The news has been heavy this week. So here’s something to put in your calendar instead: November is one of the busiest months of the year for queer film in Europe, and the season runs right into December.

Five festivals, from this weekend to mid-December. Dates are from each festival’s own site or listing; programmes can change, so check before you book.

1. MIX Copenhagen: closing this weekend

Copenhagen, Denmark · October 30 to November 8

If you’re in Copenhagen, you still have time. MIX Copenhagen, the city’s LGBTQIA+ film festival, is in its final days. The closing ceremony is on Saturday, November 7, with a screening of Warla and a Q&A at 18:30, followed by a closing party at 21:00.

The 2026 programme mixed features like Queen of Coal and Montreal, My Beautiful with documentaries including #TwoMoms, Out Laws and A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot. Earlier in the week it even ran queer speed dating.

2. Queertactics: queer feminist cinema in Vienna

Vienna, Austria · November 11 to 15

The seventh Queertactics, Vienna’s queer_feminist film festival, opens with London, which won the Queer Lion at Venice, in its Austrian premiere. The festival describes its aim as a good life for everyone “beyond gender norms, heteronormativity, ableism, classism, and racism.”

What to look out for:

  • Barbara Forever, the Teddy Award-winning documentary about experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer, plus a programme of her shorts on 16mm.
  • A restored 25th-anniversary screening of By Hook or by Crook.
  • Trans stories including Ballata Femmenella, Cuidadoras and Eu Vou Ter Saudades de Você.
  • Filmmaker Annette Kennerley in person with a programme of her shorts.
  • A party on November 13 at FLUCC Deck, and the Goldene Medusa award gala on November 15.

Screenings are at the Stadtkino, Admiral and Breitenseer Lichtspiele.

3. Outburst: 20 years of queer art in Belfast

Belfast, Northern Ireland · November 12 to 21

Outburst Queer Arts Festival turns 20 this year, billed as “eight days of new queer art, ideas and collective queer magic.” It’s not just film, but the film strand is a big one: Céline Sciamma events at Queen’s Film Theatre, including Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Tomboy, and a conversation with So Mayer.

Also on: a 20 Years of Outburst exhibition (from November 5), David Hoyle events including a Queereoke with Array Collective, and Tenderly Queer, which links queer artists in Northern Ireland and Myanmar. Two festival commissions, by Lyónn Wolf and Reuben Brown, stay up until February 14, 2027.

4. QueerCineMad: Madrid’s 31st edition

Madrid, Spain · November 10 to 26

The festival Madrid has known since 1995 as LesGaiCineMad now goes by QueerCineMad, a new name meant to reflect a wider range of identities. This is its 31st edition, with features, shorts and documentaries from around the world and a particular focus on Spanish and Latin American films, Time Out Madrid reports. Screenings are spread across venues in the city.

Heads up: listings disagree slightly on the exact dates. Time Out gives November 10 to 26; Festivales de España lists November 11 to 23. Check the official site for the day you want.

5. Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival: December

Ljubljana, Slovenia · December 7 to 14

To finish the season, Ljubljana. The LGBT Film Festival organised by the ŠKUC association reaches its 42nd edition this year. The European Film Academy’s festival guide lists it for December 7 to 14; the programme hadn’t been posted when we checked.

Before you go

  • Book early for the big nights. Openings, closings and parties sell out first.
  • Check accessibility pages. MIX Copenhagen, for one, has a dedicated venues and accessibility page.
  • Can’t travel? Write down the titles. Festival films often reach streaming or a local cinema later.

A queer film festival is one of the easiest ways into a city’s community: a dark room, a shared laugh, a Q&A, and a bar afterwards full of people who just watched the same thing you did. Enjoy it.