Queer Cinema at SXSW London: Finally, Front and Centre

Tomorrow, SXSW comes to London for the first time ever. And while there are plenty of headline speakers, glitzy panels and big tech announcements, one part of the programme deserves a bigger spotlight: the queer cinema slate.

Let me say it simply: I’m excited. I’m proud. And I’m already queueing.

From 2 to 7 June, Shoreditch will host the SXSW Screen Festival. This year’s screen programme is diverse, daring, and full of fresh voices, but it’s the queer films that feel especially urgent. Not because they scream to be noticed, but because they centre stories we often have to dig for. And this time, they’re right up front.

Look at the titles:

• Love and Rage: Munroe Bergdorf, directed by Olivia Cappuccini, is a bold headliner. It centres on one of Britain’s most visible trans women, showing her rage, resilience, and refusal to bend.
• How It Feels Like for a Girl, a BBC dramatisation of Paris Lees’ memoir, is also premiering. Raw, honest, and long overdue.
• Unbound by PXKRW is dark, experimental, and hard to shake. A sensory immersion more than a narrative.
• Lesbian Space Princess from Australia is exactly what it sounds like—and yet, probably nothing like you expect. It’s irreverent, animated, and hilarious.
• Cactus Pears by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade gives us a quiet, romantic moment between two men under a tree. That’s it. And that’s everything.
• The Nature of Invisible Things by Rafaela Camelo explores queer childhood and the soft power of seeing someone like you.
• Queer as Punk by Yihwen Chen is loud, Malaysian, and defiantly green (you’ll see).

This line-up isn’t just impressive. It’s affirming.

Because queer films aren’t just about representation. They are tools of memory, resistance and self-definition. For many of us, they are also the only archive we have.

To see this much care go into curating a queer film programme within the first SXSW London is no small thing. It signals that we’re not a box to tick. We’re a force in cinema. And this isn’t a side room or a midnight slot. These films are part of the main event.

I plan to attend as many as I can, not just as a viewer but as someone who remembers the years when you had to wait for a hidden DVD shelf or a 3AM broadcast to see a film that looked like your life.

Now? We’re here. We’re in the festival guide.

So if you’re around Shoreditch this week, catch one of these screenings. Bring a friend. Or better yet, bring someone who doesn’t usually watch queer cinema.

Because this is what it looks like when we move from the margins to the marquee.

And I’m thrilled to be in the front row.