There are some great LGBTQ+ movies that are being showcased at Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) this year. Every year CIFF has been adding LGBTQ+ movies to their line up and they don’t shy away from the content that they contain, everything from coming out stories, romance, comedy, and more.

I COME HOME, directed by Glen Wood (Canada) Alberta Premiere

A polyamorous relationship already tested by an unplanned pregnancy threatens to collapse at a cottage wedding where traditional expectations collide with their unconventional family. Hannah Cheesman (HEYVIKTOR, CIFF 2023) delivers a particularly outstanding dramatic role as Christine, a woman caught between multiple internal and external pressures. Glen Wood's I COME HOME is a refreshingly authentic look at love in the modern age.

JIM QUEEN, directed by Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen (France) Alberta Premiere

Jim, sexy icon of the Parisian gay scene, sees his life turned upside down when he contracts Heterosis, a strange virus that transforms gay men... as heterosexuals! It’s then everyone turns their backs on him except for his last follower (and first admirer), Lucien, a young man who struggles to assume himself. Together, they will leave in search of a mysterious remedy capable of healing Jim and preventing the extinction of homosexuality...

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY, directed by Paloma Schneideman (New Zealand) Alberta Premiere

Summer 2006, 14-year-old Sid is caught between her own burgeoning sexual curiosity and acceptance from an older group of girls. As she delves deeper into rebellion, she leaves behind a trail of destruction as she goes.

Paloma Schneideman's BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY is both a warning cry for the young girls of today and a loving ode to the wonders that come from the exploration of youth. Newcomer Ani Palmer gives such a fully embraced performance as Sid in the film already loved by audiences at Sundance and SXSW.

THEYDREAM, directed by William Caballero (United States) Alberta Premiere

William David Caballero and his mother, Milly, come together to make sense of decades of love, loss and care giving within their Puerto Rican family in Fayetteville, North Carolina. TheyDream is the moving result of their collaboration. Home videos, family photographs, and archival audio are transformed into luminous animated sequences that bring departed loved ones back to life through their own voices.

At once an intimate family portrait and a meditation on memory, THEYDREAM asks what it means to watch our parents grow older, to carry grief across generations, and to care for those who have spent their lives caring for others. Messy, tender, and quietly profound, it explores aging, regret, resilience, and companionship with remarkable honesty.

CLUB KID, directed by Jordan Firstman (United States) Alberta Premiere

Washed-up thirtysomething New York scenester Peter (Jordan Firstman), awakening from a decade-long hangover, receives an unexpected visitor: the 10-year-old British son (Reggie Absolom) he never knew he had. The result of a lone, long-forgotten sexual encounter with a woman, the kid is in desperate need of care after his mother’s death, and though Peter has never put his heart into anything other than promoting massive parties, the experience of becoming an insta-dad prompts a reconsideration of his hedonistic, drug-fueled party boy lifestyle.

Swerving from irreverent satire to genuine pathos, this wildly funny and remarkably assured feature debut from writer-director-actor Firstman is an unusual and satisfying take on the challenges and pleasures of queer millennial living, and a loving reminder that it’s never too late to come of age.

OUT OF THE WOODS, directed by Sal Bardo (United States) Alberta Premiere

Max is slowly losing her memory. When she reunites with an old friend, Diana, a long hidden part of herself is reawakened and she's forced to choose between spending the precious time she has left with the woman she's always loved or remaining faithful to her husband.

Frances Fisher delivers the performance of a lifetime, in writer/director Sal Bardo's poignant feature film debut. Ably supported by veteran actors Mimi Kennedy and Bruce Davison, OUT OF THE WOODS is that rarest of beasts - an emotionally resonant portrait of 2 women facing a lifetime of doubts and regrets, simply for wanting to live their lives. Together.

TEST, directed by Sam McConnell (United States) Alberta Premiere

Eddie, a small-town bodybuilder chasing a professional card, lives under his religious mother Joanne. After a painful loss, he turns to veteran trainer Mike, who pulls him into the dangerous world of performance-enhancing drugs—and sparks a confusing attraction. As Eddie reconnects with his ex Abby, he is forced to confront the tension between ambition, desire and identity.

NOSOTROS, directed by Joaquín Ruano (Guatemala, Mexico) Alberta Premiere

Romero longs for something beyond the horizon. Leaving behind his wife and son in the Guatemalan highlands, he moves to the city to work as a security guard alongside a group of young men. There he meets Nubia, with whom he finds refuge, tenderness, desire, and darkness. But as tensions simmer among the guards, violence begins to encroach on their lives, exposing hidden desires, unspoken fears, and truths that can no longer remain buried.

Joaquín Ruano's feature debut is a quietly devastating portrait of intimacy under threat, featuring outstanding performances by Lola Vásquez, Jozef Coxaj and Mayra Salvador. NOSOTROS is having its world premiere in the Discovery section at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Locale Calgary |

Topic calgaryfilm | Movies |