Welcome to Our Unofficial Queer Film Guide to IFFR 2025
Discover the vibrant, diverse, and boundary-pushing world of queer cinema at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2025! 🌈✨ This independent overview highlights films exploring LGBTQIA+ themes, featuring stories of love 💕, identity 🪞, transformation 🦋, and resilience 💪. From powerful transgender narratives to heartfelt coming-out journeys, and from non-binary representation ⚧️ to compelling explorations of queer relationships 🤝, these films celebrate the beauty and complexity of LGBTQIA+ experiences.
Whether you’re looking for groundbreaking transgender documentaries 🎬, sapphic love stories 💖, flamboyant drag performances 👑, or thought-provoking non-binary art films 🎭, our guide brings you the most exciting queer titles at this year’s festival. 🌟
Explore the intersection of art 🎨, activism ✊, and identity 🏳️⚧️ through a rich tapestry of storytelling. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to spotlight the LGBTQIA+ gems 💎 at IFFR 2025!
(Note: This page is independently curated and is not affiliated with the official IFFR program.)
¡Caigan las rosas blancas!
In this genre-hopping road movie from The Daughters of Fire (2018) director Albertina Carri, Violeta, the director of an amateur lesbian porn hit, is invited to make a mainstream crossover. With a budget and cast, but no idea where to go, the crew head off in search of their perfect film.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/caigan-las-rosas-blancas
Big Talk: Cheryl Dunye & Albertina Carri
Argentinian director Albertina Carri returns to Rotterdam to present her latest film (¡Caigan las rosas blancas!, IFFR 2025) as part of the Big Screen competition, after her Hubert Bals Fund-supported first feature No quiero volver a casa was screened in 2001. Liberian-American filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, who made history as the first out black lesbian to direct a feature film with The Watermelon Woman (IFFR 1997) will be presenting her upcoming project at this year’s Cinemart.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/events/big-talk-cheryl-dunye-albertina-carri
Boxing Against the Binary
“Every body can exercise and move,” a member of Rotterdam-based Queer Gym explains; however, not every person feels comfortable in typical sports environments that often hone in on heteronormative beauty ideals and fitness aspirations. That’s why Romy started Queer Gym, a safe space in Rotterdam, where queer folk can comfortably enjoy sports and exercise. Through intimate conversations with members, trainers and owner Romy, Esmée van Loon’s endearing portrait reveals a true physical need for spaces where queer communities can discover their own strengths.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/boxing-against-the-binary
Correct Me If I’m Wrong
In this vulnerable documentary, the filmmaker captures how their family resorts to spiritual interventions in an attempt to rid them of their queer identity. The grandmother believes they must be possessed by a ‘demon girl’ – the unborn girl their mother was forced to abort before she became pregnant with Hao. Undergoing prayers, therapies, treatments and ceremonies, Hao paints a wry portrait of these complex relationships with admirable clarity and compassion.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/correct-me-if-im-wrong
Endless
In this defiantly trans and experimental vision of filmmaking, the nonbinary X embarks on a labyrinthine journey of bodies, sex and transformation. Made by a group of queer artists, this conceptual yet sensual dreamscape of a film forges a radical new cinematic language.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/endless
IFFR Pro Dialogue: The State of Queer Film – Creating and Showcasing Works of Radical Expression, Activism and Transition
Shows of “IFFR Pro Dialogue: The State of Queer Film – Creating and Showcasing Works of Radical Expression, Activism and Transition”
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/events/iffr-pro-dialogue-the-state-of-queer-film-creating-and-showcasing-works-of-radical-expression-activism-and-transition
Prayer for Tending Death
A queer performance for transforming violence into healing. A traditional dance and its costumes to counter colonial legacies. A peaceful ritual for diluting the imposing masculinity of the cockfighting arena, their sharp damaging spurs, their intense cigar sucking. The Nicaraguan multidisciplinary artist Elyla, amidst masks and fumes, creates a purifying and festive prayer, a serene ceremony of alternativity for tending death.
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/prayer-for-tending-death
Rains over Babel
A peculiar reimagining of Dante’s Inferno as a choral queer drama. Set in an urban scene, the action revolves around a bar where several characters have dealings with the incarnation of Death. Psychedelic, mystical and drenched in a camp, tropical spirit!
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/rains-over-babel