by FilmInk Staff

Queer Screen has officially announced the winners and on-demand program for the 13th Queer Screen Film Fest, celebrating groundbreaking LGBTIQ+ cinematic storytelling from around the globe.

Emerging Narrative Feature Competition Winner: TEST

The six feature films competing in the 2026 Emerging Narrative Feature Film Competition were Jim Queen (directed by Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athané), Sweet Milk Lake (directed by Harvey Zielinski), Big Girls Don’t Cry (directed by Paloma Schneideman), The Education of Jane Cumming (directed by Sophie Heldman), Montreal, My Beautiful (directed by Xiaodan He), and Test (directed by Sam McConnell).

This year’s jury comprised Sydney-based writer and director Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks, Lonesome), prolific Australian writer and director Alice Maio Mackay (The Serpent’s Skin, Our Effed Up World), and Ing Deickman, head of programming at Golden Age Cinema and founder of Pink Flamingo Cinema.

Queer Screen is excited to announce that this year’s winner is Test, directed by Sam McConnell, with a cash prize of $2500 AUD. Oozing with intense erotic tension until its final frame, Test arrives as a gripping exploration of ambition, faith, and queer awakening. Director Sam McConnell delivers a sexy, beautifully lensed drama that brilliantly subverts standard sports-genre conventions with raw, muscular vulnerability.

Jury Statement: “A well-realised and authentically told character study with a distinct point of view. We haven’t seen another film quite like Test.”

Pitch-Off Competition Winner: FLOODCAM

The Queer Screen Pitch Off 2026 jury was composed of a talented panel of industry professionals to whom the six finalists pitched their projects: Andrew Undi Lee, an AWGIE Award-winning Korean Australian writer and director known for Night Bloomers (SBS); Zaina Ahmed, a Scripted Development Executive at SBS working across TV series like The Airport Chaplain and Homebodiesr; and Dr. Pearl Tan, a multidisciplinary creator, Directing Lead at AFTRS, host award-winning podcast ‘Diversity Work’.

Pitch-Off Finalists

  • Smoother (Director/Writer: Brandon Bentley | Producer: Andelys Aragon, Michelle St Claire)
  • Floodcam (Director/Writer/Producer: Sam Carson)
  • Riff Raff (Co-Director/Writer: Liam Coleman | Co-Director: Nicola Sercombe | Producer: Chhayly Moek)
  • The Dildo (Director/Writer: Cameron Manion | Producer: Grace Stevenson)
  • Linger (Director/Producer: Angie Kilsby | Writer: Angie Kilsby, Jon Bellebono, Matisse Laida | Producer: Matisse Laida)
  • Little Lime (Director/Writer/Producer: Caris Bizzaca | Producer: Melissa Lee Speyer)

And the winners go to Floodcam by Sam Carson, winning the cash prize of $10,000 AUD and Spectrum Films post services value of $5000.

Jury Statement: “Sam did an exceptional job pitching the ambitious vision behind Floodcam. Throughout the presentation, a unique, bold, and assured creative voice shone through, both in the storytelling and the proposed production approach. We believe this short film has the potential to make a significant contribution to Australian queer cinema, offering a fresh perspective and a cinematic experience unlike anything we’ve seen before.”

Audience Award Winner: JIM QUEEN

Queer Screen is also delighted to announce that the winner of the 2026 Queer Screen Film Fest Audience Award, Jim Queen, directed by Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athané. Jim Queen brilliantly uses queer iconography into a high-stakes survival journey. This subversively clever satire is as unapologetically sexy, quirky, and funky as it is destined for cult-classic status, driven by a pumping disco soundtrack and rendered in jaw-dropping, vibrant animation.

Festival Highlights & On-Demand Screenings

The 2026 Queer Screen Film Fest On-Demand sessions run from today until 16 September 2026 and feature Montreal, My Beautiful alongside three short film packages.

Starring Joan Chen (Saving Face, Twin Peaks, Didi) in a career-defining performance, this powerful romantic drama follows a woman discovering her queer identity later in life. Anchored by an award-winning turn from Chen, Montreal, My Beautiful is a deeply moving, beautifully lensed sophomore feature that explores late-in-life self-actualisation with rare tenderness. Director Xiaodan He treats her lead with profound nuance, exploring the intersection of immigrant realities and BIPOC queer family dynamics.

Homegrown – Sydney Shorts

Celebrate homegrown storytelling with Homegrown: Sydney Shorts, a dynamic collection highlighting the creativity and diverse lived experiences right in our own backyard.

  • Lin’s Laundromat (Australia) – Directed by Hannah Feneley & Kalliopi Nicholas (6 mins). Non-binary teen Charlie is content working at their local laundromat until their estranged father arrives wearing blue eyeshadow and holding a dress bag.
  • Queering Sydney (Australia) – Directed by Lynn Lee (10 mins). A poetic documentary following young queer people of colour navigating identity, freedom and nighttime sanctuary in Sydney.
  • Spiders on my Lashline (Australia) – Directed by Grace Tan, genderqueer pole dancer Ash takes shelter in a church following an attack, where childhood memories resurface and help them find strength again.
  • Souvenir (Australia) – Directed by Renée Marie Petropoulos, a young closeted teen on a family vacation must confront the unnerving hold her girlfriend has over her after she takes unwarranted photos of her during sex.

Pure Chaos – Comedy Shorts

Featuring the righteous French erotic comedy Dr. Poppers, the sexy rave drama Bottlecap, the riotous family drama Sunday Lunch, and the Aussie First Nations romcom G.O.A.T , this lineup dials up the absurdity to the max. It’s a riotous, laugh-out-loud celebration of queer comedy that proves sometimes life is best served with a generous side of chaos.

  • Poppers (France) – Directed by Arthur Morard, a casual hookup turns chaotic when Antoine accidentally spills poppers into a stranger’s nose, forcing the two to bond over an unwanted trip to the ER.
  • Sunday Lunch (UK) – Directed by Lyndon Henley Hanrahan, a closeted lesbian brings her girlfriend to Sunday lunch to come out to her Catholic family, but her relatives find increasingly absurd ways to stop her from saying the words.
  • O.A.T (Australia) – Directed by Kimberley Benjamin, Lilah falls hard for her new coworker but isn’t sure she’s queer, sparking a chaotic, heartfelt race to find out before she misses her chance to ask her to the NAIDOC Ball.
  • Bottlecap (Germany) – Directed by Kaytie Nielsen (5 mins). At a Berlin rave, a shy club-goer works up the nerve to approach their crush. Narrated by musician John Grant.

Trans and Gender Diverse Shorts

Moving between the high-energy grit of the Australian documentary Lesbian Mud Wrestling, the charming off-beat animation of Eyeliner, the cunty charm of Fishy and the irreverent humour of Choked, this program showcases unapologetic self-expression at its finest. It is an exhilarating, heartfelt showcase of emerging trans cinema that captures transhood in all its complexity, humour, and vitality.

  • Eyeliner (UK) – Directed by Aisha Boudjillouli, trans teen Nina discovers how differently society treats her journey into womanhood after stealing eyeliner with her best friend.
  • Choked (UK) – Directed by Travis Alabanza (10 mins). Shakona, a trans woman seeking sexual fulfilment, needs a night of self-care from the chaotic and violent outside world. Turns out, self-care for Shakona can look just as messed up.
  • Fishy (USA) – Directed by Milo Richards (17 mins). A trans pageant queen returns to the spotlight to reclaim her throne after fleeing, but as pressure begins to mount, the shadows of self-doubt around her womanhood begin to blur reality.
  • Lesbian Mud Wrestling (Australia) – Directed by Kirsty Wilson (15 mins). Every night, Kit dreams of the golden strap — the prize for Lesbian Mud Wrestling, an event that regularly takes place to raise funds for gender-affirming surgeries for legends like Kit. Screens with Bound.
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