengtsson (who hadn't been entirely sure he was gay until now) realises that he will have to step up to the microphone if he is ever going to express the feelings he is too tongue-tied to say straight out.

Ever since Ingmar Bergman's Summer With Monika (1953), the Swedes have had a knack for capturing the thrill and uncertainty of holiday romance. Liu upholds the tradition with this sweet tale that not only benefits from Bengtsson's awkward earnestness and Lofterud's wavering cockiness, but also from Andersson's unfussy common sense as the aunt who realises what is happening before the boys themselves do.

The mood couldn't be more different in Till Kleinert's Cowboy (2008), which follows estate agent Oliver Scherz on a scouting trip around the German countryside for suitable properties to suit his chic clientele. He stumbles across a rundown farm that would make a splendid development project. However, the only person he can find at home is taciturn hand Pit Bukowski, who is more interested in tinkering with a clapped out combine harvester than in revealing the whereabouts of the owner. Reluctant to leave and lose a potential bargain, Scherz wangles an invitation to stay the night and soon discovers that, for all his boasting about his prowess with the local maidens, Bukowski is not averse to a little dalliance. But everything changes the following morning, as Scherz finds himself at the mercy of a rustic maniac.

Adroitly playing on townie prejudices against their country cousins, while also exposing the sinister side of the bucolic idyll, this is an atmospheric chiller that switches from flirtation to foreboding with disconcerting precision. Scherz and Bukowski impress, but it's Kleinert's use of the seemingly abandoned village and the ferocity of the finale that make this so compelling.

Primarily dating from 2007, the remaining titles are less accomplished. However, there are still things to enjoy in Soman Chainani's Kali Ma, whose title owes less to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom than to the `Dark Mother' of Hindu mythology and whose rather silly story centres on the revenge that Kamini Khanna takes on Brendan Bradley when he bullies her son Manish Dayal; Julian Hernandez's highly stylised Bramadero, which chronicles the initially lusty, but ultimately tender tryst between Sergio Almazán and Cristhian Rodríguez on a half-built skyscraper on the outskirts of Mexico City; Matthieu Salmon's Weekend in the Countryside, which accompanies pals Théo Frilet and Pierre Moure to the rural retreat of the former's father (Jean-Claude Dumas), where Moure's fear of dogs and Frilet's frustration at having his advances spurned prompt a simmering swimming pool showdown; Tim Hunter's Working It Out, in which jealous Aussie Simon Kearney gets more than he bargained for when he bumps into Glaston Toft in the gym showers after watching him chat up his boyfriend Paul Ross; Arthur Halpern's Futures (and Derivatives), an office comedy about a temp (Mark Hervey) being hired to devise an all-singing powerpoint presentation that culminates in hypnotic display of swirlingly surreal images that teaches the staff to appreciate the smaller things in life; Craig Boreham's Love Bite (2008), a three-minute anecdote with a totally predictable twist that turns on Aussie teen Will Field's stammering bid to tell best friend Aidan Calabria a home truth; and documentarist Trevor Anderson's The Island (2009), a partially animated riposte to a homophobic email he received, in which he imagines the benefit of the world's gay population being rounded up and confined on a remote Canadian outpost.

Carter Smith's Bugcrush (2006) is the pick of Boys on Film 3: American Boy. Based on a story by Scott Treleaven, this provocative allegory start out innocently enough, as loner Josh Caras gets the hots for new high school classmate Doug Cumming. However, gal pal Eléonore Hendricks has a bad feeling about Cumming and his creepy sidekicks and urges Caras to let organs above the waist do his thinking for him. But, when Cumming suggests an expedition to the woods and offers Caras the chance to experience the trippy effects of being bitten by a weird insect, he lovesick teen is powerless to resist.

Although the warnings about drug use and the dangers of sexual recklessness might have been subtler, this is a decidedly discomfiting picture that becomes increasingly dark and delirious as Caras loses his inhibitions and sense of judgement. The performances are admirable and Smith makes fine use of the spooky setting. However, the supposedly mischievous ending may leave a few feeling short-changed.

Unfortunately, only Brian Krinsky's Dish (2009) is of a comparable standard, although this also stumbles in the closing straight. Set in East Los Angeles, the action centres on Matthew Monge, a bashful 15 year-old with dental braces and a mop of emo hair. He has vowed not to lose his virginity until his teeth are fixed. But best friend Jeff Martin is forever texting him with gossip about his latest conquest. Thus, Monge decides that mooning over butcher Gabriel Romero is getting him nowhere and that the time has come to take the plunge with Latino stud Octavio Altamirano.

What sets this apart from so many other `first love' stories is Krinsky's understanding of the role that mobile phones and social networking sites play in the sexual maturation of modern teens. When not sexting, Martin is forever boasting in the most graphic terms about his romantic escapades. However, as is so often the case in this kind of movie, it's the underdog that the audience is asked to identify with and Monge responds laudably to the responsibility by delivering a touchingly authentic display of curiosity, covetousness and confusion.

Four years after he submitted Dare (2005) as his graduation short, director Adam Salky expanded it to feature length. This award-winning version sees lighting designer Adam Fleming offer to help Michael Cassidy learn his lines for a school production of A Streetcar Named Desire and discover, during a boozy session around the pool, that he has more in common with the class bad boy than he could ever have imagined.

Also on view is Dennis Shinners's Area X (2007), in which teenager Matt Schuneman confesses to New York hustler Antony Raymond that he has run away from the father who tried to lock him up with a hooker to turn him into a man; Jody Wheeler's In the Closet, which springs a surprise on promiscuous JT Tepnapa when he is lured back to the bedroom of seemingly timid virgin Brent Corrigan; Julian Breece's The Young and Evil (both 2008), which stars Vaughn Lowery as an African-American youth caught between a drunken mother and homophobic friends who sets out to contract HIV from middle-aged prevention advocate Mark Berry; and Kyle Coker's Astoria, Queens (2009), which takes its cue from The Wizard of Oz in following the fortunes of Kansans Aaron Michael Davies, James Heffron, Sangeeta Parekh and Hayley Thompson-King who fetch up in the Big Apple in the hope of respectively finding love, becoming a rapper, spreading a little happiness and making it as an actress.

The joint-winner of the Oscar for Best Short Film with Peter Capaldi's Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, Peggy Rajski's Trevor (1994) is the highlight of Boys on Film 4: Protect Me From What I Want. Indeed, such is the significance of this picture that it was championed by Ellen DeGeneres and led to the founding of The Trevor Project to help American juveniles with sexual identity issues realise that there are other options than suicide.

As he writes in his 1981 diary, 13 year-old Brett Barsky is intrigued by girls, but is much more interested in Diana Ross, Broadway musicals and classmate Jonah Rooney. He occasionally worries about the illicit thrill he feels when he dreams about naked men, but Barsky accepts that this is who he is and presumes everyone will do the same. However, as they begin to realise that Barsky may be gay, everyone starts giving him a wide berth, including parents Judy Kain and John Lizzi and local priest Stephen Tobolowsky. But when Rooney also spurns him, Barksy's preoccupation with death provides him with his sole source of solace.

Beautifully written by James Lecesne and played with heartbreaking candour by Brett Barsky, this is perhaps the ultimate gay growing pains movie. As relevant today as it was two decades ago, it conveys its message with wit and honesty and would do more to teach kids about the evils of homophobia than any preachier public information tract.

Swede David Färdmar similarly avoids lecturing in the My Name Is Love (2008), but this remains a hard-hitting warning about the potential dangers of dating strangers. Inspired by something that happened to one of Färdmar's own friends, the tale opens with teenager Adam Lundgren enjoying a night out with friend Alicia Vikander. However, everything changes when he meets Jonas Rimeika outside a gay bar and agrees to go back to his place. All seems to be going well as Rimeika recognises Lundgren's inexperience and appears prepared to take things slowly. But the mood suddenly changes and Lundgren is powerless to regain control of an increasingly violent situation.

Pulling no punches, Färdmar presents the assault in unflinching detail. Moreover, he uses flashbacks to great effect to make the tragic outcome apparent to all from the outset. Lundgren is suitably vulnerable as the literature student with muddled notions of romantic love, but it's Rimeika, as the conflicted thug intoxicated by his baser instincts while his girlfriend is out of town, who makes the more shocking and lasting impression.

Lining up alongside these two fine films are a notable pair by the Israeli-born, Los Angeles-based Eldar Rapaport. Eventually expanded into the feature August (2011), Postmortem (2004) was inspired by the music that the director once heard at a Middle Eastern jazz club. Structuring the drama around the score by Harel Shachal and Anistar, Rapaport shows how New York old flames Murray Bartlett and Daniel Dugan meet up for a coffee and get to discussing past intimacies, as well as Dugan's current romance with scooter-riding Francisco Valera. Full of teasing exchanges and closing on a second rendezvous that brings the pair closer to the edge of indiscretion, this finds echo in Steam (2009), a two-handed variation on Jean-Paul Sartre's Huis Clos that stars Scott Alan Hislop and Julien Zeitouni as a couple of strangers sitting in a sauna who give in to their urges only to find there is no way out of the room. Again making masterly use of music (this time Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1), this is an amusing treatise on the pitfalls of anonymous flings. But, as Hislop and Zietouni bicker about whether they are in Heaven or Hell, Rapaport also builds towards a wry twist that will give many pause for thought.

Completing this selection are Margien Rognar's Breath, a pubescent pang saga that shows how self-conscious 12 year-old Dutch boy Yannick de Waal bides his time during a swimming trip with neighbour Moo Miero to reveal his feelings for her strapping father Roeland Fernhout; Grimur Hákonarson's Wrestling (both 2007), which features the distinctive Icelandic sport of Glima and turns on the ultimatum that Halldór Gylfason (a tunnel engineer who cares for invalid mother María Gudmundsdóttir) gives lover Björn Ingi Hilmarsson to leave wife Gudlaug Elisabet Ólafsdóttir or lose him forever; David Bonneville's Heiko, a darkly amusing fetish study with a twist that starts with Portuguese stud Jaime Freitas taunting sugar daddy José Manuel Mendes before the tables are turned in the kinkiest and most disconcerting manner; Simon Steuri's Vandals (both 2008), in which working-class Swiss graffiti artist Jonas Ullmann makes a play for new gang member Franziska Schläpper when his relationship with fellow tagger Nils Althaus is discovered while they work on a railway carriage; and Dominic Leclerc's Protect Me From What I Want (2009), which touches on themes of faith, family and being true to oneself, as Muslim student Naveed Choudhury is tempted by scally Elliott Tittensor in a Leeds alleyway and quickly finds himself regretting his actions.