Queer East is a cross-disciplinary festival that showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities. The festival seeks to enable a platform for creative voices to explore the contemporary queer landscape across East and Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2020, Queer East was established in response to the systemic lack of Asian representation on the big screen, on stage, and behind the scenes. By working collaboratively with allies across the film, arts, and cultural sectors, we aim to challenge conventional norms associated with race and gender, and to join forces in bringing about change in screen culture.

The festival holds its main edition in venues across London and has toured over 20 locations in the UK and Europe. We host screenings in cinemas, art spaces, museums, and cultural and community venues, and are committed to diverse programming: features, shorts, experimental films, artists’ moving image works, and live arts are all welcome. To learn more about our programming, please visit the festival page for previous line-ups.

The sixth edition of the Queer East Festival is currently planned for April-May 2025 in venues across London, with its nationwide tour, On the Road, set to take place in autumn 2025.

The early bird deadline for submissions is 17 November 2024, and the regular deadline is 12 January 2025. To submit and read the full rules and terms, please visit our Film Freeway page.