Rocco Roberts

Henry Leith

Blake Weise

Abigail Remaley

Bria Michelle

Nicholas Hansell

Charlie Breckenridge

Myles Mantzaris

Ellie Zarr

Drama

Flowers

United States of America

At this year’s East Village Queer Film Festival, a highlight was Nicholas Hansell’s highly effective short, “Flowers.” Here another winsome high-school youth, Josh (Rocco Roberts), a soccer player, is yearning to connect with an openly gay peer. How does we know the object of his desire, Eddie (Henry Leith), is openly queer? Well, he’s reading a book daily while sitting with his back against a tree. That sort makes you wonder if any heterosexual has a library card.
With time ticking away — the film’s only 20 minutes long — Josh has to go to a party and kiss a girl in a bathroom without causing himself or anyone else to barf. Why? He’s trying to prove to his sports-mate (Blake Weise), a hunky homophobe, that he’s not that way. Can true boy-on-boy love win out before the end credits roll? Well, with the aid a whole lot of daisies, a happy ending blooms forth as does the sense that there’s a fruitful career ahead for the director, who’s currently working on a full-length feature.
Hansell, formerly a location scout for several features, noted at the talkback after the screening that Brokeback Mountain was a major cinematic turning point in his young life. He didn’t, however, reveal if he identified more with Ennnis Del Mar or Jack Twist.

English

Flowers | an LGBTQ Short Film (award winning)