Across borders, languages, and generations, this programme explores queer survival, self-expression, and chosen kinship through intimate and inventive storytelling. Blending experimental works with powerful narratives, these films examine migration, gender identity, forbidden love, cultural inheritance, and resilience against social constraint. From a transgender wizard searching for belonging to lovers reunited through memory and rebellion blooming amid political violence, each story reveals the fragility and strength of queer lives. Together, they form a moving tapestry of resistance, care, transformation, and self-acceptance.

PROGRAMME:

My love is on the reduced shelf. Dir. Leonardo Oliveira, 2:30 mins, Ireland, Experimental, 2026

My Love Is on the Reduced Shelf is an experimental short film that uses the metaphor of discounted supermarket products to explore power, desire, and intimacy within relationships shaped by migration, language, and colonial gaze.

Handwoven. Dir. Dasha Levin, Mason Cazalet, Mihika Das, Matthew Wisdom, 9 mins, India, Ireland, Mexico, United States, Experimental, 2026

A lyrical portrait of Nikyle Begay, a non-binary shepherd and weaver; working to preserve their way of life through the traditional art of weaving. 

My Comrade. Dir. Tathagata Ghosh, 24:39 mins, India, Short Film, 2025

When a wounded rebel accidentally takes refuge in the home of a tribal villager, both the men’s lives spiral into a tense interplay of politics and forbidden love. 

Circle. Dir. Ferhat Ertan, 9:38 mins, Turkey, Short Film, 2026

The chador brought to the tailor’s shop will confront Arif with his own reality once more. 

Merlyn’s Beard!. Dir. Almudena Zúñiga , 2:22 mins, United Kingdom, Short Film, 2026

It is a funny, light-hearted story filled with magic and wonder; it’s a story about self-acceptance. It follows Merlyn, a transgender wizard who really wants a beard to fit in and match his idols. He and his trusty companion, a Main coon Merp, as he is trying new and creative ways to make beards, as they go wrong and he starts to lose hope, Merp breaks him out of his spiral and helps him realise he is awesome just the way he is.

4 Better or 4 Worse. Dir. Ronjay-C Fernandez Mendiola, 17:33 mins, Philippines, Short film, 2026

Trapped in an abusive home and desperate to live as her true self, Jennifer risks everything to transition using unsafe, black-market hormones. When she reaches the verge of her death, her chosen family—Barbara, Tintoy, and Bianca—step in, joining beauty pageants to raise money for her survival. 

Abjad Hawaz (أبجد هوز). Dir. Hadi Moussally, 5 mins, Lebanon, Short Film, 2026

Blending fashion, music, poetry, and performance, the film reclaims a language often feared and misunderstood, turning it into a celebration of identity, resilience, and artistic freedom. 

The Wandering Trees. Dir. Jianan Li, 23:54 mins, China  Short Film, 2025

After watching a play about the wandering trees, a broken-up lesbian couple reunites and revisits their shared memories, exploring their current attitudes towards love to fix this doomed relationship. 

A KIN SIN. Dir. Gulzar G, 5:29 mins, Canada, Short Film, 2026

A young queer adult seeks to understand their transness amidst their familial and cultural wishes.

Screening as part of Queer Spectrum Film Festival 2026 – June 12th-14th.