Merlinka International Queer Film Festival

Merlinka is Belgrade's international queer film festival, held each December since 2009. It's named after Vjeran Miladinović Merlinka, a trans woman and sex worker who starred in Želimir Žilnik's film Marble Ass and was murdered in 2003. The Gay Lesbian Info Centre (GLIC) founded it together with the Belgrade Youth Center (Dom omladine Beograda), which hosted it for years. The festival has also run editions in Sarajevo and Podgorica.

The programme mixes features, documentaries and shorts with an LGBTIQ theme, from the former Yugoslavia and further afield, with guest talks around the screenings. Its award for best short film is called Dorothy's Slipper. It's a non-profit festival, and films are submitted through an open call each summer.

The 17th edition took place in December 2025 at the Yugoslav Cinematheque (Jugoslovenska kinoteka), with a parallel programme at the Cultural Center in Novi Sad. The festival's own listing gave 11 to 15 December, but another listing says it ended on the 14th. We couldn't confirm dates for a December 2026 edition when we checked. Watch merlinka.com and the festival's Facebook page in the autumn.