The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is back from August 6 to 23 with another massive program. This year’s festival features more than 300 films, shorts and immersive experiences across Melbourne, regional Victoria and online. Here are some of our queer highlights

For LGBTQIA+ film lovers, there’s plenty to get excited about. The 2026 lineup includes everything from cult classics and queer romances to powerful documentaries and boundary-pushing dramas.

Whether you’re after a nostalgic favourite or discovering a new obsession, these are the queer films worth adding to your watchlist.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch returns with John Cameron Mitchell

Few queer films have earned cult status quite like Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This year, MIFF is celebrating its 25th anniversary in unforgettable fashion.

Writer, director and star John Cameron Mitchell will appear in person for a restored 4K screening. He’ll provide live commentary throughout the film, sharing behind-the-scenes stories from one of queer cinema’s most beloved musicals.

If you’ve never experienced Hedwig on the big screen, this is the ultimate way to do it.

The Man I Love revisits queer New York

Rami Malek leads The Man I Love, a moving drama set in New York’s West Village during the late 1980s.

He plays Jimmy, an HIV-positive theatre artist determined to embrace life despite an uncertain future. The film explores love, friendship and desire against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis.

Rather than focusing only on loss, it celebrates resilience and the determination to keep living fully.

I Want Your Sex brings Gregg Araki back with plenty of chaos

After more than a decade away from the big screen, queer filmmaker Gregg Araki returns with I Want Your Sex, a colourful, chaotic and very cheeky comedy.

Starring Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde, the film follows a young art assistant whose new job quickly spirals into an outrageous exploration of kink, power and self-discovery.

With appearances from Margaret Cho, Daveed Diggs and Charli xcx, expect plenty of laughs, sex, queer mayhem.

Rose explores gender through a historical lens

Sandra Hüller delivers an award winning performance in Rose, a moving historical drama inspired by real stories of women who lived as men in 17th-century Europe.

After arriving in a rural village disguised as a soldier, Rose builds a new life while concealing her identity, forcing her to navigate love, expectation and survival.

A beautifully crafted story about gender, belonging and the lengths people have always gone to simply live as themselves.

Our Effed Up World is bringing the queer horror

Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay returns with her seventh feature at just 21 years old.

Our Effed Up World blends campy creature-feature fun with heartfelt themes of chosen family as a group of friends attempt to save their small town from an alien invasion.

Produced by I Saw the TV Glow filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, it’s another reminder that Mackay continues to be one of Australia’s most exciting voices in queer genre cinema.

Sweet Milk Lake tackles identity close to home

Sweet Milk Lake follows Jake, a young trans man who travels to visit his estranged father, only to be mistaken for his cisgender twin brother.

Choosing not to correct the misunderstanding, Jake finds himself experiencing acceptance in unexpected ways while wrestling with the emotional weight of the secret he’s carrying.

Part family drama, part romance, the debut feature offers a thoughtful and deeply personal exploration of identity and belonging.

Adam’s Apple celebrates the power of family

One of the festival’s most moving documentaries, Adam’s Apple follows filmmaker Amy Jenkins as she documents her son Adam’s gender-affirming journey over eight years.

Combining home videos, Adam’s own phone footage and candid conversations, the film becomes a touching portrait of transition, unconditional family support and growing into adulthood.

It’s a positive reminder of the life changing impact of affirmation and acceptance.

Elephants in the Fog breaks new ground for Nepali cinema

Fresh from winning the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize comes the Nepalese feature Elephants in the Fog.

The thriller follows Pirati, a leader within a Nepalese third gender community, as she searches for her missing adopted daughter while confronting prejudice and impossible choices.

Drawing on the lived experience of LGBTQIA+ activist Puspa Thing Lama, the film is both a gripping mystery and a powerful exploration of trans rights in South Asia.

Big Girls Don’t Cry captures awkward queer adolescence

Set in a New Zealand beach town during the summer of 2006, Big Girls Don’t Cry is an honest coming of age story about first crushes, identity and desperately wanting to fit in.

Executive produced by Jane Campion, the film captures the messy emotions of growing up before smartphones, social media and dating apps, making it equal parts nostalgic and heart breaking.

Footy gets a queer spotlight in For the Boys

As part of MIFF’s partnership with the AFL, documentary short For the Boys follows former AFL player Mitch Brown as he returns to the field after becoming Australia’s first openly queer former AFL player.

The film explores what it means to bring your whole self into the game, finally. It sits alongside four other short documentaries celebrating the many communities that make AFL what it is today.

From cult classics and international award winners to homegrown queer stories and groundbreaking documentaries, MIFF 2026 is once again proving that some of the festival’s most exciting films are proudly LGBTQIA+.

Whether you’re planning to spend a weekend in the cinema or catch selections online from home, there’s no shortage of queer stories waiting to be discovered.

Check out the full program and purchase tickets at miff.com.au

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.