This week sees the 27th Edition of the annual PROVINCETOWN FILM FESTIVAL with five days of “unflinching cinema”.  Like the Cape Cod town it is situated this is one of the most diverse film festivals ever in the US, and like its population, has a very significant queer presence.

As usual they have curated the perfect eclectic program made more the exciting by the fact it contains a few debuts from new filmmakers as well a few of pour favorites.  When we are not watching movies we will be looking outto  catch sight of some of the expected ‘guests’ who will include Murray Bartlett who will be  in Conversation with Christine Vachon of Killer Films, plus  Filmmaker on the Edge Ari Aster in Conversation with our own John Waters and Next Wave Award Honoree River Gallo receives their award during PONYBOI post-screening Q&A

Here then are QUEERGURU’s TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE QUEER FILMS: 

CACTUS PEARS is about Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) a single 30-something-year-old man who lives in Mumbai and whose father has just died.  His grief is exasperated as he has to go back to his family home in a remote village and participate in the 10 days of mourning after the funeral.  It means that he will face the inevitable question of why he is still unmarried.This excellent unpredictable slow-burning love story is the debut feature from writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade and gives us a beautiful insight into the struggles of being one’s true self in a community that doesn’t recognize individuality or any deviance from the norm.  The fact that it’s based on a semi-autographical story gives it such authenticity which combined with such nuanced performances from the two main actors make it a glorious addition to the canon of Indian queer cinema.  It deservedly won Sundance’s 2025 Winner Grand Jury Prize

ENIGMA : made by the trans filmmaker Zachary Drucker, who, in this documentary, has paired the life of April Ashley, a legendary much-beloved Brit trans life story from the 1960s with that of French pop singer/model Amanda Lear.  By the end of this 95min film from HBO, you eventually realize why Drucker chose to show both of these trans women’s lives side by side, but whilst it serves to show April as the most courageous and honest woman, Amanda paints herself as someone still in total denial of her life story even when she is presented with indisputable facts of her reality  UNMISSABLE

HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY Since the hate-spewing Trump was returned to the White House to begin his vicious campaign of revenge and retribution, the silence from the Democrats and the opposition has been deafening. It’s as if they all gave up collectively and rolled over to play dead.  Thus, watching Sam Feder‘s excellent doc HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY at its is perfect timing. It’s the story of the battle to preserve trans rights in this extremely paranoid political climate that seems hell-bent on destroying that community.

Even though the odds are stacked against them the fight to preserve trans rights is very much alive and in the good hands of Chase Strangio.  He’s a trans lawyer and activist, and the deputy director for transgender justice and staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.  His passion for his work is exhilarating and infectious, and it is impossible not to feel so completely involved as Feder follows him preparing to be the first ever trans person to argue a case in the US Supreme Court. 

Plus check out our exclusive interview with filmmaker Sam Fedder HERE

The JIMMY in the title is of course James Baldwin the writer and civil rights activist and he is served well in Yashaddai Owens’s impressionistic narrative debut. Shot in evocative black and white on textured 16mm stock, this almost dialogue-free feature evokes the freewheeling spirit of 1920s city symphony films. What particulary resonated with us was  that the documentary on this iconic queer figure goes past his past all his later fames, and also show him  as a young soul liberated by fresh desires and experiences.  Boy could we do with him back with us now!

The Librarians. This latest film from Academy Award Nominee Kim Snyder first came on our rader because Queerguru is based in Florida part of the year.  Great State ….sh…y homophobic Governor.   Snyder spotlights librarians who are at the center of book bans–in places like Texas and Florida–the film highlights how they join together and support each other while politicians are there to criminalize librarians’ work. She doesn’t flinch away from the scorn librarians receive, which can make for a harrowing watch; footage from community meetings see local members proudly expressing their hatred for the ways librarians are indoctrinating their kids with “woke ideas” involving issues of race and the LGBTQ+ community

PLAINCLOTHES Top of our list this year of highly anticipated movies was this feature film debut of writer/director Carmen Emmi. His PLAINCLOTHES is a love story that turns into a thriller set in 1997 that reminds us of how our community was harassed and persecuted as some authorities still bore anger that homosexuality had been legalized. Starring Brit heartthrob Russell Tovey, the ‘love story’ part of Plain Clothes is both sad and sexy but it is impossible not to be totally captivated.  The sad part is that although this is set in the dark part of queer history, in this present uncertain political, it could very easily rear its ugly head again 

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 carried a high expectation that this was such a new addition to the queer canon. This 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. 

Spiritus: No Business Like Dough Business Last but not least is this affectionate portrait of one of the most cherished hang-outs in PTown and the total charmer who is the  “paterfamilias”. Towns like ours can only survive  if they have a John Yingling (aka Jingles) as he always generously ploughs back so much into our community without making a song and dance of it.  He’s not just a folk-hero but a very good friend too. The film is a little rough around the edges but in this instance that’s not that important ….. and it should be compulsory viewing for everyone who calls this little spick of land at the end of Cape Cod home.