PRESS RELEASE
The 12th Queer Screen Film Fest (QSFF) will take place at Event Cinemas George Street from 27 to 31 August 2025, presenting a bold and dynamic program that highlights emerging voices, international excellence and community celebration.
The festival opens with the hotly anticipated Plainclothes, a tense romantic thriller about a closeted undercover cop torn between duty and living his truth, starring Russell Tovey (Looking) and Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes).
Closing the festival is Really Happy Someday, an intimate and empowering drama about a transmasculine musical theatre performer who loses vocal control after starting testosterone, that received the Best Canadian Feature award at the 2025 Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Marking both the 40th anniversary of ACON and 30th anniversary of Timothy Conigrave's cult-classic Australian memoir, join us for a special 10th anniversary screening of Holding the Man, presented with ACON and the Sydney Opera House.
This year, QSFF introduces the inaugural Emerging Narrative Feature Competition, a juried competition awarding a $2,500 (AUD) cash prize to one of six nominated filmmakers presenting their first or second narrative feature. The festival will also continue its support of emerging talent through the popular Queer Screen Pitch Off short film pitching competition, with a combined prize pool of $20,000 (AUD), in partnership with Screen Australia’s Gender Matters Taskforce.
Positioned as a key platform for emerging LGBTQIA+ filmmakers from around the world, QSFF provides valuable opportunities to showcase new work, pitch future projects and connect directly with audiences and industry leaders.
Over five days, the festival will present a curated selection of new queer cinema, including 14 Australian Premieres and the return of the popular Mixed Shorts. QSFF continues to evolve into a more intimate, community-focused experience, inviting audiences to return to the cinema and engage deeply with stories that reflect the diversity and strength of the LGBTQIA+ experience.
“It is an exciting new chapter for Queer Screen,” said Queer Screen CEO Benson Wu. “This new team has worked tirelessly to bring this festival to life in a short timeframe, and we are proud of the strength, diversity and heart that this year’s program delivers. We look forward to welcoming audiences back into cinemas to share in the joy of queer storytelling.”
“At a time when people around the world aim to silence and divide the LGBTIQ+ community, Queer Screen continues to offer a vital opportunity to come together and support each other,” said Andrew Wilkie, Programming & Industry Manager. “And all the films in this program share that ethos. Stories of people who feel isolated or unseen finding community, friendship and love. Of perseverance and joy. Every film is a chance to not only see ourselves onscreen, but step into someone else’s shoes and gain new perspectives.”
The 2025 program spans continents and genres, showcasing some of the year’s most celebrated titles. Among the highlights are award-winners from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, including Twinless, a whip-smart, wholly original dark comedy starring Dylan O’Brien and writer-director James Sweeney, which won the
U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and Special Jury Award for Acting for O’Brien; and Cactus Pears, a tender, slow-burn romance from India that took home the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize.
Other standout selections include Love Letters, a touching French drama that premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, highlighting the blurring of the personal and political in LGBTIQ+ life as a lesbian couple prepares for the birth of their first child; and Niñxs, a joyful and quietly revolutionary coming-of-age documentary told through the eyes of a Mexican trans child, that premiered at Visions du Réel.
South Korea is strongly represented with striking narrative debut Lucky, Apartment from award-winning documentary filmmaker Kangyu Ga-ram, breaking new ground in Korean queer cinema; and the bold, brash comedy Manok about finding intergenerational queer friendship and joy in a rural small town.
Other anticipated titles include Outerlands, a poignant and introspective drama starring Asia Kate Dillon (Billions) and Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), following a cash-strapped non-binary nanny navigating complex emotional terrain; and Sauna, a steamy Danish romantic drama about two men from different worlds: one whose life revolves around the hypermasculine gay sauna where he works, the other who’s navigating the early stages of his transition.
Closer to home, local filmmaker Bina Bhattacharya (Here Out West) makes her feature directorial debut with From All Sides, a subversive and sexually frank portrayal of a seemingly typical middle-class family in Western Sydney unravelling at the seams.
Tickets for all films are on sale now, including Flexi 3 and Flexi 6 Festival Passes. Visit queerscreen.org.au, download our app or call (02) 9280 1533 to book. Become a Queer Screen member for discounted tickets and priority entry to sessions.
Opening Night: Plainclothes
In 1990s New York, closeted undercover cop Lucas (Tom Blyth) is tasked with seducing men in public bathrooms to arrest them. But when sparks fly between him and one of his targets (Russell Tovey), he can’t go through with it. Blending nostalgic Hi8 footage with Lana Del Rey-style soundscapes, Plainclothes tenderly captures the tension between the thrill of sexual exploration and the anxiety of being caught. Visually poetic and emotionally resonant, this beautifully crafted film is a haunting ode to queer love, longing and resistance.
Closing Night: Really Happy Someday
Before transitioning, Z was a rising musical theatre star. After a year on testosterone he’s finally starting to feel at home in his body, but he’s also losing control of his voice. When he bombs an important audition Z quits and starts bartending, but his new boss Santi – a fellow trans man – urges him not to give up on his dreams. Shot over a year to capture the real physical and vocal changes of co-writer and star Breton Lalama, this heartwarming drama is what comes from centring trans voices on both sides of the camera.
Emerging Narrative Feature Competition
As part of Queer Screen’s ongoing commitment to uplifting unique emerging voices, the Emerging Narrative Feature Competition is a juried competition offering a $2,500 (AUD) cash prize to one of six nominated films. Open to filmmakers making their first or second narrative feature, this year’s nominees are all narrative debuts:
Cactus Pears (India, UK, Canada)
Winner of multiple international awards including the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at Sundance, Cactus Pears is a tender, slow-burn romance between a
Mumbai call-centre worker and a goat herder. When Anand returns to his rural hometown for a ten day mourning period following his father’s death, he finds solace in childhood friend Balya. Against the scenic mountains their simmering chemistry becomes undeniable, in writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s (U for Usha, MGFF20) beautifully meditative, semi-autobiographical work of arthouse cinema.
Love Letters (France)
Coming to Sydney from Cannes Critics’ Week via MIFF, Love Letters (France) is a sharp and compassionate drama that highlights the constant blurring of the personal and political in LGBTIQ+ life. Inspired by writer-director Alice Douard’s own experience with France’s adoption bureaucracy, it expands on her César Award-winning short film Expecting (QSFF24). Céline (Ella Rumpf, Raw) and Nadia (Monia Chokri, Heartbeats) are expecting a child together, but Nadia’s carrying the baby. Céline has to gather testimonies from friends and family to affirm her readiness to be a parent – including her estranged, famous concert pianist mother.
Lucky, Apartment (South Korea)
After nearly nine years as a couple, Seonwoo and Heeseo buy a small apartment together. But when a leg injury leaves Seonwoo temporarily unable to work, their relationship is strained as Heeseo shoulders the financial burden alone. Stuck at home, Seonwoo becomes fixated on trying to find the source of a foul odour emanating from downstairs. Renowned for capturing the evolving lives and spaces of women, filmmaker Kangyu Ga-ram uses the apartment complex as a microcosm of wider society, combining mystery and domestic drama to explore the claustrophobia of navigating homophobia in a heteronormative world.
Outerlands (USA)
Non-binary nanny Cass (Asia Kate Dillon) juggles work as a waiter and dealer to make ends meet in San Francisco. After a one night stand with co-worker Kalli (Louisa Krause, Superman), Cass agrees to watch her 11 year-old daughter Ari while she’s out of town. But when Kalli drops off the grid it resurfaces abandonment issues for both Ari and Cass. Inspired by writer-director Elena Oxman’s own deeply personal journey, Outerlands explores the quiet ache of adulthood through the lens of childhood memory. Set against the backdrop of growing class inequality in San Francisco, this soulful portrait of self-discovery deftly interrogates themes of queer friendship, trauma and addiction with nuance and empathy.
Sauna (Denmark)
New to Copenhagen, Johan’s life revolves around the hypermasculine gay sauna where he works and plays. William is taking time off uni to focus on his transition, surrounding himself with a close-knit network of queer and trans friends while he saves up for top surgery. As they introduce each other to their very different worlds, can their relationship survive in a society governed by rigid ideas about gender and love? The first Danish feature with a trans actor and character in a lead role, Sauna mines issues of intra-community conflict, queer identity and class differences to explore how in queer life everything is coloured by political and social questions – even love.
Plainclothes (USA)
Opening Night film Plainclothes from writer-director Carmen Emmi is also screening in competition.
Special Screenings
Holding the Man (Australia)
Marking both the 40th anniversary of ACON and 30th anniversary of the original memoir, this special 10th anniversary screening will take place at the Sydney Opera House alongside a Q&A with special guests from the film. Based on Timothy Conigrave’s cult-classic memoir, Holding the Man is a warm, funny and achingly sad true-life story that speaks across generations, sexualities and cultures starring Ryan Corr, Craig Stott, Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, Sarah Snook, Kerry Fox and Camilla Ah Kin.
Niñxs (Mexico, Germany)
This special Wear It Purple Day screening is FREE for anyone 25 and under. Tender, joyful and quietly revolutionary, Niñxs is a coming-of-age documentary that celebrates freedom of expression through the eyes of a trans child. Full of heart and laughs, this celebratory film shows the power of being raised with love and understanding, without shying away from the realities of navigating society’s prejudices.
Other highlights
From All Sides (Australia)
Western Sydney married multiracial bisexual couple Anoushka and Pascal maintain a discreet open relationship, all while juggling their jobs and raising two teenage children. Led with diversity both behind and in front of the camera, it stars an array of local talent including Monique Kalmar (Shantaram), Max Brown (The Gloaming), Georgia Anderson (The Deb), Gavril Kumar, Susan Ling Young (The Office Australia), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Neighbours) and Josh Virgona (Iggy & Ace).
Manok (South Korea)
When middle-aged lesbian bar owner Manok learns the Seoul pride after party she’s hosted for decades is moving to a rival bar (and her girlfriend knew!), she packs up and moves to her hometown. Away from her support network in a prejudiced small town, she clashes with the mayor – her obnoxious ex-husband, who never forgave her for coming out. When Manok meets his closeted trans teenage son Jae-yeon, she becomes a beacon of hope, and vows to turn the town into the safe haven they both deserve.
Twinless (USA)
With razor-sharp wit and impeccable comic timing, Twinless delivers a hilariously twisted look at identity, intimacy, and the emotional chaos of modern relationships. Dylan O’Brien’s performance won him the 2025 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting, alongside a stellar supporting cast that includes Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary), François Arnaud (The Borgias) and Susan Park (Fresh Off the Boat).
Mixed Shorts
In Anyway, I Piss Sitting Down, Sasha dreams of swimming shirtless post-top surgery in his Quebec hometown on a road trip with friends. In A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian, an impromptu pigeon funeral prompts unexpected self-discovery. Dandelion, starring Vic Michaelis (Dropout), follows a social worker’s race against time to find a rebellious teen a foster home. One Story at a Time: Celeste Lecesne reflects on his journey from Oscar winner to co-founding The Trevor Project. In Where We Stay, unspoken feelings between lifelong friends resurface under the weight of illness. And finally, in Zari, an Indian-American teen forms an unexpected bond with a sari shop clerk who’s secretly a drag queen.