Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival 2026 Is Now On-Demand – Until March 9
If you missed Queer Screen’s 33rd Mardi Gras Film Festival (MGFF26) in Sydney, good news, the on-demand program is live now, and you have until 11:59 pm on Monday, 9 March to catch it.
The festival ran from 12 to 26 February 2026, packing 139 feature films, documentaries, and short films from 38 countries into its program, with 64 Australian premieres among them. The on-demand offering brings a strong selection of that program to your screen from wherever you are.
What’s in the program?
There is a lot to choose from. Jimpa, the festival’s opening night film, directed by Sophie Hyde (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande) and starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, is a warm, multi-generational family story that premiered at Sundance in 2025. It sold out in-cinema sessions fast.
Other standouts include The Chronology Of Water, Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir and starring Imogen Potts. I Was Born This Way is a joyful documentary about Carl Bean, the singer behind the 1977 gay anthem of the same name, featuring Lady Gaga and Billy Porter. There’s also The Little Sister, which won both the Queer Palm and Best Actress for Nadia Melliti at Cannes, and A Useful Ghost, a Grand Prix winner at Cannes Critics’ Week starring Thai actress Davika Hoorne.
For something with a bit more edge, Pillion pairs Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in a kinky dom-com, while Tiger offers an erotic portrait of Japan’s hidden gay subculture. Short programs covering comedy, horror, trans stories, sapphic cinema, and more round out the list.
How does it work?
The on-demand program is available to audiences in Australia only. You book your session through Queer Screen’s website before the 9 March deadline, and once you press play, you have a 72-hour window to finish the film. A Watch It All Pass covers the entire on-demand program, so if you’re planning to binge, that’s the way to go.
Queer Screen has been running this festival for 33 years, and Programming and Industry Manager Andrew Wilkie put it plainly: “At a time when our community is facing increased persecution both here and abroad, particularly our trans siblings, seeing authentic LGBTQIA+ stories on our screens is more important than ever.”
Browse the full on-demand program at queerscreen.org.au.
