Titled ‘Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken’ in its native Germany, Sundance Film Festival favourite Love In Thoughts is based on the true story of the Steglitz Student Tragedy – and what good love story doesn’t end in tragedy? This period drama is a dark and unnerving tale of hedonism in the roaring 1920s – 1927, to be precise. Not content with a simple love triangle, Guenther, his sister Hilda, Paul (Daniel Brühl of Goodbye Lenin!), Hans and Elli form a love pentagon whilst on a weekend at Guenther’s summer house in the country. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, and fuels these teenagers into a spiral of destruction for the films dramatic climax. Certain viewers may find it slow paced, others disturbing in parts, but the patient movie goer will be rewarded by this both melancholy and hedonistic, and above all beautiful, story of love.

Based on a collection of short stories by underground writer Bruce La Bruce, Sugar is a raw and, at times, hard-to-swallow tale from the dark streets of Toronto. On his 18^th birthday, Cliff makes his way downtown with the sole purpose of getting laid. Reaching downtown Toronto, he quickly gravitates to sexy hustler Butch, and the two develop a relationship of sorts. The film is endearing in its portrayal of their platonic connection, contrasting tricks with the pairs classic light hearted ‘buddy’ moments, and giving Butch depth by showing his yearning for Cliff’s suburban life and family. Although this disturbing style of coming-of-age tale has been explored before, Sugar manages to stand out from the crowd by injecting humanity and real emotions, largely thanks to its two brilliant stars – Brendan Fehr (of TV series Roswell) as Butch, and Andre Noble as Cliff. Sadly, Sugar is Noble’s swansong performance – the promising actor died while on a camping trip in 2004, presumably from eating the sap of a monkshood, a highly poisonous wild flower.

Sure to be a crowd pleaser, ‘Cowboys & Angels’ is a coming-of-age story across sexualities that refreshingly avoids reliance on stereotypes. Surburban-bred straight civil servant Shane moves into a flat with gay fashion student Vincent, "with hilarious results!" you expect to hear an American voiceover actor say. But although the film is humourous in parts, this ‘Queer Eye for the Irish Guy’ is touching in its portrayal of the cohabiters’ friendship. The bond is soon tested when Shane befriends a drug dealer in the same building and gets involved with drug running - much to the chagrin of Vincent. Hearts are broken as Shane repels already disinterested lust object Gemma, and the sexually charged teens briefly experiment with their sexualities – but not how you expect. A tale of tears, laughter and ultimately belonging, this Irish charmer will warm your heart.

Just as the French have Amelie, Russians have You I Love (‘Ya lyublu tebya’ in its native tongue), winner of New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals’ Best Foreign Language Film of 2004. This quirky comedy from Moscow surprises by not only showing that Russians can do comedy, but by depicting a side of the country not often explored on celluloid. Another love triangle for the gay triangle, You I Love approaches the ‘boy meets girl then meets another boy’ storyline with some fresh quirks, including a fetish for eating while love-making ("How do you like them apples?"). By exploring the three way relationship, the film highlights how cosmopolitan ex-Communist Russia has become. The film may be let down by its translation (most likely a fault of linguistic differences rather than poor subtitling), however as far as modern tales of love from Far Eastern Europe go, this is top-class. Definitely one of the top films on show at this year’s Queer Film Festival.