The 11 Best Film Festivals for Your LGBT Short Film
If you've made a queer short film, the good news is that you're working in a genre with one of the most organized, globally connected festival ecosystems in cinema. The bad news is that navigating it without a strategy means submitting to the wrong festivals, missing key deadlines, and burning your premiere status in the wrong room.
This list focuses on short film programs specifically, not just festivals that are famous for their features. The goal is to help you find the right room for your film, whether that's the world's largest short film prize, the industry hub in Hollywood, or the most important queer cinema event in South Asia.
1. Iris Prize — Best Overall Festival for LGBT Short Films
Wales, UK · October · Deadline: approx. July · irisprize.org
If you make LGBTQIA+ short films, the Iris Prize is the single most important festival on the planet. Based in Cardiff, it offers the largest short film prize in the world: £40,000, awarded by a jury of international filmmakers, with the winner invited to make their next LGBTQIA+ short right there in Wales. The festival is BAFTA qualifying and BIFA qualifying for short films, and crucially, it has no premiere requirements at all, which removes one of the biggest strategic barriers facing short filmmakers. A partnership with Film4 means all shortlisted Best British films are broadcast on Channel 4 and available to stream for a year. If your short is ready, this is your first serious target.
2. Frameline — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in the USA
San Francisco, USA · June · Deadline: approx. March · frameline.org
Founded in 1977, Frameline is the oldest and largest LGBTQIA+ film festival in the world, celebrating its 50th edition in 2026. Based in San Francisco, it draws between 60,000 and 80,000 attendees across eleven days and attracts distributors, buyers and press from across the industry spectrum. The short film program awards jury prizes for Outstanding Narrative Short and Outstanding Documentary Short, and the festival also runs the Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grants for emerging LGBTQIA+ filmmakers under 25. For any short filmmaker trying to break into the U.S. market, this is the foundational stop on the circuit.
3. BFI Flare — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Europe
London, UK · March · Deadline: approx. December · whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare
Now in its 40th year, BFI Flare is Europe's leading LGBTQIA+ film festival, presenting over 60 short films from more than 45 countries per edition. The festival runs Five Films for Freedom in partnership with the British Council, an initiative that puts five selected shorts in front of a global audience for free for the duration of the festival. In 2025, the campaign reached 2.7 million views, with 87% of that audience coming from countries where LGBTQIA+ rights are restricted. A selection at BFI Flare means genuine global reach, not just a London screening.
4. Inside Out — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Canada
Toronto, Canada · May–June · Deadline: approx. January · insideout.ca
Canada's flagship queer film festival, held annually in Toronto, is one of the largest in the world and reflects the diversity of the city it's rooted in. Inside Out is known for its thematic programming spotlights, filmmaker brunches and strong activist programming alongside the film program. The short film competition is a serious part of the festival's identity, and Toronto's industry infrastructure means selections here often lead to meaningful follow-on conversations with producers and distributors.
5. NewFest — Best LGBT Short Film Festival for New York Industry Access
New York, USA · October · Deadline: approx. June · newfest.org
Founded in 1988, NewFest is New York's largest LGBTQIA+ film festival, screening nearly 150 films from more than 30 countries. The short film program awards a Best Narrative Short jury prize. NewFest's specific strength is its location and its network: A24, Neon, HBO, Showtime, Warner Bros. and independent distributors all attend in force. For a short filmmaker based outside the U.S. looking for American industry exposure, NewFest is a more targeted entry point than Frameline.
6. FIRE!! — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Continental Europe
Barcelona, Spain · June · Deadline: approx. March · mostrafire.com
The oldest LGBTQIA+ film festival in Spain, running since 1995 under the umbrella of Casal Lambda, FIRE!! is two weeks of carefully curated arthouse queer cinema spread across Barcelona's French Institute and several open-air venues. The festival runs a dedicated short film competition with its own jury award, and its programming sensibility leans toward cinema that is politically engaged and aesthetically adventurous rather than mainstream. For European filmmakers, it sits at a useful point on the calendar and opens a direct line to Spanish and Latin American press. Pink Screens in Brussels is worth exploring as a complementary stop in the same region, with multiple competitive short film categories including Best International Fiction Short and an animated/experimental prize.
7. Outfest — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, USA · July · Deadline: approx. April · outfest.org
Founded in 1982 and based in Hollywood, Outfest is one of the most industry-connected LGBTQIA+ festivals in the world. The festival returned in 2025 after a hiatus and has historically been the meeting point between queer cinema and the entertainment industry: studios, streamers, agents and managers attend in force. The Best Narrative Short jury award has a track record of launching careers. If Frameline is the community heartbeat of queer cinema in the U.S., Outfest is its industry engine.
8. KASHISH Pride Film Festival — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Asia
Mumbai, India · June · Deadline: approx. March · mumbaiqueerfest.com
South Asia's largest LGBTQIA+ film festival, KASHISH has been running since 2010 and is consistently rated one of the top five queer film festivals in the world. In 2025, the festival screened 152 films from 48 countries, including 20 world premieres. The short film competition includes dedicated categories for international narrative shorts, Indian narrative shorts, documentary shorts and student films, with cash prizes across categories. KASHISH was also the first LGBTQIA+ festival in India to screen in a mainstream multiplex cinema, which tells you something about the level of visibility it has managed to build within a complicated political context.
9. Festival Mix Brasil — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Latin America
São Paulo, Brazil · November · Deadline: approx. August · mixbrasil.org.br
The largest LGBTQIA+ cultural festival in Latin America, running since 1993. Mix Brasil is more than a film festival: over twelve days it takes over São Paulo with screenings, performances, panels, parties and immersive experiences, drawing over 35,000 visitors. The short film program includes a Brazilian Short Film Competition with cash prizes and a dedicated Best International Short Film audience award. For filmmakers targeting Latin American distribution, Brazilian press and Portuguese-language markets, this is the essential stop on the circuit.
10. Melbourne Queer Film Festival — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Oceania
Melbourne, Australia · November · Deadline: approx. August · mqff.com.au
The oldest and largest queer film festival in Australia, MQFF runs over ten days and screens more than 100 sessions across its program. It offers over AUD $15,000 in prize money across multiple short film categories, including Best Australian Short Film (AUD $5,000), Best Director for an Australian Short (AUD $2,500), Best Australian Documentary Short (AUD $1,000) and Best International Short (AUD $1,000). The festival genuinely invests in short film as a form, with jury and audience awards running in parallel. For filmmakers targeting the Australian and broader Oceanian market, MQFF is the most direct route in.
11. Sunny Bunny — Best LGBT Short Film Festival in Eastern Europe
Kyiv, Ukraine · April · Deadline: February · miralot.com/festivals/sunny-bunny-lgbtqia
Sunny Bunny grows out of the queer strand at Molodist, Kyiv's international film festival founded in 1970, where Andriy Khalpakhchi and Anatoliy Yerema launched a dedicated LGBTQIA+ program in 2001. Molodist was the second major international festival after the Berlinale and its Teddy Award to introduce a prize for LGBTQIA+ films, and the program has long been the leading queer cultural event in Ukraine and the wider Eastern European region. Since 2023 it has run as a standalone festival, the first of its kind in Ukraine, and it has continued to take place throughout the war. The festival runs three competitions: International Features, International Shorts and a dedicated section for Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ films, with USD 4,000 in total prize money plus the Sunny Bunny statuette. The International Short Competition accepts films up to 30 minutes in any form, from fiction and documentary to animation and experimental work, judged by its own jury, and directors of selected shorts are invited to Kyiv with four nights of accommodation covered. The festival also hosts a pitching program for LGBTQIA+ short film projects. All competition films need a Ukrainian premiere, so plan your release strategy accordingly. For filmmakers who want their work to carry real weight beyond the screening room, few festivals on the circuit matter as much right now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best film festival to submit an LGBT short film to? Iris Prize in Cardiff is the most important dedicated destination for LGBT short films, with the world's largest prize and no premiere requirements. For U.S. industry access, Frameline and NewFest are the most valuable targets.
Do LGBT short films need a world premiere for major queer festivals? It depends on the festival. Iris Prize has no premiere requirements at all. Frameline and NewFest generally ask for regional or national premieres. BFI Flare requests a UK premiere for British films. Always check the specific rules before submitting.
Are there LGBT film festivals outside Europe and North America worth targeting? Yes. KASHISH in Mumbai is South Asia's most important LGBTQIA+ film festival and runs a serious international short film competition. Mix Brasil in São Paulo is the gateway to Latin American audiences and press. Both are underused by filmmakers outside their regions.
How do I find LGBT film festivals beyond this list? This list covers the ten most strategic destinations, but there are hundreds of active queer and LGBT film festival competitions running every year. Miralot's database includes over 5,500 festival competitions across 80+ countries, with data-driven matching to surface the best fit for your specific film.
These Are 10 of Thousands
The festivals above are the landmarks, the ones every LGBTQIA+ short filmmaker should know. But they represent a small fraction of the active queer short film competitions running each year.
Miralot gives you access to over 5,500 festival competitions across 80+ countries. The platform's data-driven matching analyzes your film's genre, length, premiere status and production background to find the festivals most likely to programme it, not just the most famous ones.
Start with 10 free recommendations and see exactly where your LGBT short fits on the global circuit.