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Queer East · 2026

Queer East 2026

Features

Programme

8 films · 6 reviews

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3670

Review preview for 3670

3670 is particularly perceptive about the tragedy of not having one’s own native marginalised community.

Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
Cheol-jun has become close friends with many people, but he conceals the fact that he is gay from them. Contending with feelings of isolation and longing for deeper connection, he summons up the courage to explore Seoul's vibrant gay community.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2025; Director: Park Joon-ho; Writer: Park Joon-ho; Stars: Cho You-hyun, Kim Hyun-mok, Cho Dae-hee, Cha Mi-kyung)

Full review See: Interview with Park Joon-ho about 3670

Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda)

Review preview for Cactus Pears

Although writer/director Rohan Kanawade grew up in the city, there is a deep sense of authenticity about the village setting, and the whole film is handled with a rare degree of sensitivity.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.

(Country: India; Year: 2025; Director: Rohan Kanawade; Writer: Rohan Kanawade; Stars: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap)

Full review See: Interview with Rohan Kanawade about Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda)

Flower Girl

A woman's cruel actions toward a trans person trigger a mystical punishment, leaving her without her most intimate body part. Now she races against time with a magical flower to find genuine love and break the spell.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2025; Director: Fatrick Tabada; Writer: Fatrick Tabada; Stars: Sue Ramirez, Martin Del Rosario, Jameson Blake, Maxi Andreison, Donna Cariaga)

Girlfriends

Lok, a 34-year-old filmmaker from Macau, has been drifting through Hong Kong’s film industry. Although she has already directed a feature film, her life remains unstable, her next project has stalled, and her girlfriend Bei Bei is pushing for them to get married, buy a house, and settle down. Facing multiple pressures, Lok revisits different moments in her past.

(Country: Thailand, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong; Year: 2025; Director: Tracy Choi; Writer: Lou Shiu-wa, Sebrina Zheng; Stars: Fish Liew, Jennifer Yu, Elizabeth Tang, Ning Han, Natalie Hsu)

Montreal, My Beautiful

Review preview for Montreal, My Beautiful

Desire does not arrive here as a clean break from domestic life. It appears as a tremor inside it.

Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
Feng Xia lives a life of dutiful servitude to her husband, children and community of Chinese ex-pats. When she finally decides to put herself first, and explore the sexuality that she has long concealed, she meets the free-spirited Camille.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2025; Director: Xiaodan He; Stars: Joan Chen, John Xu, Charlotte Aubin)

Full review

Open Endings

Review preview for Open Endings

Director Nigel Santos intentionally plunges us into the middle of things.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Four queer women in their 30s who are exes-turned-best-friends navigate adulthood, love, friendship, chosen families, and everything in between.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2025; Director: Nigel Santos; Writer: Keavy Eunice Vicente; Stars: Janella Salvador, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Klea Pineda, Leanne Mamonong, Yesh Burce, Migs Almendras)

Full review See: Q&A with Nigel Santos about Open Endings

Raging (Rumaragasa)

Review preview for Raging

Theo Lozada’s cinematography is crucial to the drama’s effect.

Edin Custo · 3.5 out of 5
A young man who witnesses a mysterious plane crash begins to confront his own trauma.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2025; Director: Ryan Machado; Writer: Ryan Machado; Stars: Elijah Canlas, Ron Angeles, Reynald Santos, Glenn Sevilla Mas, Nathan J. Sotto, Raf Rivera Rey, Nonong Reyes, Mely Merez, Piolo Arib, Keith Fejer, Robert Simon Rosas, Rodne Galicha)

Full review

A Useful Ghost (Pee Chai Dai Ka)

Review preview for A Useful Ghost

Not only ambitious – a term often used to damn films with faint praise – but successfully so.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing the vacuum cleaner. But to become a useful ghost, she first needs to get rid of the useless ones.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2025; Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke; Writer: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke; Stars: Wanlop Rungkumjad, Wisarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wisarut Homhuan)

Full review See: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke on mixing things up in A Useful Ghost