Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival Announces Full Lineup

The following is a press release from EDGE OUTreach partner Reeling Film Festival

Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival today unveiled its full slate of screenings and programs for the 43rd edition of the second-oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world. This year’s Festival runs September 19 - 28, 2025 with screenings at Chicago’s Landmark Century Centre Cinemas (2828 N. Clark St.) and Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema (1326 W. Hollywood Ave). The program boasts 38 feature films and 59 short films, organized into 10 shorts programs. This year’s films hail from 31 countries around the world including Croatia, Cuba, Spain, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, The Netherlands, and Iceland.

The Festival opens with Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese’s sapphic animated cosmic quest LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS, and features Narrative Centerpiece SHE’S THE HE, a hilarious and sincere trans coming-of-age story from director Siobhan McCarthy; and Documentary Centerpiece IT’S DOROTHY!, Jeffrey McHale’s exploration of Oz through the women who have portrayed its iconic heroine.

The Festival will host the World Premiere of CENSURADA, director Mario Garza’s heartfelt romance about an organist’s forbidden love affair with the town firecracker in 1969 Spain; and the U.S. Premieres of J. Markus Anderson and B. Robert Anderson’s visually inventive IF YOU SHOULD LEAVE BEFORE ME, in which a married couple guides the recently deceased into the afterlife; and A FEW FEET AWAY, wherein 20-year-old twink Santiago spends a night searching hookup apps and visiting sex clubs, seeking an elusive connection in Tadeo Pestaña Caro’s drama.

Local connections in this year’s festival include Chicago-based Jack Newell’s AMERICAN SCHEMERS, a comedy that follows two flamboyant con artists who pose as heirs to a deceased socialite; and the Documentary Centerpiece film IT’S DOROTHY! directed by Columbia College alum Jeffrey McHale. Local films are also showcased in shorts programs LOVE SONGS FOR OURSELVES, LITANY FOR SURVIVAL, MANSHOTS, MY LOVER IS A WOMAN, and QUEER JOY.

Noteworthy stars in the lineup include Alan Cumming in DRIVE BACK HOME, Asia Kate Dillon (BILLIONS, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) in OUTERLANDS, Tom Blyth (HUNGER GAMES) and Russell Tovey (LOOKING) in PLAINCLOTHES, and John Waters, who appears in two documentaries (IT’S DOROTHY! and VELVET VISIONS).

Films in Reeling that have received other film festival accolades include the Croatian Oscar submission BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY, which won the Frameline Audience Award for Best Film;  PLAINCLOTHES, winner of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; RAINS OVER BABEL, winner of Best Film at Inside Out Toronto; and CACTUS PEARS, which won both the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Dramatic at Sundance and the Best Feature Film Award at SXSW London. 

Reeling’s programmers have curated a diverse set of films that span the queer experience. “At a time when our community is too often presented as statistics or threats, it is essential to show that behind every headline is a heartbeat,” said Reeling programmer Tatum Yancey. “With films like DREAMERS – written and directed by a queer, African immigrant – audiences transport to a world of two undocumented African women who find love in a government detention center, and Narrative Centerpiece SHE’S THE HE – which was made almost exclusively by a trans, nonbinary, and queer crew – Reeling’s selections throughout the festival portray the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people around the world, showcasing the absurdity, the drama, the fears, and the romance that make us all human.” 

Encounters between gay men navigating the onset of a new relationship, or an avoidance of one, is a prevalent theme at Reeling in films such as DEPARTURES, about two men who meet at an airport gate and spark a relationship with mismatched expectations; A NIGHT LIKE THIS when two strangers meet in a cold December night in London and go on a citywide quest together; DRUNKEN NOODLES, in which a young art student has a series of unexpected intimate encounters over two summers; A FEW FEET AWAY, about the predicament of a 20-year old who spends his nights on dating apps and realizes a potential hookup is physically close to him but remains elusive; QUEERPANORAMA, which follows a man who impersonates the men he has sex with by adopting their persona in his next encounter; and even a relationship with a dog-man in Argentinian director Marco Berger’s (THE ASTRONAUT LOVERS) whimsical tale of flirtatious desire and the dangers of getting too attached in PERRO PERRO.

Lesbian-themed films in Reeling include LAKEVIEW, a hilarious inside look at sapphic friendships as seven women have their personal, sexual, and romantic lives thrown into disarray when they gather to celebrate one friend’s divorce; and SISTERS, a sweet snapshot of the intimate relationship between two sister-like friends as it’s tested by the discovery of a half-sister. 

Transgender and nonbinary stories are explored in several feature and short films in Reeling. In addition to the teen satire SHE’S THE HE, highlights include ODD FISH, an Icelandic film set in snow-dusted fishing village that’s shaken up when a restauranteur comes out as trans; OUTERLANDS, a SXSW standout in which a drifting gig worker in San Francisco becomes the unexpected guardian of a young girl, inciting a beautifully shot, emotionally raw journey through queer identity, broken trust, and the fragile act of starting over; and REALLY HAPPY SOMEDAY, a transmasculine theater performer fights to keep his dream alive amidst their vocal changes and rising doubts.

Period films that illuminate the realities of queer people in the past include CENSURADA, a lesbian film set in 1960s Spain; BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY, which follows four closeted filmmakers fighting to survive state surveillance, repression, and betrayal in post-WWII Yugoslavia; JIMMY, the fictionalized story of James Baldwin’s move to Paris in the 1940s in search of a more welcoming place for a Black queer writer; and the more recent setting of 1990s New York City in PLAINCLOTHES, about the entrapment of gay men cruising in restrooms.

Reeling’s hark to the past also features actual vintage films from the 1970s and ‘80s, such as the newly restored experimental curiosity PINK NARCISSUS (1971), whose filmmaker was so afraid of exposure that the directing credit was originally ANONYMOUS until James Bidgood finally claimed this homoerotic dreamworld of intense colors, magnificent music, elaborate costumes, and strikingly handsome men. Bidgood’s story is also the subject of the new documentary showing at Reeling, VELVET VISION: THE STORY OF JAMES BIDGOOD AND THE MAKING OF PINK NARCISSUS, which delves into Bidgood’s life as he breaks from a 40-year hiatus to shoot once again. 

Other documentary highlights include BEAR WEEK DIARIES, Antongiulio Panizzi’s bold and intimate exploration of love, desire, and community during Bear Week in LGBTQ+ haven Provincetown, Massachusetts; THE SILENCE OF MY HANDS, in which a deaf queer couple grapple with a long-distance relationship, from director Manuel Acuña; and Juru & Vitã’s THIS IS BALLROOM, an insider look at ballroom culture in Brazil.

Films from 1971-88 to be shown on 16mm are featured in the PICTURE RESTART SERIES, a monthly program of Reeling sponsor Chicago Filmmakers. HIS SACRED FLESH spotlights four films by men yearning for spiritual physicality, including experimental filmmakers Edgar Barens, James Broughton, James Herbert, and Ronald Chase.

Reeling also partners with Asian Pop-up Cinema to co-present two films from Taiwan in this year’s lineup, including DAUGHTER’S DAUGHTER, starring legendary Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang as the mother of a lesbian daughter who must decide what to do with her embryo after her daughter has died; and director Leading Lee’s THE TIME OF HUAN NAN, a tale of time travel and forbidden love set in the Huan Nan Market in 1991. Director Leading Lee and producer of DAUGHTER’S DAUGHTER Shiny Fang are expected to attend the screenings. The program is sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago.

Ticketing Information

Tickets are available online at  www.reelingfilmfest.org  beginning August 12, or at the theater’s box office on the day of the screening. Tickets are $15 ($12 for members) for regular screenings at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema and Chicago Filmmakers’ Firehouse Cinema, with the opening night film $18 for the film only ($15 for members) or $55 for the film and after party ($50 for members). Passes are also available for purchase, and members receive discounts on tickets and passes. 

Sponsors

This year Reeling’s presenting sponsor is Chicago Filmmakers, with support from corporate sponsors Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace, Steamworks, Uberlube, and MISTR; and media sponsors GoPride Corporation / Chicago Pride, Nexus Radio, EDGE Media Network, WBEZ, Boi Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Windy City Media Group, and 107.1FM CHIRP Radio. 

ABOUT REELING: THE CHICAGO LGBTQ+ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Reeling is the second longest-running film festival of its kind, showcasing a wide range of queer cinema — from international and local narrative features to documentaries and shorts. Reeling is a production of  Chicago Filmmakers , a 50+ year-old not-for-profit media arts organization that supports independent filmmakers through education, funding, workforce training, equipment access and other services and resources. Chicago Filmmakers provides film lovers with fresh and compelling work through regular screenings as well as two festivals: Reeling and The Onion City Experimental Film Festival.