Australia’s flagship celebration of queer film returns in November

Key points

• The 36th Melbourne Queer Film Festival will screen 53 sessions of LGBTQIA+ features, documentaries and short films when it runs from 13 to 22 November 2026. Festival Director Louise Lever said the theme, Into the Light, celebrates the diversity of queer stories.
• Opening night features KICK, directed by Julia Schwalb, about American runner Nikki Hiltz. The centrepiece is Time Warp, a documentary about a drag troupe in Wyoming staging a shadow cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• The festival closes with Big Girls Don't Cry, directed by Paloma Schneideman.