Obituary: My Name is Leo - a new release from Noel Alejandro

If you’re looking for grown-up gay erotica, it doesn’t get any better than the stylishly sexy work of filmmaker Noel Alejandro.

His latest release is Obituary: My Name is Leo.

Filmed in Berlin, the production stars Bishop Black and Gany Meat.

The film gives us the story of Leo – an actor auditioning for a role. The director is a seasoned professional who puts Leo through his paces and unlocks his potential.

Bishop Black and Gany Meat are a great combination, and the encounter between them is compelling. It’s the mood of this film – the sexual tension that Alejandro is able to capture – that really elevates this beyond everyday porn, giving us queer erotic filmmaking at its finest.

Obituary: My Name is Leo is now available

Who is Noel Alejandro?

Filmmaker Noel Alejandro creates gay porn that’s a long way removed from our traditional perception of cheesy story-lines and bad acting, or the rough and ready home-made footage of hardcore anonymous encounters.

Alejandro creates moody, narrative-driven encounters. These are encounters between attractive but every-day guys where the sex is explicit, but it’s sex that also feels real, and very authentic.

Having got his start working with feminist-erotica filmmaker Erika Lust, Alejandro is a storyteller – giving us fully realised characters and erotic scenes charged with emotional connection.

Originally from Barcelona, Alejandro now spends much of his time in Berlin.

“I’m in love with this city…” says Alejandro, referring to his adopted home of Berlin. “Everybody just accepts their sexuality – never afraid of being too much. Although the weather is bad, for many years Berlin has been the place to be, and it will be for many years – this is a city with powerful vibes.”

He cites as his influences, filmmakers such as Jaime Rosales, Markus Schleinzer, Martin Provost, Michael Hanneke, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Darren Aronofsky, Lars Von Trier, and Almodovar.

“I realised the lack of variety we had in porn — not only in straight porn but also in gay porn…” explains Alejandro. “In the last few decades, porn has become something completely flat and fake . Most of the actors seem to be more worried about showing off their perfect bodies, instead of having a nice experience with their partner.”

Alejandro has developed a trademark style of combining complex emotional scenes with intense and passionate sex.

“A lot of women watch my films…” explained Alejandro, when I asked him if his films were only for gay men. “ I often have emails from women telling me that they like my work and that they connect with it very easily. That really makes me feel proud of what I’m doing.”

“For me, the most important thing is to film natural sex…” adds Alejandro. “I guess that’s an indication of the kind of sex that I like. I’ve had encounters with some people who had sex as if they were in a bad porn film, and you could feel that through their fake attitude, their showing off, the lack of any real connection with what they were doing – it was definitely bad sex.”

Eloi & Biel

Eloi & Biel shows the irresistible intimacy of love meeting pleasure. A passionate encounter with emotion, lust, and authentic climaxes.

Stars Eloi and Biel.

Bad Medicine

An intense encounter in the woods.

Stars Ian Grey and Aitor Bravo.

Roomies

An ode to sex between men who share a home, in all its complicated glory.

Stars Josh Milk and Johan J.

Thank You

An erotic piece full of mystery and enigmas that was filmed as an exercise in improvisation.

Stars Vince and Damian Mauro.

The Cable Guy

A modern fairy-tale for those wishing nothing more than a regular everyday maintenance visit.

Stars Chris Michaels and Matthew Anders.

Doing Elliot

A cinematic depiction of all the trust, excitement, pain, and passion of an encounter between two men that take a chance.

Stars Tristan and Cyrill.

Call Me A Ghost

A trip into the darkest corner of our minds.

Stars Valentin Braun and Pierre Emö.

Trivial

The first threesome shot by Alejandro, Trivial gives us the story of roommates with benefits.

Stars Valentin Braun, Yann André, and Gaspard.

I spoke with Noel Alejandro for a behind-the-scenes look at his production Trivial.

What’s your creative process like when approaching a project like this?

I use my films as a tool to communicate and talk about things I care about, or that interest me.

Normally everything starts with a solid image, or feeling in my mind, and from there I build the rest of the story, situation and characters.

Once I find an idea or a topic I’d like to talk about, I research actors and locations. Interviewing different actors is also helps to determine what kind of character they will play.

Often I have to adapt the story to suit my performers. You can’t ask somebody who’s not a professional actor to act in a credible way — filming porn is enormously challenging.

Why have you called the film, Trivial?

I was looking for a title that made reference to the fact that there’s a threesome in the movie, and at the same time define what the film is about — a trivial conversation around something quotidian as an interview for a new roommate.

I feel that films don’t necessarily have to be very different to real life — I definitely feel very comfortable filming in this simple style.

This is the first threesome you’ve directed? Why was this the right time to tackle a threesome?

To me, filming sex is a matter of love for poetic images and bodies. Filming a threesome was the perfect occasion to add one more marvelous and beautiful subject in front of my camera.

What are some of the complexities in filming a threesome as compared to a couple?

I didn’t find any — except for the budget. I’m willing to film many more.

What was your casting process?

I normally work with people outside of the porn industry, because I really want my films not to look like porn. For this reason, casting is way more complicated for my films — porn actors would be more accessible.

Luckily, I have a lot of artists, dancers, and models that connect with my films, and want to be part of my films.

What’s important to me in a casting process is the connection with the actor — we have a chat by Skype, which enables me see if I want to work with the actor or not. For example, if an actor doesn’t wants to Skype because he’s not used to having to Skype with directors, then I don’t think this person takes my work or his work seriously. If I Skype somebody who is also incapable of talking during an interview, then I’m not interested — I want to film real people, not meat.

Maybe I get it wrong sometimes, but to develop a story I really need to connect with an actor’s mind, not just their body.

The flat in Brussels where you’ve filmed this production is a beautiful space — was it difficult to secure the location?

It’s a friend’s house. I always look for places with character, space and light — that’s what makes the difference.

Is it difficult to achieve the natural-look lighting that you’ve captured?

Although I used some artificial light during the sex scenes, the film has been filmed with natural light in order to achieve a more realistic and monotone look. Colour grading is also mandatory in order to achieve this ‘cozy’ or dark light — like, if you were having sex on a couch on a Sunday evening.

It’s not easy an atmosphere to achieve — it takes experience and patience.

Trivial is an erotic and explicit film, but it feels a long way from what we normally describe as gay porn. How do you describe your films?

That’s a very complicated question. I’m not going to lie — I make sex films, and I’m happy with that. But the reason I make films is because I love cinema — when I started my studies, and made videoclips and little videos, I realised that I could fill a gap that exists between porn and normal or erotic cinema.

It’s not only about offering a beautiful set of erotic images with a decent narrative, I wanted to take it further and make it authentic — the sex situations you are watching on my films are real, there are no tricks.

I’ve often felt slightly disappointed when watching gay films and I’ve realised that all the explicit and sexy images were just a lie, nothing, just two actors pretending to have sex. With my films you can be sure that the sex is there, because when I make films I’m playing by different rules than mainstream cinema or mainstream porn.

What type of audience are you wanting to engage with through your films?

I make films for everybody — for those who need something else than flat sex, for those who need some additional stimulation in order to get connected with the actors, and for those who want to experiment with something new.

Any plans to make a feature-length production?

Not yet. First I’d like to make many more of this style of porn film. I feel that this is my time for doing this, feature-length films can wait — I think it’s really important to first find a style, to discover your own voice, to be as faithful as you can to your vision of life.

To me, being a director is about giving your own vision of life.

The End

Filmed in Berlin, The End stars Bishop Black, Pierre Emö, and Manuel Voss.

In this film, Alejandro gives us the story of Javier — an obsessed artist who is grieving after the death of his lover Ivan. Javier experiences sorrow as a combination of memories and instinct, requiring a confrontation with his personal demon before he can be released from the purgatory of his grief.

“I’ve always found death very inspirational…” explained Alejandro, when I asked him about his inspiration for The End. “ It occupies a big part of my thoughts each day. I’m kind of pessimistic in this respect, so I decided to try and take some benefit from this anguish. The End really fits my vision of being a melodramatic filmmaker who features sex in his films.”

Sweat

Stars Jesse Charif and Parker Marx.

“I was completely inspired by Funny Games by Michael Hanneke — I wanted to take that story and give it a twist…” explains Alejandro, when I asked him about his inspiration for Sweat. “I often like to take stories quite cliché — both in porn and outside of it — to give them my own version, reinvent or put them into a context in which everyone could imagine what will happen, but in the end hooking my audience a little with a different approach.”

The Seed

An encounter beside a lake has the potential to lead to more.

Stars Yann André and Vic Valentine.

Although filmed near Berlin, the story of The Seed is set in Lyon. Alejandro gives us Gaspar (played by Yann André) - a young French guy who heads to the city park after work and takes the trail for a quick dip in the lake. He knows that it’s a cruising ground for sex. Gaspar’s pursuit ends the moment he sees Sebastian (Vic Valentine) emerging from the water. With a vagabond attitude and a provocative Danish accent, Sebastian is the one to show Gaspar how a simple thought can grow like a seed, and become a desire.

I caught up with Alejandro for a behind-the-scenes look at The Seed.

You filmed The Seed in a forest near Berlin?

It was summer, and we wanted to film something out of the classic house where everything happens under a roof. You have to take advantage of this time of year in Berlin – at any other time of the year it’s very difficult to record exteriors due to the weather and the few hours of sunshine.

What was your casting process for this production?

I usually work with a lot of beginners – somehow they get in touch with me because they’re interested in participating in a more artistic project. I cast Vic Valentine in his first film, I also cast Yann André who I’d worked with previously on Trivial.

The Seed tackles issues around drugs and addiction - do you think your audience will be surprised with the way that you’re tackling this subject?

I think movies should raise problems, questions. Talk about taboos and never limit yourself to anything. A film, for me, is a journey within the psychology and malice of the director. The director has created a work based on a concept that they been growing, modifying, and producing during all the production processes of filming and editing.

What do you hope that audiences will feel when watching this film?

I’d like them to feel worried about how vulnerable we can be.

Serodiscordantes

The mystic powers of a pendulum unlock a lover’s secrets.

Stars Alejandría Cinque and Cachorro Lozano.

Serodiscordantes explores the relationship of Evaristo (Cachorro Lozano) and Miguel (Alejandría Quince), focusing in on the moment that Miguel reveals his HIV status to Evaristo.

It’s an experience that a lot of gay men will identify with, it’s a conversation that many of us have had to navigate. But it’s not a subject matter that you normally see tackled in an erotic film.

To describe Alejandro’s films as gay porn is under-selling them a bit, but they are undeniably arousing. Alejandro captures sex on camera in an authentic and real way that really connects emotionally with the view.

Once again, Alejandro has delivered a killer combination of great acting, great storytelling, and great sex.

I caught up with Alejandro for a behind-the-scenes look at the film.

What was your inspiration for this story?

Alejandría contacted me at the beginning of 2018 to tell me their story. He and Cachorro are partners in real life, as well as co-stars in this film. Alejandria and Cachorro had been through an uncertain year together of silence and secrets regarding Alejandria’s HIV status.

From the very beginning, this felt like a good story to tell, an emotional story to tell. The esoteric elements of the story — such as the pendulum consultation and the Ouija board — emerged during the development of the story.

I see it like two children playing a game for fun, and then a truth is revealed — resulting in a loss of innocence, forcing them to grow up instantly.

The Ouija is the tool that they use to let their internal voices speak. It shows the incredible strength of the subconscious — which screams inside us to get out — but we keep it inside us like a demon.

Have you ever used a Ouija board?

In Spain, we have a strong tradition with esoterics and afterlife stories. I was around 20 years old when I had my first afterlife experience — it was with my cousin.

We used a coin as the marker, and the coin started to move without me or my cousin moving it. It gave us coherent answers to the questions we asked. All of a sudden, all of the stories that I’d heard about this kind of thing finally made sense.

That experience helped me to understand how human perception and subconscious works.

What was your casting process for this film?

My casting process is often just when the right person contacts me at the right moment.

When Alejandria told me his story, he and Cachorro also offered to appear in the film.

What was your location for the shoot?

It is an altbau — an old building with a high ceiling — next to a busy avenue in Berlin. It wasn’t difficult to find — the owner seemed to like my work.

We mixed natural and daylight for this filming — we filmed in two days.

Does a film like this help to tackle the stigma that still impacts people living with HIV?

It shows a real situation that people with HIV have to face daily — to come out of the closet, again.

Portraying these kinds of situations is a way of highlighting the topic, and tackling ignorance and shame.

What do you hope that people feel when they watch Serodiscordantes?

I’m really not sure. Everybody will see the film and understand the story with different readings, depending on their personal life experiences. I simply hope that people like it so that they can keep connected to my films.

Under The Rain

Under the Rain is an explicit film, but it’s a long way from what you might be expecting from your average porn vid.

Alejandro is a filmmaker and a storyteller, and with this production he’s continuing to explore erotica as an art form.

Drawing on his personal experiences and his perspective on art, ethics, obscenity, pornography, career and ambition, Alejandro gives us a surreal, moody, enigmatic, and arousing piece of work.

Under the Rain stars Valentin Braun, Anteo Chara, Markus Reid, and Enki Babylon. In this story, four men immerse themselves an abandoned building for an art project. Boundaries between fiction and reality are blurred, it’s unclear whether their conversations are scripted or actual. Doubts, fears, ambitions, and passions emerge and needs are satisfied.

There’s plenty of explicit sex, and it all feels very real and very authentic.

Alejandro is originally from Barcelona, but now lives in Berlin – where Under the Rain was filmed.

“I’m in love with this city…” says Alejandro, referring to his adopted. “Everybody just accepts their sexuality – never afraid of being too much. Although the weather is bad, for many years Berlin has been the place to be, and it will be for many years – this is a city with powerful vibes.”

He cites as his influences, filmmakers such as Jaime Rosales, Markus Schleinzer, Martin Provost, Michael Hanneke, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Darren Aronofsky, Lars Von Trier, and Almodovar.

“I think movies should raise problems, questions…” says Alejandro. “Talk about taboos and never limit yourself to anything. A film, for me, is a journey within the psychology and malice of the director. The director has created a work based on a concept that they been growing, modifying, and producing during all the production processes of filming and editing.”

“I realised the lack of variety we had in porn – not only in straight porn but also in gay porn…” explains Alejandro. “In the last few decades, porn has become something completely flat and fake . Most of the actors seem to be more worried about showing off their perfect bodies, instead of having a nice experience with their partner.”

“A lot of women watch my films…” adds Alejandro – who generally works with a predominantly female crew. “ I often have emails from women telling me that they like my work and that they connect with it very easily. That really makes me feel proud of what I’m doing.”

Under The Rain is now available to watch online

Minha Luta

I Miss You is a film about a heartbreak and the grace of getting through it.

Filmed in Berlin, Alejandro’s description of this film is: When the night comes and there’s only dark, we can hear the heart speaking louder than words. Alone in his bed and immersed in the absence of his lover, a man speaks to no one, begging for another night together. He surrenders to a nocturnal delirium which will fill his room and his head, and which he is willing to live it fully – at least until the morning rises.

The actors featured in the film are Fernando Flores and Messiah Horta, who are also a couple in real-life.

Blissing Deal

After chatting for 18 months, Isaak and Sabbah dive into a compelling conversation about life, dreams and fears. This is a real-life encounter captured by Alejandro as a short film. Blissing Deal shows how intimacy can happen for two strangers – who are not really strangers, after all.

This is the second instalment in a new series from Alejandro called Bedtime Stories. The Bedtime Stories series is going to be an ongoing collection of short films. Each episode will be 10-20 minutes long and will focus on the beauty of intimacy. Alejandro sees the series as an opportunity to create stories that are fresh, intimately inspiring, and visually appealing.

“One of my favourite things about having an independent, self-sustaining project is that it gives me freedom to adapt and evolve as I go…” explains Alejandro. “Last year, having reached the milestone of 13 short films, I went through a breakthrough in two different ways. First, I went through the end of a relationship with a man I thought would be in my life for longer. Like everyone who goes through a heartbreak, my whole self went under a magnifying glass – every little detail about me, my life and my work was under query. Of course, this had an effect on my professional life, and my productivity was reduced to the bare minimum.”

“Like everybody else, after the worst days passed, I started to heal. Time did a wonderful job sieving away all the noise, and I was left with a stronger sense of self. I got inspired again, and had a new perspective on how I would like to face my new chapter. And as was natural, I invested a huge part of that energy into thinking about what I would like to create next.”

“This transformation allowed me to see my work as a two-channel prism. I love writing and shooting stories, and I love to see how my films become a part of those who watch it. And I want to continue doing that for a very long time. At the same time, I also care deeply about experimenting – trying the new, pushing myself over my own limits. This is something I knew was missing in my routine, and that if I wanted it, I’d have to fight for it.”

“Bedtime Stories is born to make this new chapter possible. In this series, releases will be more frequent – around once a month – and slightly more clear-cut. They include everything that I believe erotica should be – a thought-provoking beginning to give the characters a reason to exist together, and my insistent care for the aesthetics and the beauty in the intimate moments. They will be produced flash-style, focusing on the essential, and still visually appealing.”

“With this new frame, I’ll be able to channel some of my creative energy to new, different films. I’ll have time to work on more elaborate scripts and give it a shot, allowing myself to experiment. I feel inspired and hungry to see what new things we can create to express emotion, ideas, feeling and erotica.”

“After a year of ups, downs and healing, this is a new wild ride for me. I hope you enjoy it.”

Dear Father

Filmed in Berlin and starring Pierre Emö and Frank Bertram, Dear Father is part of the Bedtime Stories series from Alejandro.

In this scene, Paul is debating whether to attend an event which has been arranged to celebrate his book. Alone in his hotel room, he uses his Dictaphone to capture his ideas for a story that is on his mind – a father/son fantasy that his imagination brings to life.

It’s beautiful, it’s erotic, it’s arousing. Dear Father is a great showcase of Alejandro’s skills as an erotic filmmaker.

After Cherries

Filmed in Berlin, After Cherries stars Shay Noir and Sultan of Filth.

In the story of After Cherries, Daniel wants people to wake up. Clement wants to sleep alone under the stars. The world is a battlefield where logic and fear fight viciously for control. Weary of it, two men build their own hallucinogenic cosmos where they can play and exist – where only their bodies make the rules, and the mind is set free by pleasure.