Queer Lisboa – International Queer Film Festival
About This Event
Queer Lisboa is Portugal's main queer film festival and the oldest film festival in Lisbon. It started in 1997 and is run by the cultural association Janela Indiscreta, which also runs Queer Porto in the autumn.
It is a serious competitive festival. There are five juried competitions: features, documentaries, Queer Art, shorts, and a European film-school shorts section called In My Shorts, plus a non-competitive Queer Resistance strand. Screenings are split between Cinema São Jorge on Avenida da Liberdade and the Cinemateca Portuguesa nearby. The 2025 best-feature award went to the French film Laurent dans le vent.
The 30th edition, 18 to 26 September 2026, showed 94 films. It opened with the first Portuguese screening of Ira Sachs's The Man I Love, and its retrospective, Reclaiming Futures, included work by the Wachowskis, Sally Potter and Kenneth Anger.
Practical: São Jorge is a short walk from Príncipe Real and Bairro Alto, so late screenings fit before a night out.
The festival is held each September. The 2027 dates hadn't been announced when we checked.
Where to stay during Queer Lisboa – International Queer Film Festival
via Stay22Schedule & Sub-Events
+ Add EventDetailed schedule coming soon.
Check the official website for the latest programme.
Practical Tips
The 30th anniversary edition includes Pedro Almodóvar and Jane Schoenbrun retrospectives — prioritise those over first-run features if seats clash.
Cinema São Jorge is the main hub but screenings also run at Cinemateca Portuguesa, Casa do Comum and Purex Clube — check each venue on your ticket.
Avenida da Liberdade is the quickest way in on foot from Baixa — skip taxis stuck in the evening tourist traffic.
Videos
Male Toxicity & Desire Meet in this LGBT Short Film | Family Affair - by Caru Alves de Souza
