Founded in 1988 in direct response to the AIDS crisis, The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival has been a tentpole of NYC’s queer cultural scene. In the subsequent years, NewFest has expanded into a film and media organization with year-long programs to serve all facets of the LGBTQ+ community, and in the past 37 years, it has become the largest convener of LGBTQ+ audiences in the city.
Plus, they get an extra Gold Star from us this year, as without hesitation they stepped up to the plate when Desperado Queer Film Fest in Arizona was cancelled because of outrageous threats from The Orange Bully in The White House that could risk the loss of all federal funding to the district, including student financial aid and grants that support hundreds of employees and critical student services.
New Fest’s unparalleled and generous offer makes us feel so very proud to belong to this community of ours
Meanwhile as per usual we had QUEERGURU’s team of Reviewers scour the entire NewFest Program to cone up with our LIST OF MUST SEE MOVIES
This debut British film by Liam Calvert is a smart reflection on loneliness and the meaning of life that takes place in the hours of darkness on one night in London. The two protagonists share with each other their fears, insecurities, and show intimacy on the street and in public places, with Jack Kerouac´s quotes on meaning in between. The fact that one is played by one of the hottest queer actors ALEXANDER LINCOLN means that this film should be your first pick for this Fest. PS You can check out Queerguru’s Zoom interview with him HERE
This highly anticipated new Netflix series BOOTS , based on a true story, and stars a very young-looking 31-year-old closeted Cameron Cope (Miles Hiezer 13 Reasons Why ) who goes from bullied high-school kid to bullied marine recruit. Along the way, his hair is shaved off, he has orders yelled at him and he has to endure gruelling challenges. He and his best friend Ray McAffey (Liam Oh) are now part of a diverse group of recruits in the tough, unpredictable world of the 1990s US marine corps, when being gay in the military was still illegal. Its under all thie pressuere that they navigates the literal and metaphorical landmines of boot camp, forging unlikely bonds and discovering their true selves in an environment designed to push them to their limits.
“Come See Me in the Good Light” is an extraordinary documentary, ably and unobtrusively directed by Ryan White. The film’s subject, well-loved queer spoken word poet Andrea Gibson, has been given a diagnosis of incurable cancer, and with their partner, fellow poet Megan Falley, allows a film crew into their home, treatment visits, and other personal moments. The result is a tearjerker with lots of humor, warmth, and love.
Four Mothers, adapted from a a modern Italiann classic is heartwarming bittersweet Irish comedy about Edward (James McArdle) a YA author and gay man on the verge of major literary stardom. But he has to take care of his widowed mum Alma ( the wonderful Fionnula Flanagan) who cannot speak after suffering a stroke. And then to top it all his three gay male friends dump their elderly mums on him because they all want to head off for a dissolute Pride weekend abroad
NIGHT STAGE is an erotic queer Brazilian thriller that we first saw as the Closing Gala at London’s BFI Flare Film Fest. Writer/directors Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon have created a delicious thriller with Night Stage. They successfully examine the often-conflicting roles people play in their public lives and their private lives. How much of their careers are these guys prepared to risk to satisfy their carnal lust? There’s a self-destructive streak in them that many viewers will recognise and connect with. Success has different, conflicting meanings to them and the journey between different successful outcomes could end up being troubled.
Niñxs is the extraordinary record of the 8 year transitioning journey of a Mexican adolescent, Over the past few years, we have seen quite an increase in the number of films that have focused on elements of the transgender community. As well as entertaining, they are a valuable resource for us to learn and understand more about the T in LGBTQA. What has also impressed and delighted us is the unusual approach they use to film their stories, like Niñxs, which is one of the most compelling documentaries we have seen this year.
ONLY GOOD THINGS : An erotic queer romantic melodrama is the latest film from acclaimed queer Brazilian filmmkaer Daniel Nolasco, and it portrays a relationship that outlasts several decades , from a rural area to an urban one. Beautifully shot, there is a crochet blanket that is worthy of a mention, plus visual poetry in several of the rural sequences; the move to the city brings a harsh scenery and in contrast, hazardous nighttime situations into the woods; all these provide context to a fragmented story of which the viewer has to guess and try to find out about the male lovers , and the good things the title refers to.
Queerpanorama takes a deep dive into the offbeat hook-up experiences of a twenty.-something Hongkonger. Directed by Jun Li and featuring the impressive acting debut of Jayden Chun Based on the real-life sex experiences of Li, and featuring several of his actual previous hook-up partners, and shot in their real homes, we are treated to a snapshot of queer life in Hong Kong.
Sauna the debut feature film from Danish writer/director Mathias Broe is the story of country boy Johan (Magnus Juhl Andersen) who has moved to Copenhagen where he works at Apollo a popular gay sauna cleaning up after all the nefarious activities of the clientele. It appears he spends all his spare time there and enjoys a very busy sex life too. That still doesn’t stop him from using the Grindr App to score more hook ups with men. For some reason, he is not too thorough in reading profiles when he swipes right and focuses more on the person’s picture. This is why one night his ‘date’ William (Nina Terese Rask) turned out to be a trans man.
Karun (Akash Unnimenon), a handsome young security officer from Kerala, is stationed in a remote village in Kashmir. One day he meets Faheem (Tawseef Mir), a charming, equally attractive, student returning from college to visit his family, who stops his motorbike at Karun’s checkpoint. The two men fleetingly lock their beautiful eyes, before parting company. A mutual romantic interest has, however, been sparked. This gradually blossoms as Karun occasionally bumps into Faheem when picking up food from his father’s catering business and the two men follow each other on TikTok.
There is no queer visibility in rural Kashmir. The culture is poor, very religious, brutal and macho, with few dreams realised, so the outlook for their romance is bleak. Things are not helped by Faheem’s homophobic brother Zaid (Mir Salman) who has anger management issues. Other issues include the fact that Faheem is Muslim and Karun is Hindu, and that there are outbreaks of violence nearby in the disputed territories between India and Pakistan, with Faheem and Karun’s associates on opposing sides of the feud.
 NewFest37
October 9-21, 2025 |
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