- The third edition will screen its films on November 27, 28, and 29 at the Cine Maldà.
- The call included feature films, documentaries, shorts, and music videos with queer themes.
- The selected works will be notified on September 15, the next milestone before the festival.
Barcelona Queer Film Festival 2026 enters its decisive phase after closing the reception of works on September 1. The competition will notify the selection on the 15th and will celebrate its third edition on November 27, 28, and 29 at the Cine Maldà in Barcelona.
From the call to the official selection
The festival has closed its international call with four categories: feature fiction film, feature documentary, short film —fiction or documentary— and music video. The deadline ended on September 1 at 23:59, Central European Summer Time.
The next important date is September 15, when the organization will announce which works will be part of the edition. This interval allows for reviewing materials, checking requirements, and building a balanced program before announcing the titles to the public.
The organization requires selected films to provide documentation and projection materials, a usual step to ensure subtitles, copies, and communication elements. Until the selection is published, it is not possible to attribute titles, countries, or specific filmmakers to the 2026 edition.
Three days of queer cinema in the heart of Barcelona
The screenings will take place on November 27, 28, and 29, 2026 at the Cine Maldà. The venue, located in the historic center of Barcelona, will host the audiovisual core of an edition that presents itself as the third of the festival.
The project is not limited to film sessions. The call announces activities related to queer literature and art in the days leading up to it. This expansion allows for addressing sexual and gender diversity from different languages and fosters dialogue among creators, audiences, and disciplines.
A specialized festival offers something that generalist platforms can hardly reproduce: shared context. Watching a film alongside others, listening to those who created it, and connecting it with contemporary debates transforms the screening into a cultural event.
What stories does a queer festival seek?
The breadth of categories opens the door to very different durations, budgets, and styles. A feature film can unfold a complex narrative; the documentary can record invisibilized experiences; the short concentrates an idea; and the music video connects identity, music, and image in a few minutes.
The term “queer” also allows working with characters and stories that do not fit into rigid compartments. It does not impose a single aesthetic or a permanently activist tone. It can include comedy, memory, desire, family, experimentation, violence, celebration, or everyday life, as long as the perspective dialogues with LGTBIQ+ experiences.
In a context of audiovisual abundance, curation is as important as production. Selecting means proposing a reading: deciding which stories share a session, which open conversations, and how to represent plurality without turning it into a uniform label.
September 15 will mark the next step
The current focus of the festival is on the selection. September 15 will be the first moment when the participating works can be rigorously known. After that, detailed publication of schedules, parallel activities, and practical information for the public will follow.
The November dates allow the team to work for more than two months on subtitling, copies, communication, and meetings. For the public, the countdown begins with one certainty: there will be three days of screenings at Cine Maldà and a prior agenda linked to literature and art.
Revista Rainbow will follow the publication of the selection to offer a second reading with verified titles, authorships, and origins. Meanwhile, the third edition already confirms something essential: Barcelona maintains an independent space for queer cinema to find screen and community.
