Driven by the need for more visibility and fewer silences, the Queer Movie Nights festival returns to Athens for the fourth consecutive year, opening a space for dialogue, emotions and collective experience. This year’s event is part of the Athens City Festival , honoring the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia and Interphobia (May 17) and giving voice and stories that are still fighting for the obvious: recognition.
From May 7 to 12 , the Trianon and the Goethe Institute are transformed into centers of queer cinematic storytelling, hosting over 37 short and feature films from Greece and abroad, accompanied by discussions, tributes, and masterclasses .
Human stories without filters, without discounts
This year’s event is structured into three competition sections – Greek Short Film , International Short Film and International Feature Film – with films that focus on what often goes unseen: queer everyday life, the search for identity, loss, family, love, physicality.
Jules Rosskam ‘s bold Desire Lines premieres, a hybrid documentary that marries memory with imagination, tracing the complex history of trans sexuality through a political and artistic gaze.
Highlighting the unsung heroines
Through a special thematic section , the festival turns its focus on femininity , lesbian and trans identities , but also on the words that do not describe them – or invalidate them. Through thoughtful films and public discussions, the necessary space is given to narratives that are usually outside the frame. Queer Movie Nights thus becomes a tool for empowerment, political intervention and acceptance.
Sofia Luz: When the camera becomes an act of resistance
Among the highlights of the week is the masterclass of Spanish filmmaker Sofia Luz (Friday, May 10, 17:00), a meeting with her work and philosophy on documentary as a form of resistance . Luz, who comes to Athens with the support of Acción Cultural Española and the Instituto Cervantes , will also present her film As Leaves in the Wind , a confessional narrative about the relationship between the personal and the political through the lens.
Beyond the Screen: The Importance of Queer Movie Nights Today
Queer Movie Nights is not just a festival. It is a community , an emotional and cultural platform that invites the audience to see, hear, feel – and recognize. In an era when queer representation remains in demand, the festival is a space of liberation and expression that does not fit into forms and prejudices.
This year’s festival poster The visual face of this year’s event bears the signature of Konstantinos Georgantas , giving a visual promise for the content: bold, tender, political.
