Queer Wave 2025
Feature films
Little Trouble Girls
Urška Djukić 89' 2025 Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Serbia | 💬 SL | 🔤 EN |
Friday 12 SEP 21:00
Introverted 16-year-old Lucia joins her Catholic school's all-girls choir, where she befriends Ana-Maria, a popular and flirty third-year student. But when the choir travels to a countryside convent for a weekend of intensive rehearsals, Lucia’s interest in a dark-eyed restoration worker tests her friendship with Ana-Maria and the other girls. As she navigates unfamiliar surroundings and her budding sexuality, Lucia begins to question her beliefs and values, disrupting the harmony within the choir.
Doppelgängers³
Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian 73' 2024 UK, USA, Algeria, Armenia, Spain | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Saturday 13 SEP 17:00
Three doppelgangers meet in outer space to imagine queer diasporic and ecofeminist futures. Doppelgängers³ invites us to reimagine the possibilities of a future beyond Earth. Through a blend of role-playing, expert interviews, and bold visuals, this hybrid film follows Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian and her doppelgängers as they embark on a journey to build a new civilisation on the moon.
All Shall Be Well
Ray Yeung 93' 2024 Hong Kong | 💬 ZH | 🔤 EL |
Saturday 13 SEP 19:00
For queer couples who choose not to marry, or are forbidden to do so, dying often places their partners at the mercy of relatives. This is the case for Angie and Pat, a lesbian couple who have lived together for over four decades, sharing Pat’s Hong Kong flat. When Pat dies unexpectedly, Angie discovers that she has no legal right to the home she lives in. As the bond that Angie once shared with Pat’s family begins to disintegrate, Angie must turn to her chosen family for support.
Followed by a discussion (25') with Rainbow Families. Supported by RESET
Followed by a discussion (25') with Rainbow Families. Supported by RESET
Mulholland Drive
David Lynch 147' 2001 USA, France | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Sunday 14 SEP 21:00
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Four Mothers
Darren Thornton 89' 2024 Ireland, UK | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Monday 15 SEP 21:00
A gay novelist preparing for a U.S. book tour must care for his aging, speech-impaired mother. Just as his literary success is within reach, his three friends jet off to Pride abroad—leaving their own mothers in his care. Over the course of one chaotic weekend in Dublin, he navigates the demands of four fiercely opinionated women, juggling career aspirations, family obligations, and emotional upheaval.
If I Die It'll Be of Joy
Alexis Taillant 80' 2025 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Tuesday 16 SEP 21:00
Micheline, 81 years old, dreams of orgasms and tells anyone who will listen that she is burning with desire. Francis, 70 years old, a seasoned activist relentlessly challenges taboos surrounding old age. Yves, 68 years old, feeling like a shell on a stormy sea desperately seeks love. In a world that underestimates the power of the elderly they are part of a group of activists who defy, prejudices, dare to reinvent sexuality, love, and rethink old age.
Outerlands
Elena Oxman 100' 2025 USA | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Wednesday 17 SEP 21:00
Cass juggles jobs as a nanny, restaurant server, and party drug dealer in order to make ends meet and pay for their tiny San Francisco apartment. After a one night stand with Kalli, a co-worker they have a crush on, Cass agrees to watch her 11-year-old daughter, Ari, while she goes out of town. But as days pass without word from Kalli, Cass and Ari form a bond that spirals Cass back to their own difficult childhood and the pain they’ve been running from.
Sylvia Robyn
Panayotis Evangelidis 92' 2024 Greece | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
Thursday 18 SEP 21:00
Digenis - a queer performer with a small following - can’t connect: estranged from his family, he has almost no friends and seems destined to unrequited love. Clinically depressed, he is diagnosed with autism, a revelation that kick-starts a journey of self-discovery, as she comes out as transgender, transitioning to becoming Sylvia Robyn.
One Homeland Two Homes
Besire Paralik 51' 2025 Germany, Cyprus | 💬 TR, EN | 🔤 EN |
Friday 19 SEP 19:00
We witness the streets of Berlin and Nicosia while listening to the stories of six queers who migrated from Cyprus to Berlin.
Taxi Zum Klo
Frank Ripploh 92' 1980 Germany | 💬 DE | 🔤 EN |
Saturday 20 SEP 19:00
“I’m into men, I’m 30 years old, and I work as an elementary school teacher,” says Frank, who sometimes dresses up as Peggy. In drag, he meets Bernd – and takes him directly from the cinema to his home. From that moment on, they become a couple. Frank enjoys being with Bernd, but he also wants to maintain his freedom, including meeting other men and having anonymous encounters in parks and public toilets. Bernd’s dreams of a monogamous relationship and a calm life on a farm are not what Frank is looking for. At the annual drag ball, it all comes to a head…
Asog
Sean Devlin 101' 2023 Canada, Philippines | 💬 TL | 🔤 EN |
Sunday 21 SEP 15:00
Asog is a screwball tragicomedy starring a cast of real-life Super Typhoon survivors. Jaya, a non-binary teacher whose career as a comedian hosting a late-night television show ended after a climate disaster devastated the Philippines, decides to travel across the country in hopes of winning a beauty pageant and the prize money that comes with it. But before they can leave, a chance encounter with Arnel, a student searching for family, complicates their solitary plans. As they travel seemingly countless miles together on foot, bike, and boat, the unlikely duo are forever changed by each other and those they meet along the way.
If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth And Smile
Marie Luise Lehner 87' 2025 Austria | 💬 DE | 🔤 SDH EN |
Sunday 21 SEP 19:00
Twelve-year-old Anna switches from middle school to high school. Things are quite different here: the children in the new school come from a completely other social class. Anna feels ashamed of her background and her deaf mother. During the ski week, Anna must pretend to be sick. The money set aside for the ski course is spent on buying a sofa bed, which should enable her mother to have a sexual relationship, but also provide the daughter with a bit more privacy. Mara, a friend in class, becomes an ally when it turns out that she also is hiding a secret.
The Elephant Man
David Lynch 124' 1981 USA | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Sunday 21 SEP 21:00
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily-disfigured and mistreated young man working as a sideshow freak, who gradually reveals his capacity for kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
Short Films
Shorts I: The Discreet Charm of the Bizarre
Saturday 13 Sep 21:00
Strange, surreal, and darkly comic visions collide in these curious tales that blur the line between reality and imagination.
Tragedia
Bernardo Zanotta 15' 2025 The Netherlands, France | 💬 PT, EN | 🔤 EN |
When teenage Bernardo is gifted a video camera by his father, he embarks on a journey where the lines between reality and fiction blur. Upon discovering his father's betrayal of his stepmother, Bernardo and her, inspired by Greek tragedies, hatch a plan for revenge, documenting every step.
BLEAT!
Ananth Subramaniam 15' 2025 Malaysia, Philippines, France | 💬 TA | 🔤 EN |
An elderly Malaysian-Tamil couple discovers their male goat, set for ceremonial slaughter, is pregnant. Torn between faith and the expectations of their community, they struggle to decide whether to slaughter it or face the wrath of the gods.
The Exchange
Marco Berger 22' 2024 Argentina | 💬 ES | 🔤 EN |
Mateo and Lucas, best friends, go out to party on a hot summer night. Mateo meets Lucia, and Lucia commits an act that will change their lives. From there, Mateo and Lucas will begin a search, both physical and personal. The Exchange exposes sexuality without fear, without labels, without holding back. It is the discovery of something that somehow touches all of us, regardless of our sexual orientation or gender identity. A film that shows the beauty of sex, love, friendship, and innocence.
The Space You Need
Sam Peter Jackson 23' 2025 United Kingdom | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Frustrated sci-fi writer Julian is facing a slump in his relationship. So will his fiancé Leo's trip into orbit with the world's first ever low-cost alternative spaceline provide them with just the space they need to get back on track?
Astro TV
Magdaleena Jakkila 29' 2025 Finland | 💬 FI | 🔤 EN |
TV astrologer Sigrid guides people through sleepless nights, but one caller seems worrying. Can Sigrid help them before Jupiter and Pluto align?
Shorts II: Shapes of Masculinity
Sunday 14 Sep 19:00
Step into a spectrum of masculinity — tender, awkward, joyful, and fierce — as seen through fresh and surprising perspectives.
In the Mood For Food
Alex Machlouzarides-Shalit 15' 2022 Cyprus | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
Two men form an unusual friendship, over months of eating fast-food together in a parking lot, behind their wives' backs.
Sauna Day
Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash 13' 2024 Estonia | 💬 ET | 🔤 EN |
SAUNA DAY invites you into the world of Southern Estonian men who go to the dark-intimate space of a smoke sauna after a hard day's work. Beneath their tough exteriors lies a desire for connection, veiled in secrecy.
FLEX
Kaat Vanbaelen 22' 2024 Belgium | 💬 NL | 🔤 EN |
Jimi, the owner of Fit-Life gym, gets an unwelcome visit from a bailiff: he has one week to save his gym from shutting down. As his desperate money-making schemes fail, his frustration only grows when Liene—the Zumba instructor he adores—brings along her charming friend Roy. Jimi immediately hates his perfect smile, but as tensions rise, he realises Roy’s interest might not be in Liene after all…
Happy Next Year!
Lukas Kacinauskas 18' 2024 Lithuania | 💬 LT, ET, EN | 🔤 EN |
On New Year's morning, Sharunas wakes up next to the charming guy Martin, while his girlfriend Iveta is in the shower. Sharunas can't help but wonder if things will ever be the same again. Meantime, Martin wishes him a Happy Next Year.
Simon At The Nightshop
Thanasis Tsimpinis 15' 2024 Belgium | 💬 FR, NL | 🔤 EN |
Simon, a lonely gay man in his 40s, feels noticed by a young cashier at a local nightshop. At first more spontaneously, but then more methodically, he sets his mind to winning him over.
Robespierre
Pierre Menahem 24' 2024 France |💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
After a long absence, Max returns to Paris and settles in with his father in the lively Belleville district. He wanders the streets, curious about others, eager to meet new people, but soon finds himself confronted with a profound malaise.
Shorts III: Sapphic Delight
Monday 15 Sep 19:00
A selection of poetic and deeply personal stories centering queer women as they navigate desire, loss, and connection.
Spiti
Sofia Sfyri 25' 2024 Greece, Cyprus | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
Alex is dealing with two losses; her father’s sudden death, and the impending sale of her family house, that he had built as an architect. Trying to cope with this new reality, she starts forming a curious relationship with the house itself, and she unexpectedly falls in love with a girl. A personal guide on love and loss, set in the heat of the Greek summer, and narrated in parallel by the real people who lived in the house.
Skin Hunger
Loukia Hadjiyianni 4' 2025 Germany, Cyprus | 💬 DE | 🔤 EN |
Ayden, suffering from touch deprivation, once again falls retreats to memories of Cleo. But this time, instead of being paralysed by the past, she transforms it into something new.
My Senses Are All I Have to Offer
Isadora Neves Marques 20' 2024 Portugal | 💬 PT | 🔤 EN |
Lourdes and Lana met telepathically using “sensory pills,” a technology that allows access to other people’s sensations from a distance. After months of relationship, Lourdes decides to visit her parents' country house and introduce them to her girlfriend. An unforeseen storm changes their weekend plans, locking them at home and, faced with the news of a child missing in the storm, Lana begins to question the limits of her telepathy. My Senses Are All I Have to Offer is a story about family and expectations, class difference and psychological isolation, in the tone of a subtle science fiction.
Telepathic Encounters
Henfil 5' 2024 Brazil | 💬 PT | 🔤 EN |
Inside the hushed corridors of a library, two teenage girls lock eyes and suddenly perceive each other’s thoughts—their hopes, fears, and unspoken longings—without speaking a word. This short becomes a poetic exploration of intimacy, secrecy, and the power of unvoiced connection, affirming the mystery and magic that can emerge in unexpected spaces.
Saigon Kiss
Hong Anh Nguyen 22' 2024 Vietnam, Germany, Australia | 💬 VI | 🔤 EN |
Mơ roams through the rush hour traffic to avoid an unwanted phone call. When she meets Vicky by the side of the street with her broken motorbike, a visceral chance encounter unfolds between the two young queer women on the loud streets of Saigon.
How A River Is Born
Luma Flôres 8' 2025 Brazil | Silent |
Ayla wakes up in a mountainous landscape, surrounded only by vegetation and a river. Driven by curiosity and a desire to get to know the place, she goes on a journey of discovery and diving. As she discovers where she is, she also discovers herself.
Kotowari
Coralie Watanabe Prosper 23' 2024 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Saki, a Japanese citizen, is heading to the prefecture with her French wife Tom to finally pick up her first residence permit. A daunting day awaits them, a day like many others at the immigration office.
Shorts IV: Tales of Land and Sea
Tuesday 16 Sep 19:00
Journeys across borders and waters, from myth and memory to survival and belonging, unfold in these lyrical shorts.
Stars
stars collective 7' 2025 United kingdom, Germany| 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
So the story goes, the Nommo were migrants from across the cosmos sailing the sky to planet Earth, descendants from a star that you and I cannot see – with the naked eye at least – Sirius B. For thousands of years we could see Sirius A but Sirius B was known only to the Dogon of Mali. And how did the Dogon know? They were told by the Nommo.
STARS tells of the Nommo – extraterrestrial Afro-hermaphrodite anthro-amphibian migrants: both female and male, of land and of sea, like humans and fish, with feet and fins, scales and skin, ancestor aliens, rainbow chameleons. This is a queer African tale of tails, told through hand-drawn animation, dance music beats, and magical poetry.
STARS tells of the Nommo – extraterrestrial Afro-hermaphrodite anthro-amphibian migrants: both female and male, of land and of sea, like humans and fish, with feet and fins, scales and skin, ancestor aliens, rainbow chameleons. This is a queer African tale of tails, told through hand-drawn animation, dance music beats, and magical poetry.
Water Hazard
Alexander David 23' 2024 Portugal, France | 💬 PT | 🔤 EN |
A pre-adolescent kid spends a family summer holiday at a golf village. A newly built lake on a golf course becomes the backdrop to a mysterious encounter. And the discovery of an unknown other becomes the discovery of the unknown self.
Teth
Peter Darney 14' 2024 Wales | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
After his gender affirming top surgery, a son and father’s new relationship is disrupted when their dog steals a fallen nipple to chew on. Teth is a heartwarming Welsh Language comedy that provides vital representation to the trans-male community.
Twilight Ladies
Alexe Liebert & Alain Soldevilley 11' 2024 France, Singapore | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
In the 1950s Singapore’s transgender community began to settle in the Bugis street area. Attracted by the street’s reputation as «the Montmartre of Singapore » tourists and sailors from all over the world came to enjoy themselves until dawn, sometimes being seduced by trans women dressed like divas. In the early 1980s, an urban renovation project planned to demolish the area.
A Place To Belong
Theingi Win Tin 16' 2025 Myanmar | 💬 MY | 🔤 EN |
Most women struggle with going through the ageing process. For Ko Nge, a transgender woman, it is doubly punishing: her loss of earnings and her loneliness. Her health is deteriorating as a result of taking oestrogen and despite her efforts to seek a lasting relationship in her youth, she finds herself alone. Luckily, her beauty salon is a safe space for all young trans sex workers in the neighbourhood to keep her busy.
The Holy Gram
Alex de la Croix 30' 2025 Spain | 💬 ES | 🔤 EN |
Two fucks, two lines, two friends… Olga and Fabiana are just that. Two girlfriends who rely on men’s validation to fit into society (and later feelings of guilt about everything in their lives). Is it possible to solve the world being high as fuck? Well, they sure think they can. An ode to those glimpses of lucidity in an otherwise wasted state of mind.
I’ve Heard A Siren Calling
Dylan Mitro 12' 2024 Canada | No Dialogue |
Nev is a young Trans woman in the early stages of her transition. In her small fishing town, she grapples with isolation and managing her fears of reintegrating back into the world she loves… Surfing.
Shorts V: Woman, Life, Freedom for Palestine
Wednesday 17 Sep 19:00
Urgent and unflinching works that give voice to resistance, resilience, and the everyday struggle for freedom, across Palestine, Iran, and the wider region.
Nazarbazi
Maryam Tafakory 19' 2021 Iran, United Kingdom | 💬 FA, EN | 🔤 EN |
Nazarbazi [the play of glances] is a film about love and desire in Iranian cinema, where depictions of intimacy and touch between women and men are prohibited. The film focuses primarily on images of women whose bodies have been erased and victimised in post-revolutionary cinema, alluding to discreet forms of communication that operate within yet circumnavigate the censors. The montage attempts to touch the spaces we cannot touch, inner feelings, untouchability beyond bodily experience, and the unwritten/unspoken prohibitions inside us. The film uses poetry and silence as the only languages with which we can touch these spaces of socio-political ambiguities.
Out of Gaza
Seza Tiyara Selen & Jannis Osterburg 9' 2025 Germany| 💬 DE | 🔤 EN |
A young Palestinian woman wants to flee from Gaza with her friends, hoping to find freedom in the West. As a talented engineer, she makes escape possible, but doubts arise if it is the right decision to leave. When they cross the wall, they encounter a world they did not expect.
Blood Like Water
Dima Hamdan 14' 2023 Palestine | 💬 AR | 🔤 EN |
Shadi embarks on a secret adventure, and accidentally drags his family into a trap where they only have two choices; either collaborate with the Israeli occupation, or be shamed and humiliated by their own people. Based on true stories.
Don’t Take My Joy Away
Omar Gabriel 7' 2024 Lebanon | 💬 AR | 🔤 EN |
In the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp, two young friends find a fleeting moment of joy and connection, until a sudden explosion tears through their world. As violence intrudes on their innocence, they must confront what it means to reclaim their freedom and safety.
Razeh-Del
Maryam Tafakory 28' 2024 Iran, United Kingdom, Italy | 💬 FA, EN | 🔤 EN |
In 1998, two schoolgirls sent a letter to Iran's first-ever women’s newspaper. While they waited to be published, they considered making an impossible film. Using citations and image intervention, Razeh-del journeys through parallel histories of war on images of women.
Shorts VI: Positively Different
Thursday 18 Sep 19:00
A selection of tender and heartwarming shorts exploring themes of friendship, love, and acceptance through intimate everyday encounters.
Alles Gut
Pavlos Paraskevopoulos 25' 2024 Greece | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
Pavlos travels to a quiet village in Northern Greece to visit his grandmother. He films her with a camera, while she prepares for him his favorite meals. Both grappling with loneliness in their own ways, they share stories and open up like they never had before. In the warmth of his grandmother’s embrace, Pavlos gets to feel a long-awaited sense of acceptance.
Pigeons Are Dying When The City Is On Fire
Stavros Markoulakis 21' 2023 Greece | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
On the warmest day of the year, two boys meet. A few hours later a pigeon gets trapped with them. During this heatwave, all creatures dream of escaping from the city that's burning.
Tsikitigklon, The Fairy And The Man
Marios Mettis 15' 2023 Cyprus | 💬 EL | 🔤 EN |
A trans woman finds herself trapped inside the van of a mysterious man whose intentions are not what they seem to be. Tsikitigklon, The Fairy and The Man, is a story about the true self we hide and that the only way to remove the mask we all insist on-wearing, is through love and some magic.
Coffee Grapefruit Cacao
Dominique Preusse 23' 2023 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Samuel used to form a couple with Laetitia before she left him for Gaëlle. Today he’s been invited to their home. Together, they will try to perform an act of love.
Shorts VII: Kings, Queens & In-Betweens
Friday 19 Sep 21:00
Join us on a vibrant journey into drag, self-expression, and the playful, powerful ways we reimagine gender.
The Princess and the Peacock
Daniel Baker-Wells 13' 2024 Germany, United Kingdom | 💬 DE | 🔤 EN |
Mona is a 22 year old trans girl from a small village in France. She puts needles attached to peacock feathers in her skin, under bright lights, late at night. She bleeds, half naked, in front of small crowds of people. Sometimes they faint whilst watching her. Why would she do this? How did she learn to do it? And why would someone want to watch?Shame
Hadi Moussally 4' 2024 Lebanon, France, Spain | 💬 AR | 🔤 EN |
In the 19th century, in the Levant region, Salma Zahore, along with her parents and neighbors, participated in a photoshoot using a long exposure technique. At the end of it, Salma decided to take off her coat, revealing her body. Unaware of the chaos this gesture could cause within her circle, she did not know it could lead to shame (عيب)Sotong
Zinc Chew 26' 2024 Malaysia | 💬 MS | 🔤 EN |
Sotong follows four fierce local drag queens who were part of the 2022 Halloween party raided by the authorities. One of them, Juan, was arrested for 'a man dressing up as a woman'. Two years later, they revisit the fallout of that night as they continue to perform underground and nurture the Malaysian drag scene in all its beauty, joy, and pain.Dragfox
Lisa Ott 8' 2024 United Kingdom | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighbourhood fox. Together they embark on a magical journey to the attic to discover the surprising things they might have in common, and how to celebrate the ways in which they differ.King Max
Adèle Vincenti-Crasson 21' 2021 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Maximilienne discovers a new side of herself while playing with her appearance alone in her bedroom. One night, she runs away and finds herself in a nightclub at a drag king show. A new world opens itself before her. She has found a new family.Real Dicks
Eirini Kakopierou 10' 2025 The Netherlands, Cyprus | 💬 EN | 🔤 EN |
The media world discusses the hot topic of the month: Does Karagöza have a penis or not?Shorts VIII: Focus on La Fémis
Saturday 20 Sep 21:00
Discover bold and inventive storytelling from France’s prestigious La Fémis film school, in this showcase of bold student voices, weaving stories of youth, identity, and discovery.
A Blue Summer
Juliette Ragot 8' 2024 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
It's the summer holidays at the local swimming pool and it's hot. Louane, 14, is lying by the pool, enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, when she is approached by Aïssa. Sheltered from the world around them, the two friends share a tender moment.The River
Elise Levy 15' 2024 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Electric July
Rémi Bigot 24' 2014 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
In the burning heat of July, stuck in the middle of nowhere, Thomas and Victor, two 14 years old teenagers, are bored to death and can only think of one thing : to escape. Victor decides to take Thomas to an abandoned bridge that leads to a magical place, where they could finally have some fun. Thomas, timorous, follows him. He will have to confront his fears and desires along that bridge whose end is uncertain.A man My Son
Florent Gouëlou 34' 2017 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
Fred is a projectionist, like his father. When he has to project a film on film, he convinces his father to hit the road with him. They go on a journey, where different generations, drag-queens and family affairs mingle.As Hard As You Can
Mathieu Morel 25' 2019 France | 💬 FR | 🔤 EN |
In the middle of the countryside, Virgile is trying to reconnect with his childhood friend. But he discovers that Anthony has sunk into the throes of self-destruction and surrenders to extreme sexuality.Accompanying Features
Tuesday 16 SEP 21:00 with IF I DIE, IT'LL BE OF JOY
Lovin' Her
Da 15' 2024 Canada, USA| 💬 EN| 🔤 EN |
The breadth of a trans woman’s life is shown as she navigates the complexities of a fading memory. Blending the past and present, glimpses of her struggles with love and her evolving gender identity showcase a heartfelt portrait of humanity.Content warning: Mental Health, PTSD, Grief
Thursday 18 SEP 21:00 with SYLVIA ROBYN
Diary Entry #1
Sylvia Robyn Gionti 2' 2025 Greece | 💬 EL| 🔤 EN |
A video diary entry about gender identity, unemployment and judgment.Content warning: Suicidal ideation
More to explore
Opening Ceremony:
x.ypno
LIVE AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE
Friday 12 SEP 21:00
A ray of starlight piercing through the cracks of a limestone ceiling. Throughout this ceremony, fragments of past and future will flicker, tracing the cycles of freedom, loss, and the distant glimmer of what comes next.
Performance: x.ypno
Animation/VJ: Giorgos Tsangaris
Light Technician: Alexandros Gregoriou
Dialogue Partners: Diego Aparicio, Nefeli Kentoni
Photo by Julie Michael
Performance: x.ypno
Animation/VJ: Giorgos Tsangaris
Light Technician: Alexandros Gregoriou
Dialogue Partners: Diego Aparicio, Nefeli Kentoni
Photo by Julie Michael
Thinking in Action:
A conversation and experiment on queer ecofeminist futures and world peace with Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian
WORKSHOP
Saturday 13 SEP 15:00
Meet the director of Doppelgängers³ and Berlinale Talents alumna Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian!
This 90-min workshop will start with a short presentation on Nelly's diverse documentary practice and invites drag queens, drag kings, queers who want to come dolled-up, and any willing participants to step inside the world of the work-in-progress feature documentary Heartsnatcher. Participants will warm up together, then split into groups to test script lines and embody three key scenes: Timortis climbing the hill in search of world peace, Clementine’s hallucinatory birth, and the International Space Station reimagined as a Love Hotel. The session offers the chance to improvise, perform, and contribute ideas, textures, and props, helping shape the living storyboard of the film.
There will be filming and photography taking place at the workshop.
Click here for the Film Contributor / Participant brief
This 90-min workshop will start with a short presentation on Nelly's diverse documentary practice and invites drag queens, drag kings, queers who want to come dolled-up, and any willing participants to step inside the world of the work-in-progress feature documentary Heartsnatcher. Participants will warm up together, then split into groups to test script lines and embody three key scenes: Timortis climbing the hill in search of world peace, Clementine’s hallucinatory birth, and the International Space Station reimagined as a Love Hotel. The session offers the chance to improvise, perform, and contribute ideas, textures, and props, helping shape the living storyboard of the film.
There will be filming and photography taking place at the workshop.
Click here for the Film Contributor / Participant brief
MEET THE FILMMAKERS
ROUND TABLE
Sunday 14 SEP 15:00
Join us for a chance to meet and discuss with the filmmakers participating at this year's Queer Wave. Chat, laugh, and dive into the stories behind the screen—open to film lovers and filmmakers alike.
HIV/STI Testing
AIDS Solidarity Movement — Cy Checkpoint
Sunday 14 SEP 18:00 - 21:00
We are once again collaborating with the AIDS Solidarity Movement — Cy Checkpoint, and setting up a 3-hour walk-in testing session at NiMAC from 18:00 to 21:00 on Sunday 14 September. Queer Wave audiences and the general public are welcome to drop in anytime within that window for HIV/Syphilis testing without any prior booking.
DRAG KINGS
LIVE AUDIOVISUAL DRAG PERFORMANCE
Friday 19 SEP 23:00
Cypriot drag kings Karagöza, Melis and Elfis unite their mustaches for the first time for an extravaganza drag king show. Bring your fans - it's gonna be hot!
Production credits: Karagöza, Melis & Elfis
Photography: Eirini Kakopierou
Production credits: Karagöza, Melis & Elfis
Photography: Eirini Kakopierou
Anything Goes!
MASTERCLASS
Saturday 20 SEP 15:00
Join us for an in-depth conversation with Sylvia Robyn director, Panayotis Evangelidis. Drawing on his experience creating films with little to no budget, the director will be sharing insights on independent filmmaking, screenwriting vs. directing, fiction vs. documentary, and more. Tailored to the needs of the participating audience!
Friends in Film
ROUND TABLE
Saturday 20 SEP 17:00
Step inside the world behind the screen with actors, curators, and professionals from across the film industry. This round-table opens up conversations on performance, curation, and the shifting landscape of the film industry—an open forum for audiences and professionals to connect.
Closing Ceremony:
Stranger in the Body
Live concert / performance
Saturday 20 SEP 23:30
The stage becomes a ritual site, a threshold where entities slip into the present through voice, music, and machine. It hosts the physical body and its unsettling experiences within society. Narratives circle the body: its desires, its ruptures, its dualities. Yet nothing lands cleanly. Everything is doubled, refracted, blurred, as if seen through water. Like dream logic, the body becomes a riddle.
The audience is invited into this threshold space.
Duration: 1 hour
Photo credit: Pavlos Vrionides for Open House Festival, 2024
Stranger in the Body summon immersive performances that merge ancient and contemporary influences. Their work blends fast rhythms, lyrical ritual elements, and a distinctive composition of analog and digital sounds, held within a framework of experimental storytelling. Post-punk meets echoes of the “Book of the Dead” and mysticism, forming reconstructed soundscapes that juxtapose the raw and the electronic. Songwriting is drawn from fragments of Middle Eastern myth and shards of film and poetry.
The audience is invited into this threshold space.
Duration: 1 hour
Photo credit: Pavlos Vrionides for Open House Festival, 2024
Stranger in the Body summon immersive performances that merge ancient and contemporary influences. Their work blends fast rhythms, lyrical ritual elements, and a distinctive composition of analog and digital sounds, held within a framework of experimental storytelling. Post-punk meets echoes of the “Book of the Dead” and mysticism, forming reconstructed soundscapes that juxtapose the raw and the electronic. Songwriting is drawn from fragments of Middle Eastern myth and shards of film and poetry.
Learning Palestine
READINGS
Friday 19 SEP 18:00
Sunday 21 Sep 18:00
A corner dedicated to Palestine: a place for reading, printing and learning. Learning Palestine is a collective initiative which aims to disseminate knowledge on the history of the ongoing struggle for justice, liberation, and the freedom of Palestine and the Palestinian People. On their website essential readings for a comprehensive understanding of the Palestinian struggle are made accessible to the public, along with guides for their circulation and re-printing in the form of pamphlets. This corner at Queer Wave will be a space where the tools will be provided to produce more copies of these readings, and to read (alone or together) these writings.
Throughout the festival there will be two readings by fisherwomxn.
Throughout the festival there will be two readings by fisherwomxn.
We Wandered Through the Fog and Into a Clearing
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LOUKIA HADJIYiANNI
Friday 12 SEP - Sunday 21 SEP
In these portraits, people become landscapes of light and shadow, quiet vessels of intimacy and longing. Shot mostly on analogue film, the work lingers in moments of stillness — a gaze that resists performance, a gesture poised between strength and fragility. Often photographed nude and in natural light, those portrayed seem suspended between presence and memory, inviting a tender recognition of solitude. Together, the portraits form a meditation on melancholy and nostalgia: not as absence, but as traces of beauty that remain. In their vulnerability, they remind us that to be seen is also to belong.
Curated by Pierre Mohamed-Petit
Curated by Pierre Mohamed-Petit