Melbourne Queer Film Festival is back with another FREE ‘Pitch Off’ event, showcasing our 2026 finalists of Pitch, Pleez!.

THE DETAILS

• Date: Monday 25 May 2026.
• Time: Starting at 6pm and running until 8pm.
• Location: Victorian Pride Centre, 79-81 Fitzroy St, St Kilda VIC 3182.
• Cost: FREE.

Running since 2019, each year MQFF invites filmmakers to participate in Pitch, Pleez! where they can submit their short-film idea, with a selection of finalists competing in a live ‘Pitch Off’ in front of an audience and panel of industry judges. Since the prize’s inception MQFF has awarded $75,000 to Australian LGBTQIA+ filmmakers to create short fiction films, documentaries or web series pilots. 2025 winning pitch, Flight Risk by Mohammad Awad, was shown at MQFF 2025 Opening night and has since gone to premiere internationally. 

This year, each of our finalists will be given an alloted amount of time to pitch their proposed short-film, answer any questions from industry judges and meet their competition. At the end of the evening, the judges will deliberate and a winner will be announced. As well as a $10,000 cash prize to help fund their project, the winner will also recieve an All-In-Pass to MQFF 2026, the opportunity to screen their film at this years’ MQFF Opening night and the GLORY of being MQFF 2026 Pitch, Pleez! winners.

Join us for a fun, community-centred evening supporting queer Australian filmmakers being held at an iconic LGBTQIA+ venue, the Victorian Pride Centre. Space is limited, so book your ticket as soon as possible

MEET YOUR FINALISTS

Chimera

Director: Cat Hoang

Synopsis: Chimera is a queer romantic body horror, following the relationship between Vera, a second generation Asian Australian, and Ash, her white lover. Their idyllic courtship transforms into a doomed nightmare when Vera’s desire to wear Ash’s skin leads to their cannibalistic demise.

Good People

Director: Robert Sinclair-Ten Eyck

Synopsis: A doctor offers a socially progressive couple the option to prevent their unborn child from being queer, forcing them to confront how progressive they really are.

Strange Devil Signal

Director: Alice Lam

Synopsis: Three friends running an amateur radio station get cursed, but try to power through it and make the most of their situation.

FLOODCAM

Director: Sam Carson

Synopsis: In the Australian sub-tropics, a tr*nny chaser cons his way into funding the vaginoplasty of a woman he’s never met. Meanwhile, an incoming flood threatens to wipe out the region.

Tantalising Visions: Queer Cabaret Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Forever

Director: Mama Alto

Synopsis: Acclaimed jazz singer, cabaret artiste and gender transcendent diva Mama Alto helms a non-narrative arthouse phantasmagoria jewel-box kaleidoscope short documentary that responds to the provocation: “at its best, queer cabaret holds the potential to envision the world as it could and should be.”