Curated by Queer Lisboa programmer Ana David, and Caio Amado Soares, filmmaker and visual artist whose work focuses on trans and queer experiences, this year's Queer Focus is dedicated to ‘trans cinema,’ which has been gaining ground in recent years due to the growing multiplicity of stories it offers and, to some extent, the moderate visibility of those who make them. While it is true that trans characters in cinema are more abundant now than ever before, it is equally true that the films that circulate most widely and reach a general audience are not written or directed by trans artists. The festival thus proposes a reflection on a set of issues that the emergence and affirmation of this cinema has been facing. Based on the simple premise of considering only films made by trans persons, the thematic focus presents two feature films and a programme of short films, opening up space for multiple expressions and seeking to build a place of affirmation.

An essential work of queer and trans cinema, premiered in 2001 at Frameline, San Francisco's queer film festival, By Hook or by Crook, by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard – also the protagonists of this fiction – is the timeless buddy movie, with an indie spirit and filmed on video. This classic, presented in a recently restored digital version, tells the story of Shy, who, evicted after his father's death, goes to the big city to immerse himself in a ‘life of crime,’ where he meets Valentine, an adopted man searching for his biological mother. The film is a portrait of an unlikely friendship, based on mutual support, complicity and shared dreams. Also returning to the festival is Swedish filmmaker Ester Bergsmark with Something Must Break, her first feature film, winner of the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the 18th edition of Queer Lisboa in 2014, with the awards for Best Feature Film and Best Actress. At its centre is the young adult Sebastian/Ellie, whose identity as a woman grows within her as she experiences an intense love affair with Andreas, a straight guy. A film that is an intimate and empathetic portrait of the search for identity and affirmation.

Finally, the selection of short films, predominantly documentaries produced between 2022 and 2025, includes autobiographical accounts by their artists, such as in Dreams of Sunlight through Trees, by Theo Jean Cuthand, The Light that Covers the Wounds, by Pol Merchan, or in The Growing Edge, by Ian Kaler (screened as a complement to Something Must Break); the experience of black, young, and queer identity in the US in a community context in a_blurred_fluxx_00.avi, by Osadolor Osawemwenze; or proposals that offer broader thematic angles based on personal stories, such as in Life Story, by Jessica Dunn Rovinelli, a portrait of the academic McKenzie Wark, or When We Dead Awaken, by Portuguese filmmaker Paula Tomás Marques, who released her first feature film this year, Two Times João Liberada, which will be Queer Porto’s opening film.

Following the screening of the short film programme, on 25th September at 6 pm in Sala 2 of Cinema São Jorge, there will be a conversation with Ian Kaler, Paula Tomás Marques, Pol Merchan and Theo Jean Cuthand, moderated by Ana David and Caio Amado Soares.

New titles announced:

QUEER FOCUS: “Did You Say You Were Trans?”

a_blurred_fluxx_00.avi, Osadolor Osawemwenze (USA, 2024, 26’)
By Hook or by Crook, Harry Dodge, Silas Howard (USA, 2002, 90’)

Dreams of Sunlight through Trees, Theo Jean Cuthand (Canada, Austria, 2024, 16’) 

The Growing Edge, Ian Kaler (Austria, Germany, 2025, 17’) 

Life Story, Jessica Dunn Rovinelli (USA, 2024, 10’)

The Light that Covers the Wounds, Pol Merchan (Spain, Germany, 2024, 12’) 

Something Must Break, Ester Bergsmark (Sweden, 2014, 81’)
When We Dead Awaken, Paula Tomás Marques (Portugal, Spain, 2022, 10’)