If there was ever an event to prove that cinema is alive, queer, and ready to party, it’s the 15th LGBT+ Film Festival Poland, set to take place from April 5 to May 12, 2024, across multiple cities. This will not just be a film festival. It will be a glorious, chaotic, high-camp rollercoaster of emotions, activism, and, of course, drag queens. Because what is a queer film festival without a bit of sequins and subversion?

Spanning across eight cities and online, the festival will take over everything from Warsaw’s historic Kinoteka to Kraków’s indie haven, Kino Pod Baranami. It will have the prestige of Cannes, the heart of Pride, and the wild unpredictability of a basement drag show at 3 AM, which, let’s be honest, is the highest form of entertainment.

Cinema but Make it Queer

With films pulled from Venice, Sundance, and the depths of arthouse brilliance, this won’t just be about mainstream LGBTQ+ representation. This will be about the raw, the radical, the what-the-hell-did-I-just-watch-but-I-loved-it. Expect runaway lovers, queer revolutionaries, gay detectives, trans rebels, and burlesque ghosts, all parading across the screens like a rainbow fever dream.

Opening on April 5 in Warsaw, the festival will kick off with Big Boys, a heartwarming comedy that reclaims male body image and crushes toxic masculinity with humour and possibly tears. It will set the tone—unapologetic, unexpected, and utterly watchable.

From there, the emotional rollercoaster begins. Our Son will deliver divorce drama with Billy Porter and Luke Evans. The Visitor will turn Pasolini’s classic into a deliciously scandalous queer reimagining. Queendom will bring a drag-infused protest art manifesto so powerful that Putin himself might have nightmares about it.

And let’s not forget Kokomo City, a documentary that will throw every conventional trans narrative out the window, replacing it with raw, unfiltered reality. Think Paris Is Burning but sharper, funnier, and shot in a monochrome fever dream.

Beyond the Screen: Where Ballroom Meets Burlesque

Movies? Sure. But what about the drag queens, voguing battles, and intergenerational dance-offs? This will be a festival that refuses to stay confined to the cinema.

The Scena Artystyczna lineup will transform Warsaw into a queer performance mecca from April 6 to April 12. One night, you’ll be watching a film about trans rebels in Russia, and the next, you’ll be cheering on a drag queen death-drop at a kiki function.

The Movie Night Kiki Ball, set for April 12, will see ballroom legends light up the festival hall, with categories ranging from Best Dressed Diva to Face So Beat It Deserves an Oscar. Meanwhile, La Drag! on April 11 will showcase the best drag performers from Poland and beyond, proving that queer culture is not just about survival. It’s about thriving in six-inch heels and a lip-sync to Gloria Gaynor.

The Politics of Being Seen

But this won’t just be fun and games. The festival will come with a mission. With government support from the Ministry of Culture (gasp! Shocking! Queers getting funding?!) and the Honorary Patronage of Warsaw’s Mayor, it will make a statement. Queer stories belong in Poland, and they are here to stay.

In a country where LGBTQ+ rights are still contested, this festival will not just be an event. It will be an act of defiance. It will showcase stories of queer resilience from Poland to Brazil, Egypt to Taiwan. It won’t just be about seeing ourselves on screen. It will be about saying we exist, we matter, and we look damn good doing it.

A Curtain Call for Queer Cinema

The festival will close with a celebration of Polish queer shorts on May 12 in Poznań, bringing together the best emerging voices in queer storytelling. There will be a sense of something bigger than just a film festival. It will be a community coming together. Cinema, activism, and performance will collide in the most fabulous way possible.

And so, the 15th LGBT+ Film Festival Poland will bow out in a haze of confetti, film reels, and a drag queen sipping champagne in the corner.

Because this won’t just be about watching movies. It will be about making history.

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