Culture
Queer cinema: a starter map through a century of films, countries and festivals
Where to begin with LGBTQIA+ cinema: key films from the 1910s to today, highlights from many countries, the festivals that champion queer film and how to watch with a critical, curious eye.
Queer cinema is not a single genre. It includes silent melodramas, coded Hollywood classics, underground experiments, festival dramas, comedies, documentaries and blockbusters. What links them is that they show LGBTQIA+ lives, desires or perspectives, sometimes openly, sometimes in hints that audiences learned to read.
Watching queer films can be a way to see your own life on screen, to understand history, to learn about other countries or simply to enjoy great storytelling. This guide offers a starting map: a short history in eras, films from many places, the festivals where queer cinema thrives and some ideas for watching thoughtfully. It isn’t a complete list. Think of it as a set of doors.
A short history in five eras
| Era | What was happening | Films to know |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s–1930s | Early openness, especially in Weimar Germany | Different from the Others (1919), Mädchen in Uniform (1931) |
| 1930s–1960s | Censorship codes; queer characters hidden or punished | Coded characters in Hollywood; Victim (UK, 1961) |
| 1970s–1980s | Liberation movements; independent and art-house voices | The Boys in the Band (1970), A Special Day (Italy, 1977), Desert Hearts (1985), My Beautiful Laundrette (UK, 1985) |
| 1990s | “New Queer Cinema” and the AIDS era | Paris Is Burning (1990), Poison (1991), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Happy Together (Hong Kong, 1997) |
| 2000s–today | Festival success, mainstream awards, global voices | Brokeback Mountain (2005), Moonlight (2016), A Fantastic Woman (Chile, 2017), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France, 2019) |
The early years
Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern, 1919), made in Germany with the participation of the sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld, is often described as one of the first films to argue openly for the rights of gay people. It criticised the German law against sex between men. The film was soon restricted, copies were later lost or destroyed, and today it survives only in an incomplete reconstruction. Mädchen in Uniform (1931), directed by Leontine Sagan, tells the story of a girl in a strict boarding school who falls in love with a teacher, and remains a landmark of lesbian cinema.
Hidden in plain sight
From the 1930s, censorship codes in the United States and elsewhere made it almost impossible to show LGBTQIA+ characters positively. Queer people appeared through hints: a gesture, a costume, a line of dialogue. Often these coded characters were villains or met a bad end. Film historians call this queer coding. The documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995), based on Vito Russo’s book, collects many examples and is a good introduction to how audiences read between the lines.
In Britain, Victim (1961), starring Dirk Bogarde as a lawyer blackmailed over a past relationship with a man, is often cited as the first English-language film to use the word “homosexual”. It drew attention to how criminal laws enabled blackmail.
Liberation and independent voices
The 1970s and 1980s brought more open stories, often from independent filmmakers. Some films of this period now feel dated or painful, which is part of their historical value. Italy’s A Special Day (Una giornata particolare, 1977), directed by Ettore Scola, pairs a housewife and a gay radio announcer during the fascist era. Desert Hearts (1985) offered a lesbian love story with a hopeful ending, unusual at the time. In Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and later Frank Ripploh’s Taxi zum Klo (1980) broke taboos. In Spain, Pedro Almodóvar began a career full of queer characters and melodrama.
New Queer Cinema and the AIDS years
In 1992, the critic B. Ruby Rich used the term New Queer Cinema to describe a wave of bold, independent films by directors such as Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, Gregg Araki and Tom Kalin. These films often refused to be “positive images” and instead explored anger, desire and grief during the AIDS crisis.
Paris Is Burning (1990), Jennie Livingston’s documentary about New York’s ballroom scene, became one of the most influential queer films ever made. It has also been debated, especially about who benefited from telling the participants’ stories. Our guide to drag and ballroom history explores that world further.
Festival triumphs and global voices
From the 2000s, queer films won the biggest prizes. Brokeback Mountain (2005) won the Golden Lion in Venice. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) won the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Moonlight (2016), about a Black boy growing up in Miami, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A Fantastic Woman (2017), from Chile, starring the trans actress Daniela Vega, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Films from around the world
Queer cinema is not only American or Western European. A few starting points by country:
- Argentina: XXY (2007, Lucía Puenzo), a sensitive story about an intersex teenager.
- Brazil: Madame Satã (2002, Karim Aïnouz), about a legendary Rio de Janeiro figure; The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho, 2014, Daniel Ribeiro), a gentle teen romance that won the Teddy Award in Berlin.
- Chile: A Fantastic Woman (2017, Sebastián Lelio).
- China and Hong Kong: Farewell My Concubine (1993, Chen Kaige) and Happy Together (1997, Wong Kar-wai).
- France: Tomboy (2011) and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), both by Céline Sciamma.
- Germany: Different from the Others (1919) and Mädchen in Uniform (1931).
- Italy: A Special Day (1977) and Call Me by Your Name (2017, Luca Guadagnino).
- Kenya: Rafiki (2018, Wanuri Kahiu), a love story between two young women, initially banned in Kenya.
- Poland: In the Name Of (W imię…, 2013, Małgorzata Szumowska), about a priest’s desire, winner of the Teddy Award.
- Romania: Poppy Field (Câmp de maci, 2020, Eugen Jebeleanu), about a gay police officer.
- Spain: the films of Pedro Almodóvar, from Law of Desire (1987) onwards.
- Sweden: Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål, 1998, Lukas Moodysson), a teen romance between two girls in a small town.
- United Kingdom: Victim (1961) and My Beautiful Laundrette (1985).
Availability changes constantly between streaming services and countries, so check what’s legal and available where you live.
Festivals that champion queer film
Festivals are where many queer films find their first audiences, and where you can discover titles that never reach cinemas.
- Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, given since 1987, one of the oldest queer film prizes at a major festival.
- Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival, since 2007.
- Queer Palm at Cannes, since 2010.
- Frameline in San Francisco, running since 1977.
- BFI Flare in London, which began in 1986 as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
- Mix Brasil in São Paulo, running since 1993.
Many cities have smaller queer film festivals or monthly screenings. They’re also a good way to meet people.
Watching with a curious, critical eye
Loving queer cinema doesn’t mean loving every film uncritically. A few questions make watching richer:
- Who is telling the story? Are LGBTQIA+ people involved in writing, directing and acting? It doesn’t decide whether a film is good, but it often shapes how authentic it feels.
- How do queer characters end? For decades, LGBTQIA+ characters were often killed off or punished. Critics call one version of this “bury your gays”. Noticing the pattern helps you see how far stories have moved.
- Who is cast in trans roles? Many trans viewers welcome films where trans characters are played by trans actors, as in A Fantastic Woman.
- What was possible at the time? An older film may contain stereotypes and still have been brave for its era. Both things can be true.
- Whose stories are missing? Lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex, asexual and older characters, and LGBTQIA+ people of colour, have often been less visible than white gay men. Seeking out a wider range rewards you with more stories.
Hosting a queer film night
Watching together turns a film into a conversation. A few tips:
- Pick a theme: first love, a country, a decade, documentaries.
- Check age ratings and content notes so guests know what to expect.
- Prepare two or three questions to start discussion, without turning it into a lecture.
- Think about privacy: not everyone wants photos from a queer film night online.
Our guide to starting a queer book club has more ideas for organising regular gatherings around culture.
Where to start, by mood
- Romance: The Way He Looks, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Call Me by Your Name.
- History: The Celluloid Closet, Mädchen in Uniform, Victim.
- Ballroom and drag: Paris Is Burning.
- Coming of age: Show Me Love, Tomboy, Moonlight.
- Trans and intersex lives: A Fantastic Woman, XXY.
- World cinema: Happy Together, Rafiki, Poppy Field.
Queer cinema shows how LGBTQIA+ people have been seen, hidden and finally allowed to speak for themselves on screen. Each film is a small window, and together they show how much the world has changed, and how much is still being imagined.
