According to Mateo

Billy Elliot

September 2000 •English

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

The Mule

March 2014 •English

In 1983, a naive man is detained by Australian Federal Police with lethal narcotics hidden in his stomach. After being apprehended, ‘The Mule’ makes a desperate choice... to defy his bodily functions and withhold the evidence – literally.

All About My Mother

April 1999 •Spanish

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

Three Colors: Blue

September 1993 •French

The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.

Blueberry Fields

October 2016 •Russian

After a chance meeting with a girl, a nameless boy becomes her lover and guardian angel. Together they avenge the girl’s rape, fleeing into the woods in an attempt to escape the modern world and civilization. They commit more crimes, killing encountered people at random, until the third character comes into the story, changing the dynamic of the lovers’ relationship. It’s an emotional story of passion, violence and the impossibility of running away from oneself.

Closets

October 2015 •English

It's 1986, tormented teenager Henry is struggling with his sexuality and abusive home life. Henry sits in his closet contemplating suicide. In a flash of light he is transported to 2016 where he meets teenager Ben — now occupying his room 30 years later.

The Happy Prince

April 2018 •English

In 1895, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was the most famous writer in London, and Bosie Douglas, son of the notorious Marquess of Queensberry, was his lover. Accused and convicted of gross indecency, he was imprisoned for two years and subjected to hard labor. Once free, he abandons England to live in France, where he will spend his last years, haunted by memories of the past, poverty and immense sadness.

Shed

June 2019 •English

An Aboriginal girl held captive and at the mercy of the station’s stockmen makes an unlikely friend and finds the courage to set herself free.

Same Old

May 2022 •Chinese

After his e-bike is stolen, a food delivery driver in New York City comes to terms with the fragility of his life in America.

American Beauty

September 1999 •English

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Bardo

June 2016 •English

After a long night working the New York City streets as a taxi driver, Johnny finds himself frustrated, on edge and seeking an escape. While pulled over and getting ready to satisfy bad habits he is interrupted by Lily, an old lady insisting for a ride home. Reluctantly he agrees to drive her and what follows is an unexpected journey.

El Estallido del Silencio

July 2024 •Spanish

You Can't Escape Lithuania

November 2016 •Lithuanian

After his star actress, Indre, murders her mother, rich-kid filmmaker Romas plans her escape from Lithuania. His Mexican boyfriend Carlos helps them reluctantly. On the road, Romas begins shooting an improvised experimental film. As events take an unexpected turn, their secrets, memories and emotions make this journey wilder than any film Romas could have imagined.

Walk on Water

February 2004 •Hebrew

Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country, during which Axel challenges Eyal's values.

Paradise Now

September 2005 •English

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Falling Star

January 2014 •Spanish

During a brief rule towards the end of the 19th century, the Italian duke Amadeo of Savoy occupied the Spanish throne. However, confined to the safety of life within the palace walls, the lonely, frustrated king and his servants succumb to playful adventures focused more on pleasure than his duties.

Bad Education

March 2004 •Spanish

An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.

Brokeback Mountain

October 2005 •English

In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.

My Little Boy

January 2007 •German

Berlin, 1934. Many men are forced to live their hidden homosexuality. Erich, a photographer, has an appointment in his photo studio with Wolfgang, a Nazi soldier, with whom he shares a loving, tumultuous, and passionate relationship. For both of them, this should not be a problem, but appearances deceive.

Death on the Beach

April 1991 •Spanish

The son of a wealthy businesswoman returns home from boarding school. His mother, always busy with business and with her ambitious lover, realizes that her son suffers for being a homosexual. Having killed a teacher who abused him, the trauma makes him keep killing.