Films with queer and LGBTQ+ themes aren’t only more and more common, but they’ve broken out of the restrictions of the romance genre, infiltrating a huge variety of categories. They can be heartbreaking like Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal’s All of Us Strangers, sarcastic and campy like Natasha Lyonne’s early lead gig But I’m a Cheerleader, or edge-of-your-seat juicy like Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama Challengers (a must-watch, truly).
By extension, some of the biggest movies from recent years may not focus on the topic of queerness specifically, but feature queer characters who escape the one-dimensionality of a token obligation, like Stephanie Hsu’s gay daughter character in the widely popular Everything Everywhere All at Once or Carlos Diehz’s intersex papal cardinal in last year’s Conclave.
When exploring gender-noncomformity and same-sex relationships in a more honest way, recent films aren’t afraid to dig into the nuances of queerness and introduce a much wider variety of characters and relationships to the big screen, representing the ins and outs of a much larger community.
Here’s our list of queer films and shorts featuring LGBTQ+ characters and storylines at this year’s festival:
A Cell Phone Movie (nominated for the Discovery Award for Debut Feature)
USA | Director: Will Sterling | Writer: Will Sterling | Producer: Will Sterling | Principal Cast: Will Sterling, Tessa Glanville, Alan Peterson, Katie McCuen, JJ Obee
Runtime: 75 min
A scrappy meta comedy shot entirely on a cellphone, “A Cell Phone Movie” stars writer/director Will Sterling as…himself, an out-of-work actor trying to make a movie on his phone about an out-of-work actor trying to make a movie on his phone. It’s lo-fi, low-budget, and high on self-deprecation.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 9:00 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 2
Mon, Jun 23rd, 3:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 2
Buy tickets for A Cell Phone Movie HERE
Flamingo Camp (nominated Best Documentary Feature)
USA | Director: Chris Coats | Producer: Zackary Drucker, Kevin Garland
Runtime: 80 min
In Slab City, an off-grid squatter town in the California desert, a group of young queer and trans anarchists create a thriving safe space known as “Flamingo Camp”.The camp flourishes through the cooler winter months under the leadership of its non-binary founder, Nova. But when Nova departs for the summer and brutal heat sets in, an unthinkable tragedy fractures this vulnerable community and their once close-knit chosen family.
Showings:
Mon, Jun 23rd, 8:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Tue, Jun 24th, 3:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Flamingo Camp HERE
Somewhere in Love (nominated Best International Feature)
France/Belgium | Director: Morgan Simon | Writer: Morgan Simon | Producer: Florence Gastaud, Fanny Yvonnet | Principal Cast: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Félix Lefebvre, Lubna Azabal
Runtime: 97 min
In their council flat in the suburbs of Paris, Nicole (52) and her son, Serge (19), live a fusional love that flourishes against all odds. But as the Christmas holidays approach, turning their relationship and their life upside down.
Showings:
Tue, Jun 24th, 9:00 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Wed, Jun 25th, 1:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Somewhere in Love HERE
If You Should Leave Before Me
USA | Director: J. Markus Anderson, Boyd Anderson | Writer: J. Markus Anderson, Boyd Anderson | Producer: Chris Pegut, J. Markus Anderson, Boyd Anderson | Principal Cast: Shane P. Allen, John Wilcox, Tom Noga, Merrick McCartha, Susan Louise O’Connor
Runtime: 120 min
A devastating loss drives a rift between Mark and Joshua after many years of marital bliss. To avoid coping with their grief they immerse themselves in their work… which just so happens to be guiding the recently deceased to the afterlife. A touching story of love and loss.
Showings:
Sat, Jun 21st, 8:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 3
Sun, Jun 22nd, 3:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 3
Buy tickets for If You Should Leave Before Me HERE
Breakwater (nominated for Best Performance UK Feature)
UK | Director: Max Morgan | Writer: Max Morgan | Producer: Jemima Chen | Principal Cast: Daniel McNamee, Shaun Paul McGrath, Will Gao, Agnes Halladay
Runtime: 91 min
Set between the sandstone colleges of Oxford and the salt-encrusted Suffolk coast, Breakwater follows the tentative romance between university student, Otto, and retired angler, John. Their lives fuse irreversibly over the shared trauma of losing a loved one. However, their relationship darkens when the past exhumes itself in the form of guilt, grief, and ghosts.
Showings:
Mon, Jun 23rd, 6:30 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Tue, Jun 24th, 12:00 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Buy tickets for Breakwater HERE
Freak
USA | Director: | Writer: | Producer: | Principal Cast:
Runtime: 13 min
On the eve of her 26th birthday, Lainey is confronted with a question that tests the boundaries of her relationship: What is your deepest, darkest fantasy?
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for Freak HERE
I’m So Sorry Baby
USA | Director: Friday Anderson, Kylee C. Roberts | Writer: Friday Anderson, Si Boudoin, Caleb Eberhardt | Producer: Kylee C. Roberts, Terran Scott, Julia Rach, Richie Greene | Principal Cast: Si Boudoin, Caleb Eberhardt, Miles Nelson, Patrick Johnson, Amamah Sardar
Runtime: 22 min
I’m So Sorry Baby is a short film about love, heartbreak, and what it takes to truly see yourself. The film follows Mars, a black trans person, who is grappling with their identity within their relationship with Jack, a cis heterosexual man.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for I’m So Sorry Baby HERE
With Love, Lottie
Australia | Director: Lily Drummond | Writer: Lily Drummond | Producer: Sarah Moulton, Jeremy Lowrenčev (Associate Producer) | Principal Cast: Bedelia Lowrenčev, Luke Wiltshire, Ren Williams, Lucia Franks, Michele Kelsey
Runtime: 14 min
When a disabled teenager fears she will never find love, she enlists her friends to become her mentors in the unpredictable world of dating and discovers that love can come in unexpected ways and different forms.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for With Love, Lottie
Pretend I’m Not Here
USA | Director: Noah Amir Arjomand | Writer: Noah Amir Arjomand | Producer: Velene Amado | Principal Cast: Yoshi Escalante, Leslye Gisell Martinez, Brett Umlauf, Ava Fojtik, Lissa Ramirez
Runtime: 10 min
A Spanish-English phone interpreter lives in isolation yet is present for callers’ most intense moments: police interrogation, childbirth, migration proceedings. When they recognize a voice on a call with a detention facility, they must decide whether to remain a remote, neutral intermediary, or to take action.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for Pretend I’m Not Here HERE
Miss
USA | Director: | Writer: | Producer: | Principal Cast:
Runtime: 7 min
It’s been four days since Sophie came out as trans to her partner Jess. Seeking a place away from it all for Sophie to take her first steps out in the air as a woman, MISS finds them at a gas station outside of the city. Based on true events.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for Miss HERE
Erion
Italy | Director: Marius Gabriel Stancu | Writer: Stancu Marius Gabriel | Producer: Cosimo Santoro | Principal Cast: Vincenzo Crea, Claudio Segaluscio, Giovanni Filannino, Giovanna Rito, Francesco Casulli
Runtime: 14 min
Early 2000’s. Christian is a university student who is preparing his dissertation, while spending his holidays in the South of Italy. Here, he meets seasonal lifeguard assistant Erion, an Albanian origins boy, and the two begin dating secretly. Summer is passing fast and carefree; however, during an excursion in a nature reserve a few kilometers far from crowded beaches and chaos, Erion finally finds the courage to reveal Christian something unexpected.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for Erion HERE
Bisexual Crisis!!!
UK | Director: Lyndon Henley Hanrahan | Writer: Nora Dahle Borchgrevink, Lyndon Henley Hanrahan | Producer: Dylan Gillah, Will Perkins | Principal Cast: Lyndon Henley Hanrahan, Nora Dahle Borchgrevink
Runtime: 11 min
A gay man and a bisexual woman are best friends. They love each other—but, like, gay-best-friend love, not love-love. That’s until one reckless almost-kiss blows up everything: their friendship, her feelings, his sexuality, and the fragile house of labels they’re living in.
Showings:
Thu, Jun 19th, 6:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 5
Sun, Jun 22nd, 1:45 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Buy tickets for Bisexual Crisis!!! HERE
Her Dance
France/Argentina | Director: Julián Córdoba | Writer: Julián Córdoba | Producer: Damien Megherbi, Justin Pechberty, Clara Marquardt, Martin Ballrich, Lucia Eichart, Julián Córdoba, Manuel Aguer | Principal Cast: Carolina Ünrein, Claudio Rangau
Runtime: 10 min
A day in the life of a trans dancer excluded from her prestigious company in Buenos Aires, following her transition. As her world and landmarks crumble, she feels herself gradually disappearing.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Her Dance HERE
A Friend of Dorothy (nominated Best UK Short)
UK | Director: Lee Knight | Writer: Lee Knight | Producer: James Dean, Scottie Fotré, Max Marlow | Principal Cast: Miriam Margolyes, Alistair Nwachukwu, Stephen Fry, Oscar Lloyd
Runtime: 22 min
Dorothy is a lonely widow whose body is failing, but her mind remains as bright as ever. When 17-year-old JJ accidentally kicks his football into her garden, he upends Dorothy’s daily routine of pills, prunes and crosswords, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Despite being worlds apart in every way, the two come to find they have more in common than they could ever imagine.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for A Friend of Dorothy HERE
Hot Young Geek Seeks Blood-Sucking Freak (nominated Best UK Short)
UK | Director: Heath Virgoe | Writer: Heath Virgoe | Producer: Niamh West | Principal Cast: Angus Stobie, Kat Ronney, Reece Montague
Runtime: 13 min
Fighting off a vampire is hard but coming out is harder. In the midst of pre-party dress-up, Max finds himself the online target of an angry vampire bent on drinking his blood.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Hot Young Geek Seeks Blood-Sucking Freak HERE
Arlo
USA | Director: Logan Thomason | Writer: Logan Thomason, Shawn Ryan, Connor Trees | Producer: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer | Principal Cast: Lance Prosise, Jack Day, Tessa Smith, Lexi Donovan, Tea Grace
Runtime: 12 min
Arlo, a trans teenager who’s been living on his own for two years, comes face to face with a missing poster of himself that uses his deadname and a school picture taken years before he transitioned. He calls the number on the phone and complains about being deadnamed to the hotline operator, who recognizes the voice on the phone and reveals herself to be Arlo’s mother. She begs him to come home and he hangs up on her, then scratches out his deadname on the poster and corrects it to Arlo.
After, a group of girls watch him steal a candy bar and follow him to a nearby swing set, where they hand him a bag of supplies and ask him about his life. Arlo explains that he’s making his way across the country to the ocean, and the girls offer up that they have a class assignment to help someone, which is why they bought the bag in the first place. Arlo takes a picture with the girls and walks to a covered bridge to go through the bag they gave him as it starts to rain.
When he wakes, his older brothers Lucas & Wyatt are watching over him, holding the missing poster he defaced. They tug at old wounds, bringing up arguments they never settled as kids, and Arlo informs them that he’s never going home. Lucas hands him some money and offers to drive him the rest of the way to the ocean. Together, the three of them walk onto the beach as Arlo looks out at the waves, breathing in the salt air and smiling at the thought of what the rest of his life might offer.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Arlo HERE
Big Bass
USA | Director: Drew Dickler | Producer: Nikki F. Heyman, Jennie Kamin, David Sherwin | Principal Cast: Cheryl Bruttomesso, Eva Malkasian
Runtime: 14 min
What does it mean to feel seen by others before you’re ready to see yourself? A filmmaker travels back to 1997 to revisit a dream-like memory from second grade that centers around her queer identity, her legendary PE teacher and a mysterious large plastic fish.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Big Bass HERE
Hands On
USA | Director: Rory Kramer | Writer: Rory Kramer | Producer: Rory Kramer, Halley Albert, Alexis G Zall | Principal Cast: Rory Kramer, Alexis G Zall, Lane Compton
Runtime: 21 min
Two determined women engage in an extraordinary endurance contest to win a car by trying to keep their hands on it the longest. As years pass, their unwavering resolve leads to an intimate and unexpected bond.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Hands On HERE
Space Daddy
UK | Director: Stephen Carruthers | Writer: Joe Jordan | Producer: Elinor Coleman | Principal Cast: Noah Thomas, Funso Foluso-Henry, Crystal (Colin Munro)
Runtime: 11 min
Space Daddy is a queer comedy about Andy, a twenty-something year old twink, regaling his bestie Ruby with tales of his recent exploits involving a mysterious hunk he meets on the gay ‘dating’ app Strangr. Following an impulsive hookup he experiences some consequences that are truly ‘out of this world’.
Showings:
Wed, Jun 25th, 9:15 PM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 4
Fri, Jun 27th, 11:30 AM @ Vue Piccadilly – Screen 1
Buy tickets for Space Daddy HERE
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Austin Hughes is a mixed-media animator and illustrator studying in Arkansas with equal passions for storytelling and design. He’s currently in London with Raindance Film Festival focusing on their Jury and Box Office, immersing himself in a wide variety of films and voices before diving into the production of his own independent animated short thesis film next year.
