The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is back from August 6 to 23 with another massive program. This year\u2019s festival features more than 300 films, shorts and immersive experiences across Melbourne, regional Victoria and online. Here are some of our queer highlights<\/p>\n
For LGBTQIA+ film lovers, there\u2019s plenty to get excited about. The 2026 lineup includes everything from cult classics and queer romances to powerful documentaries and boundary-pushing dramas.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re after a nostalgic favourite or discovering a new obsession, these are the queer films worth adding to your watchlist.<\/p>\n
Hedwig and the Angry Inch returns with John Cameron Mitchell<\/p>\n
Few queer films have earned cult status quite like Hedwig and the Angry Inch<\/a>. This year, MIFF is celebrating its 25th anniversary in unforgettable fashion.<\/p>\n Writer, director and star John Cameron Mitchell will appear in person for a restored 4K screening. He\u2019ll provide live commentary throughout the film, sharing behind-the-scenes stories from one of queer cinema\u2019s most beloved musicals.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never experienced Hedwig on the big screen, this is the ultimate way to do it.<\/p>\n The Man I Love revisits queer New York<\/p>\n Rami Malek leads The Man I Love<\/a>, a moving drama set in New York\u2019s West Village during the late 1980s.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Rather than focusing only on loss, it celebrates resilience and the determination to keep living fully.<\/p>\n I Want Your Sex brings Gregg Araki back with plenty of chaos<\/p>\n After more than a decade away from the big screen, queer filmmaker Gregg Araki returns with I Want Your Sex<\/a>, a colourful, chaotic and very cheeky comedy.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n With appearances from Margaret Cho, Daveed Diggs and Charli xcx, expect plenty of laughs, sex, queer mayhem.<\/p>\n Rose explores gender through a historical lens<\/p>\n Sandra H\u00fcller delivers an award winning performance in Rose<\/a>, a moving historical drama inspired by real stories of women who lived as men in 17th-century Europe.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A beautifully crafted story about gender, belonging and the lengths people have always gone to simply live as themselves.<\/p>\n Our Effed Up World is bringing the queer horror<\/p>\n Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay returns with her seventh feature at just 21 years old.<\/p>\n Our Effed Up World<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Produced by I Saw the TV Glow filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, it\u2019s another reminder that Mackay continues to be one of Australia\u2019s most exciting voices in queer genre cinema.<\/p>\n Sweet Milk Lake tackles identity close to home<\/p>\n Sweet Milk Lake<\/a> follows Jake, a young trans man who travels to visit his estranged father, only to be mistaken for his cisgender twin brother.<\/p>\n Choosing not to correct the misunderstanding, Jake finds himself experiencing acceptance in unexpected ways while wrestling with the emotional weight of the secret he\u2019s carrying.<\/p>\n Part family drama, part romance, the debut feature offers a thoughtful and deeply personal exploration of identity and belonging.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s Apple celebrates the power of family<\/p>\n One of the festival\u2019s most moving documentaries, Adam\u2019s Apple<\/a> follows filmmaker Amy Jenkins as she documents her son Adam\u2019s gender-affirming journey over eight years.<\/p>\n Combining home videos, Adam\u2019s own phone footage and candid conversations, the film becomes a touching portrait of transition, unconditional family support and growing into adulthood.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a positive reminder of the life changing impact of affirmation and acceptance.<\/p>\n Elephants in the Fog breaks new ground for Nepali cinema<\/p>\n Fresh from winning the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize comes the Nepalese feature Elephants in the Fog<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Big Girls Don\u2019t Cry captures awkward queer adolescence<\/p>\n Set in a New Zealand beach town during the summer of 2006, Big Girls Don\u2019t Cry <\/a>is an honest coming of age story about first crushes, identity and desperately wanting to fit in.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Footy gets a queer spotlight in For the Boys<\/p>\n As part of MIFF\u2019s partnership with the AFL, documentary short For the Boys<\/a> follows former AFL player Mitch Brown as he returns to the field after becoming Australia\u2019s first openly queer former AFL player.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s most exciting films are proudly LGBTQIA+.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re planning to spend a weekend in the cinema or catch selections online from home, there\u2019s no shortage of queer stories waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n Check out the full program and purchase tickets at miff.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n For the latest LGBTIQA+\u00a0Sister Girl and Brother Boy\u00a0news,<\/a>\u00a0entertainment,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0community stories<\/a>\u00a0in Australia, visit\u00a0qnews.com.au<\/a>. Find us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t