A piping hot cup of culture to boost our collective immune systems - that's what the 19th edition of our beloved Brussels Queer Film Festival is all about. This year's programme will take you around the world, from trials and tribulations to total exhilaration. With over a hundred fictional, documentary and experimental short and feature-length films, over the course of 10 days, Pink Screens will once again do its very best to deconstruct gender binaries and, of course, celebrate our diversity in all its glory. 

This year, you'll get to follow the lives of gay and lesbian peeps through towns and fields (Neubau and Le Milieu de l'Horizon, for example), watch kids who stand up for themselves no matter their age (Petite Fille) and meet old timers who are looking for more in life (Suk Suk, Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos). You'll also find some unusual but incredibly intense works of art (L'Acrobate, Vento Seco), and encounter polymorphic, proud, hairy and even steam-powered bodies. Historical memory is passed on to us by pioneering women (The Archivettes), while younger generations also claim the stage as the warrantors of a new, unwaivering sorority (Una banda de Chicas, Las Mil y Una, Meu nome é Bagda). As with every edition in the last few years, our festival is centered around a theme. In the focus films (Cyrille, Emilia, Lingua Franca and others), you'll explore this years' theme, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", discovering new narratives as our indecision is thrust into the spotlight and we are faced with the complexities of our borders and our bodies, whether that's in freedom or on the run. We'll have plenty of guests waiting for you and Sébastien Lifshitz himself will be celebrating with us as his legendary Presque Rien hits its 20 year-milestone.

If you like short films, then you'll be thrilled to see what we have in store for you - amongst the 9 short film sessions, you'll not only find our traditional "Made in Belgium" sesh, but will be happy to know that our acclaimed "TransPDGouines shorts" session is making its comeback!  

And as you all know by now, Pink Screens is not just about films: the festival also includes an art exhibition featuring 10 queer artists from a variety of backgrounds, as well as reading performances, a "Pink Tattoo" event, two "gueulantes" (coffee-house style democratic debates), and of course, discussions with the film directors. 

As ever, when you think Pink Screens, you think partying... We're still dreaming of our Pink Thursdays, and the not-to-be-missed Pink Night! The pandemic is still alive and kicking, so unfortunately our usual huge parties are looking rather impossible, but we shall see what we can do! Rest assured that next year, we'll be partying twice as hard to celebrate 20 years of Pink Screens!

Focus "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

To stay in one's village or to leave for Berlin (Neubau). To go study in Canada or get married in Chile (Los Fuertes). To rediscover one's past, to leave forever (Volta Seca), to miss the last train (More than two), to love-hate the place where one is right now and let it ruin us (Cyrille...), or on the contrary not have the right to be there (Lingua Franca), to not bear distance yet be attached to it (Emilia), to discover one's white privilege when travelling to a foreign country (Shams), or to feel foreign where one was born (Futur Drei), to finally arrive to one's final destination (Isha, Marco, On my way)... Arrivals, departures, returns and hesitations are overflowing in many films this year... It's not about being right or wrong, but about the fragility and boldness that back up the final choice. 

Safe Screens