Chéries-Chéris 2026: what to watch at Paris's LGBTQIA+ film festival

From 14 to 24 November 2026, the Paris International LGBTQIA+ Film Festival celebrates its 32nd edition with 85 features and 79 short films from more than forty countries. That is a record for Chéries-Chéris, which welcomed over 22,000 people last year.

With 164 films on the programme, knowing where to start is not easy. Here are our picks, whether you are in Paris for one screening or for the whole week.

Practical information

Dates: Saturday 14 to Tuesday 24 November 2026
Cinemas: mk2 Beaubourg (3rd arrondissement), mk2 Bibliothèque (13th), mk2 Quai de Seine (19th)
Forum des images (1st): heritage screenings, masterclasses, panels and workshops
Programme, showtimes and tickets: cheries-cheris.com
Subtitles: many films are in languages other than French, but subtitling varies by screening. Check each film's page before booking.

Opening and closing nights

The Blood Countess, by Ulrike Ottinger

On Tuesday 17 November, the festival opens with a gothic fantasy by Ulrike Ottinger, a major figure of European queer cinema. Isabelle Huppert plays the Bloody Countess in a baroque, irreverent tale. Austria.

La Bola Negra, by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo

Winner of the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival, the film by "Los Javis" closes the festival on Tuesday 24 November, with both directors in attendance. A story about queer memory and what one generation passes on to the next. Spain.

Special screenings not to miss

Several eagerly awaited auteur films are shown out of competition as special screenings.

Les Braves by Lukas Dhont (Belgium): the director of Girl and Close takes on the war film.
Roma Elastica by Bertrand Mandico (France): a baroque melodrama from the director of The Wild Boys.
The Man I Love by Ira Sachs (USA, France), from the director of Passages.
Plainclothes by Carmen Emmi (USA): a psychological thriller set in the police.
Un détour par Diane by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni (France, Belgium): a contemporary western.
Le Reflet by Marco Berger (Argentina).

For genre film fans

This year, queer cinema takes on horror and thrillers head-on.

Silencio by Eduardo Casanova (Spain): vampires and gothic horror, from the director of Skins.
No Salgas by Victoria Linares Villegas (Dominican Republic) and No Rest for the Wicked by Kasper Kalle (Denmark, Iceland): two possession films.
La Professeure de français by Ricardo Alves Jr. (Brazil, Portugal, France), in competition: a psychological thriller.
Labrador: autopsie du silence by Rodrigue Jean (Canada).
Warla by Kevin Zarate Alambra (Philippines): a crime story.
Lady Champagne by D'Arcy Drollinger (USA): the women-in-prison film reinvented with burlesque and camp.

Worlds rarely seen through a queer lens

Several films in competition point the camera where you would not expect it.

Du fioul dans les artères by Pierre Le Gall (France): the daily life of truck drivers.
Jaripeo by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig (Mexico): a documentary about Mexican rodeo.
Fantasy by Kukla Kesherović (Slovenia, North Macedonia) and Le Procès by Kai Stänicke (Germany): working-class and rural lives.
House with a Voice by Kristine Nrecaj and Birthe Templin (Albania) and Petits dérapages by Daniel Nolasco (Brazil), in the documentary competition.

Queer animation, after the success of Jim Queen

After an animation focus last year and 400,000 admissions for Jim Queen, the festival keeps exploring the genre. Two animated features are in competition:

Tangles (Méli-Mélo) by Leah Nelson (Canada, USA), adapted from Sarah Leavitt's autobiographical graphic novel.
ZsaZsa Zaturnnah by Avid Liongoren (Philippines, France), a burst of colour from Filipino animation.

Nine short films also make up the animation competition, including Gemma from Gobelins and Mon nom est Lilith by Leo Luna Robert-Tourneur.

Documentaries

Kitkatclub: Kinks of Berlin by Philipp Fussenegger (Germany, Austria), in competition: inside the famous Berlin club.
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders by Jeffrey Schwarz (USA).
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee (Canada), about the trans soul singer.
Hunky Jesus by Jennifer M. Kroot (USA).
Papas : une révolution silencieuse by Jordan Goldnadel and Charlotte Karas (France).
Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions by Michelle Mama (Canada).

Classics, tributes and heritage

The festival also screens films that paved the way, a chance to discover or rewatch them on the big screen.

Classics with Le 7e Genre

Savage Nights (Les Nuits fauves) by Cyril Collard (France, 1992)
Mysterious Skin by Gregg Araki (USA, 2005)
High Art by Lisa Cholodenko (USA, 1998)
The Devil Queen (A Rainha Diaba) by Antônio Carlos Fontoura (Brazil, 1974)

Tributes

Barbara Hammer, pioneer of experimental lesbian cinema, with The Female Closet and the documentary Barbara Forever by Brydie O'Connor. Nathalie Magnan, with four films including Lesborama. Rosa von Praunheim, at the Forum des images, including It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (1971).

1970s French gay adult cinema

At the Forum des images, a tribute to Norbert Terry and François About, two figures of 1970s French gay adult film, with four titles including Jeune proie pour mauvais garçons (1977).

Pyjama party

Muriel's Wedding by P.J. Hogan (Australia, 1994), an all-time cult favourite, screened as a pyjama party. Dress accordingly.

Short films

With 79 titles, the shorts are a good way into the work of emerging filmmakers. They are split into four competition programmes:

Queer and trans programme (22 films)
Gay programme (27 films)
Lesbian programme (17 films)
Animation programme (9 films)

Frequently asked questions

When is the Chéries-Chéris film festival 2026?

The 32nd edition of Chéries-Chéris runs from Saturday 14 to Tuesday 24 November 2026 in Paris.

Where are the screenings?

In three mk2 cinemas (Beaubourg, Bibliothèque and Quai de Seine) and at the Forum des images, which hosts the heritage screenings, masterclasses, panels and workshops.

Which film opens Chéries-Chéris 2026?

The Blood Countess by Ulrike Ottinger, starring Isabelle Huppert, on Tuesday 17 November. The festival closes on Tuesday 24 November with La Bola Negra by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, with both directors in attendance.

How many films are screened?

85 features and 79 short films from more than forty countries.

Are the films subtitled in English?

Subtitling varies by screening. Check each film's page on cheries-cheris.com before booking.

To keep the night going after the screenings, find every LGBTQ+ event in Paris this November on the queer.paris agenda.