Queer East Festival Returns to London This April and May: 6 Projects Not to Miss

For its sixth and most expansive edition to date, Queer East Festival returns to London this spring with a vibrant celebration of queer cinema, performance, and visual culture from East and Southeast Asia – and, for the first time, Central and South Asia. With over 100 titles and a bold new strand spotlighting diasporic stories and experimental forms, this year’s programme explores the ever-evolving intersections of identity, memory, and resistance. Below, Something Curated highlights six standout projects from across the line-up that deserve a place on your radar.

Kubi

Takeshi Kitano returns with this visceral and darkly humorous historical epic set in 16th-century Japan. With its stylised violence and sardonic edge, Kubi upends the ideals of masculinity and honour enshrined in samurai cinema, delivering a twisted, unforgettable spectacle that’s been 30 years in the making. Power-hungry warlord Oda Nobunaga navigates a treacherous world of political alliances and simmering homoerotic tension among his vassals. When a rebellion threatens his control, Nobunaga launches a blood-soaked pursuit of loyalty and vengeance. This UK premiere also serves as the festival’s Opening Night gala.

23 April, BFI Southbank, 18:00

Under the Moonlight

Set in a rare Islamic boarding school for transgender women in Yogyakarta, Under the Moonlight is a quietly radical portrait of resistance, care, and everyday joy. As threats from the outside world loom – police harassment, violent religious fundamentalism – the women carry on with prayer, cooking, gossip, song, and mutual support. Tonny Trimarsanto’s documentary brings warmth and empathy to its subject, illuminating the power of community in the face of systemic oppression. The UK premiere will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

29 April, BFI Southbank, 18:00

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

After the death of his boyfriend, teenager Zion escapes into the neon-drenched night of Manila, finding solace and danger in a makeshift family of street hustlers. As Zion drifts further from home, he’s pulled into a surreal road trip with new companions – and old ghosts. Directed by Petersen Vargas (2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten), this haunting and visually lush feature blends realism with fantasy to explore grief, sexuality, and the yearning for connection.

29 April, Barbican Centre, 18:20

1 Girl Infinite

Lilly Hu’s audacious debut feature captures the raw intensity of teenage queer love with fearless energy and visual flair. Set in Hu’s hometown of Changsha, China, the film follows Yin Jia and Tong Tong, two girls navigating co-dependence, disillusionment, and desire inside the confines of their tiny flat. When one begins a relationship with a local drug dealer, the dynamics between them shift dangerously. Loosely based on lived experience, 1 Girl Infinite is a blistering, intimate coming-of-age story and a vivid portrait of queer girlhood on the margins.

3 May, Rio Cinema, 15:30

Land, Body and the Sacred: Filipina Ecotransfeminism

Curated by Giulia Casalini, this multidisciplinary event reclaims ancestral knowledge through the lens of ecotransfeminism. Featuring two films – Transpositions and Diwata – and a live pole dance performance, this programme explores precolonial mythology, gender fluidity, land-based spirituality, and the sacredness of queer and trans bodies. Drawing from shamanistic and animist traditions of Mindanao, the event invokes the embodied histories of Filipina communities as a source of resilience, ritual, and transformation across borders.

15 May, Rich Mix, 20:00

Kuch Sapney Apne

This bittersweet Indian drama follows Kartik and Aman, a gay couple in Mumbai whose relationship is tested by infidelity and emotional distance. As tensions mount at home, Kartik’s parents face their own personal crossroads. A follow-up to director Sridhar Rangayan’s Evening Shadows, the moving short explores love, forgiveness, and the quiet resilience of queer relationships – all set to a soundtrack of original songs. This film is part of the Belonging and Becoming: Queers Across the Waves programme.

18 May, Rich Mix, 13:00

Queer East Festival 2025 runs from 23 April to 18 May at venues across London, including BFI Southbank, Barbican Centre, ICA, Rio Cinema and more. For tickets and the full programme, visit queereast.org.uk.



Feature image: Still from Diwata, included in Land, Body and the Sacred: Filipina Ecotransfeminism. Courtesy Queer East Festival