The first I heard about Shelter was when a good friend rang me at some ungodly hour gushing about this movie he’d just watched in tiny chunks on a tiny screen — he’d sat cross eyed and YouTubed the lot.

From there on I had to see it myself to decide if it really was worthy of such a late night phone call. Having won a fair whack of queer cinema awards, this film is definitely worth a trip to JB HiFi.

Zach is a young 22-year-old guy who spends a lot of time sacrificing himself for his family, including putting off his art school dreams to flip burgers. He doesn’t apparently even know he’s gay until he randomly meets his best mate’s older brother, who’s out and artsy but butch. They hang out, go surfing and hit it off — cue happy ending, but not without tribulation.

This film explores a lot more than just the intricacies of gay love appearing from nowhere. Like the social diversities that exist, what people will do out of duty and the way even though life throws everything it has at us, we can still come through smiling.

Website : www.myspace.com/shelterathere
Soundtrack : Available on iTunes!

"Shelter" centers on a young man, Zach, in San Pedro, Calif., who gives up on his dream of art school in order to provide for his family, consisting of his aging father and his young nephew Cody, whose mother Jeanne has decided her priorities lie elsewhere. When his best friend’s brother Shaun returns to town, Zach finds in him a friend and confidante. As Zach becomes increasingly attracted to Shaun, their casual surfing relationship turns into much more, setting off a chain of events forcing Zach to choose between continuing to put others first or fighting for what he wants for himself.

If you missed it grab a copy on DVD at JB HIFI.  DVD release March 2009.

Starring Brad Rowe, Trevor Wright, Katie Walder and Albert Reed. Written and directed by Jonah Markowitz Produced by JD Disalvatore Executive Produced by Anne Clements