Sarah Veltmeyer

Whether it's a once in a lifetime television audition or a gruelling boxing competition, for these young women the chance to shine is sometimes worth the risk.

The next edition of Altered Innocence's collection of short films is finally here with over three hours of LGBTQ and Coming-of-Age short films in two separately curated programs! Our 'Altered' program is a wild blast of strange and transgressive visions with films about virtual love dolls on a revenge tear, twinks eager to be annihilated, and a lesbian director obsessed with big boobs. The 'Innocence' program is a more tender and subtle program of loveliness with tales about brotherly love, modern transgender life, intergenerational relationships, and boys testing the limits of traditional masculinity.

These five award-winning coming of age short films offer a glimpse of how boys and young men tackle life's difficult desires: confronting one's demons, understanding sexual relationships, gaining the respect of one's father, or simply running away from it all. This is only the start of their complex formative years, where not every question has an answer, and not every answer makes sense. The short films are: Boys [Pojkarna] (2015); Ioana (2015); Kiem Holijanda (2017); Picnic [Piknik] (2015); Tomer & Elias [Tomer en Elias] (2016).

Whether it's playing games in a military zone, cheating at school tests, crossing borders for cheap thrills or doing whatever it takes to make illicit money - these boys know that with every risk, they move closer and closer to an irreversible jeopardy. Deftly exploring masculinity and peer-pressure, these five coming-of-age tales from France, the Netherlands and Lithuania from burgeoning new filmmakers demonstrate that sometimes young hearts can run dangerously free. The short films are: Gotta (2015); The Last Day of School (2019); Tree House [Cabane] (2016); Gameboy (2014); Pollux (2018).

When teenager Andi discovers a card of a Dutch porn star in the bedroom he shares with his brother, his obsession to get a phone and access the X-rated content means he doesn't notice that his brother has chosen this day to say goodbye to him.

Leon lives with his mother Ilona in an apartment tenement. Their life is simple, but they have each other. But as a neighbor transitions to something more, right under Leon’s nose, he feels the need to let his feelings known.

Two girls are being locked up on a balcony on a hot day, while a group of boys is waiting for them at a fair. When their messages become more and more searing, the balcony changes into a save space that the girls