CINEMA NOVA

8 Years, 2021

Besties, 2022

8 Years explores the relationship of Jose and David — past lovers who reunite on the island where they first met. Will the island’s spirit be the flame that reignites their relationship? Or will their presence there reveal to Jose a troubling past, romanticised in the waters of time?

Rebellious Nedjma spends the summer chilling with her squad. But when Zina, the cousin of her rival, rocks up in town, Nedjma must choose between gang life and love. Besties is a classic tale of lust and rivalry set in modern Paris.

Blitzed!, 2022

Gender Euphoria, 2022

Blitzed! traces the evolution of the eponymous London nightclub through the eyes of club regulars, Boy George, Princess Julia, Spandau Ballet and more. While the interviewees recall the joy, the community and the legacy of the scene, they also acknowledge the rivalry.

Between genres, across spaces, and beyond the limitations of linear time, traverse the rich spectrum of gender and filmic art. The only thing these films have in common is the joy that emanates from them — so palpable you will feel it as a physical presence.

Mars One, 2022

The Blue Caftan, 2022

A lower-middle-class Black family tries to keep their spirits up and their dreams alive in the months that follow the election of Jair Bolsonaro, a President who represents everything they are not. Meanwhile, their oldest daughter falls in love with a free-spirited woman who makes her ponder whether it’s time to leave home.

Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the demands of their customers, they hire Youssef, who is dedicated to learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. But is their relationship purely professional?

My Emptiness and I, 2022

Single Out, 2022

Raphi fantasizes about romances with princes and starting a traditional family. We follow Raphi through this confusing period, as she makes her transition, explores her sexuality and embraces her place in this world.

Growing up and coming out are both challenges for Adam, but when the two collide he finds himself torn between following his head or his heart. Season 1 of Single Out, shown in feature-length here, zeroes in on Adam’s attempts to keep it all together.

All About Lesbians – Shorts Package

Wandering Heart, 2021

This fierce, funny and romantic collection of 6 international shorts is a must-see slice of Lesbian life — a beautiful celebration of women both in front of and behind the camera.

50-year-old Santiago is an emotionally broken man who seems to have no axis. Completely adrift in his personal life, he lives with his teenage daughter. What seems to be a chaotic summer between Argentina and Brazil ends up a turning point in their lives and in their relationship.

God Save the Queens, 2022

Sleep With Me, 2022

Staring a roster of all-stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race, God Save the Queens is a spirited comedy about four drag queens navigating careers and personal struggles, while reluctantly attending a spiritual retreat.

This sweet and upbeat female-led love story from director Samantha Lee (Maybe Tomorrow; Bille and Emma) tracks the ‘meet cute’ between Luna, a girl suffering from a rare sleep disorder, and Harry, a DJ who hosts a late-night radio show.

Follow the Protocol, 2022

Heartbeast, 2022

After spending 10 months in complete isolation having ended a long-distance relationship with Ronaldo, hypochondriac Chico decides to research and practice sexual encounters that follow all the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Elina, a 17-year-old aspiring rapper, is forced to leave her home country of Finland and move to the south of France when her mother finds a French boyfriend. Immediately, Elina is drawn to her stepsister Sofia, 18, a charismatic ballet dancer who leads a double life.

Pat Rocco Dared, 2022

Nelly & Nadine, 2022

Following 1970’s erotic filmmaker Pat Rocco, this documentary re-discovers, celebrates and unpacks the mythology surrounding his life. Coming out as a gay man in 1951, Pat was a trailblazing activist and artist who dared to put the first same-sex kiss on the big screen.

A love story for the ages, this historic documentary uses archival footage to follow the life and love of Nelly and Nadine. Tracing their meeting at a concentation camp in World War Two, it tells the story of two extraordinary women who found love during times of extraordinary hardship.

El Houb, 2022

GRRRLS! – Shorts Package

Exploring cultures of queer invisibility, El Houb follows Karim as he finds that the hardest part of coming out is sometimes confronting your own prejudices. This film interrogates the fine lines between things said and unsaid in a conservative Moroccan-Dutch family.

Fleeting love, unbridled lust, U-Haul relationships, utopian sex and the first blush of desire. These 8 lesbian shorts will leave you swooning and lamenting for that one that got away.

Sublime, 2022

Framing Agnes, 2022

Teenager Manuel lives in a small coastal town. He plays bass in a band with his friends, including Felipe, with whom he shares a close bond. While Manuel is dating Azul, he begins to develop feelings for Felipe. Does Felipe feel the same?

A blend of fiction and non-fiction, Framing Agnes brings to life the ground-breaking artifacts of trans health care. Reimagining the cultural memory of transness, this film is an excavation into the life and legacy of Agnes and her stride towards seeking gender-affirming surgery in the 1950s.

Hypochondriac, 2022

Joyland, 2022

Will is a young Hispanic artist with a loving boyfriend and a good life, but when his bipolar mother re-enters his life after a 10-year absence, her presence begins to erode the sturdy foundations on which he’s built his life. Tormented by past traumas, Will spirals into obsession and despair.

Based on the short Darling (winner of the Best International Short at MQFF 2021) Joyland follows the Ranas, a happily patriarchal joint family, as their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre where he falls for an ambitious trans starlet.

When Men Were Men, 2021

Girl Picture, 2022

Within the confines of a religiously conservative Ireland, Kieran has had to navigate a burgeoning awareness of his trans identity alone. All this changes, however, when he falls in love with the new neighbour, Egan. Like Keiran, Egan doesn’t know he’s trans.

Three young women whose chance meeting defies the persistent darkness of Finland’s winter. Fusing dreams, reality, friendship and relationships, Girl Picture follows these women as they struggle to make sense of life and sexuality.

Eismayer, 2022

Freak Out! – Shorts Package

Closeted Sergeant Major Eismayer is infamous for being the toughest training officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. But when he starts to fall in love with Falak, a newbie who unashamedly embraces his homosexuality, Eismayer is shaken to the core.

Just as horrifying as they are queer, the 2022 Freak Out! shorts are sure to make you scream and gag. Between serial killers, gay ghosts and terrifying homophobes, enjoy the thrills and horrors of all things bone-chilling.