Queer Wave, Cyprus’s LGBTQIA+ film festival, opens tonight in Nicosia for its seventh edition and runs until 27 September, with more than 20 screenings, four workshops and over 50 Cyprus premieres at NiMAC.
According to the organisers, the programme spans shorts, mid-length works and features across documentary, animation, essay film and historical titles, alongside two tributes and parallel events including DJ sets, runway shows and drag performances.
Opening night
The festival begins at 21:00 with a live audiovisual performance by φμδ, followed by the Cyprus premiere of Hafsia Herzi’s The Little Sister, a coming-of-age film that won the Queer Palm and the Best Actress award for Nadia Melliti at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. An opening party from Palestinian queer electronic collective DARAQ Crew, with DJs Youb and Sana Jamm, follows from 23:30.
Highlights through the festival
The ten-day programme includes Barbara Forever, a Teddy Award-winning documentary on queer cinema pioneer Barbara Hammer (19 September); Ivona Juka’s Croatian Oscar contender and Cyprus co-production Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (20 September); and A Song Without Home by Rati Tsideladze, winner of the Mermaid Award at this year’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, following a trans woman from Georgia seeking asylum in Austria (26 September).
Bearcave, the Venice-winning film by Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna Papadakis, screens on 25 September, after a planned screening in the Greek village of Paraskevi, Aigialeia, was cancelled following homophobic backlash.
The festival closes on 27 September with a sing-along screening of Jim Sharman’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Of the closing screening, the organisers said: “This one’s a must for first-timers and hardcore fans alike – it is not to be missed!”
Two audiovisual installations, Paola and Karayan, will be on display at NiMAC for the festival’s duration, paying tribute to queer figures Paola Revenioti and Andreas Karayan.
Tickets and access
Tickets are available through more.com. The opening ceremony on 18 September requires a separate ticket, while a Festival Pass covers the remaining days; organisers advised booking in advance, as box-office tickets are limited.
Queer Wave 2026 is organised by the non-profit Queer Wave LTD and funded by the Department of Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture. The festival is supported by NiMAC, the British High Commission in Cyprus, the Goethe-Institut Cyprus, the French Institute of Cyprus, the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Spain, Instituto Cervantes, Limassol Cinema Club, STYX Film Encounters, Cinobo, We Change, the AIDS Solidarity Movement/Cy Checkpoint, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, Queer Cinema for Palestine, Accept LGBTI Cyprus and Queer Collective.
The full programme is available at queerwave.com and on the festival’s social media, @queerwavecyprus.
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