FILM FESTIVALS IN FOCUS 2026

5 GLOBAL QUEER CINEMA GEMS AT MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL 

12-26 FEBRUARY｜SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

A USEFUL GHOST (2025) Thailand, France, Singapore, Germany

dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

Retro-futurist romance horror about ghosts, the spirit of a vacuum cleaner, convoluted family dynamics and queer relationships. QUEER ASIA

MASPALOMAS (2025) Spain｜dir. Aitor Arregi, Jose Mari Goenaga

A senior queer man's vibrant life in Gran Canaria turns into a disillusioned déjà vu when he suffers a stroke and wakes up in a nursing home - and back in the closet. OUT IN EUROPE

INHERITANCE (2025) Australia dir. Mohammad Awad 

After the death of his father, a queer man returns to the family home he was kicked out of as a teenager. MY QUEER CAREER: AUSTRALIAN SHORTS

BETWEEN DREAMS AND HOPE (2025) Iran｜dir. Farnoosh Samadi

An intimate story inspired by the resilience of Iran’s young queer generation, Farnoosh Samadi’s feature follows a trans man and his partner navigating love, tradition and a forbidding socio-political reality. QUEER ASIA 

NIGHT STAGE (2025) Brazil｜dir. Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon

A seductive thriller about an actor and a politician trying to keep their secret affair hidden yet upping the ante of  their risky encounters. SPECIAL PRESENTATION

FULL LINEUP

Image © A USEFUL GHOST (2025)

dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

5 GLOBAL QUEER CINEMA GEMS AT THE TEDDY AWARD @BERLINALE

12-20 FEBRUARY｜BERLIN, GERMANY

CONSTELLATIONS OF QUEER MEMORY

40 Years of the TEDDY in the Short Film Form

575 CASTRO ST. (2008) USA dir. Jenni Olson 

Shot on the set of Gus Van Sant’s film Milk (2008), this visual poem for a historic record features Harvey Milk’s “in case”recording on November 18, 1977 (to be played, ‘in the event of my death by assassination’), after his election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which made him one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States. WATCH HERE

MORE HERE

The TEDDY AWARD is the LGBTQ+ film award of  the Berlin International Film Festival (The Berlinale). In 2026, the TEDDY AWARD celebrates its 40th anniversary with a highlights program of queer cinema luminaries from four decades and a special short film selection Constellations of Queer Memory: 40 Years of the TEDDY in the Short Film Form. The 2026 TEDDY AWARD honoree is Céline Sciamma. 

FULL LINEUP

Image ©  575 CASTRO ST. dir. Jenni Olson 

5 GLOBAL QUEER CINEMA GEMS AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

22 JAN- 1 FEB 2026 ｜PARK CITY & SALT LAKE CITY UTAH, USA

JARIPEO (2026) Mexico, USA, France

dir. Efraín Mojica, Rebecca Zweig

A vibrant documentary about “jaripeos” or rural rodeos - a world of machos, performative masculinity, and queer desire in Michoacán, Mexico. NEXT

SACCHARINE (2025) Australia

dir. Natalie Erika James 

Body horror about a young woman who, after experimenting with a weight-loss craze involving eating human ashes, ends up being terrorized by the ghost of the person she's eating. Midnight

GENDER STUDIES (2026) USA｜dir. Jamie Kiernan O’Brien 

A moving short about femininity, the ideals of beauty, and the fantasy vs reality of belonging explored via an altercation between a trans college student and the girl she idolizes. Short Film Program

THE INCOMER (2026) UK｜dir. Louis Paxton

A Scottish comedy about two siblings living on a remote island whose lives turn upside down when an awkward official shows up to relocate them. Mistrust, curiosity, and desire arise as three humans connect. NEXT

THE BRITTNEY GRINER STORY (2025) USA

dir. Alexandria Stapleton

An intimate look at the journey/ ordeal of Brittney Griner, one of the best US basketball players, from her career abroad to her harrowing detainment, eventual release and determined work to support the release of other wrongful detainees. Premieres

FULL LINEUP

Image © JARIPEO  dir. Efraín Mojica, Rebecca Zweig

5 GLOBAL QUEER CINEMA GEMS AT QUEER FILM FESTIVAL KATHMANDU

15-24 JANUARY｜KATHMANDU, NEPAL

QUEER AS PUNK (2025) Malaysia, Indonesia｜dir. Yihwen Chen 

A punky documentary about Shh..Diam!, an openly queer punk band in Malaysia who use their music to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in a conservative Muslim society. Documentary feature

SILENT FLOW (2024) Nepal｜dir. Pushpa Joshi

A poignant documentary about two trans men navigating the emotional and physical realities of menstruation across gender norms and identities. Documentary feature

THE MARTIAL FOREST (2025) Taiwan｜dir. J Triangular

A dystopian queer kung fu flick about a secret training ground (the Martial Forest) for trans and queer fighters for survival, resistance, and chosen family.  Narrative shorts

GRANDMA NAI WHO PLAYED FAVORITES (2024) Cambodia, France, USA｜dir. Chheangkea 

An endearing comedy about a dead grandmother who sneaks back from the afterlife to help out her queer grandson who is about to get engaged to a woman. Narrative shorts

MY CHEST IS FULL OF SPARKS (2025) Mexico｜dir. Gal Castellanos

An intimate account of the journey of the filmmaker and their mother reinventing themselves after the loss of the father/ husband and becoming their new selves worlds apart via video messages: one in Turkey experiencing new love, the other in Mexico, transitioning into a new body and identity. Documentary feature

FULL LINEUP

Image © QUEER AS PUNK dir. Yihwen Chen