It’s official – Queer East Festival is back in London, and this time, it’s louder, bolder, and far more fabulous than ever. Running from 23 April to 18 May 2025, the festival’s fifth edition is its most expansive yet. With hundreds of films, electrifying live performances, experimental art exhibitions, and a brand-new literature programme, Queer East is taking over the capital.
Queer East Festival takes over London’s creative scene
Born in 2020 to spotlight the underrepresented voices of LGBTQ+ artists from East and Southeast Asia, Queer East Festival has quickly become one of London’s most provocative, passionate, and powerfully political cultural events. It began as a film festival, but this year it’s a full-blown cultural rebellion. And trust us, it’s glorious.
Think of it as a genre-smashing celebration. It’s where sweaty cinema seats, black-box theatre, edgy literature panels, and immersive installations collide. Shoreditch’s love for pushing creative boundaries? This festival speaks your language – loudly and unapologetically.
The film programme: from cult classics to queer futures
Let’s start with the big screen. Screenings stretch across London’s most iconic venues — from BFI Southbank and Rio Cinema to ICA. The film selection is vast and vivacious. Opening with the UK premiere of Kubi (Takeshi Kitano, 2023), a historical epic dripping in tension and swagger, and closing with Edhi Alice, a trans documentary from South Korea, this year’s programme refuses to play it safe.
Other film gems include Crazy Love (Michio Okabe, 1968) — a chaotic, radical slice of 1960s Tokyo, and We Are Here, a deeply moving documentary on lesbian advocacy in China. These films don’t just tell stories; they shake the walls.
Shoreditch spirit lives in Queer East’s art explosion
Here’s where it gets seriously Shoreditch. The group exhibition { guttural },,,{ fleshless } takes over QUEERCIRCLE, East London’s LGBTQ+ arts gem, from 26 April to 17 May. This cross-disciplinary playground of visual art, game design, sculpture, and performance art is unapologetically visceral. It’s multi-sensory, participatory, and slightly chaotic — just how we like it.
Curated by Aki Hassan and april forrest lin 林森, the show features everything from speculative gamemaking by Dri Chiu Tattersfield to performances by Clarinda Tse and ZULAA. There’s even an acupressure workshop — because wellness is queer too.
Live theatre and dance that hit deep
Over at The Barbican, prepare for the international premiere of When the cloud catches colours (24–26 April), a delicate and haunting tale of two queer Singaporeans growing older. It’s tender, political, and intimate — all the things great theatre should be.
If dance is more your vibe, Winnie Ho’s aWokening at The Place (16 May) blends physical performance, immersive scenography, and culinary metaphor. Yes, you read that right. Ho uses wok chi — the fleeting fire of stir-frying — as a metaphor for queer diasporic life. It’s sensory. It’s smart. And it’s unapologetically spicy.
Introducing the literature programme: stories that stick
New for 2025, the Queer East literature programme dives deep into writing that challenges the canon. Don’t miss talks with Xuanlin Tham on Revolutionary Desires and queer sci-fi legend Chi Ta-Wei, whose cult novel The Membranes still feels eerily ahead of its time. Workshops and panels explore queer storytelling from across Asia — bold, brainy, and beautifully written.
The Beyond programme: stretching borders and bending genres
The Beyond programme takes the festival’s ambition up a notch, expanding its reach to Central and South Asia. Collaborations with SQIFF (Scotland’s queer film fest) mean we also get a taste of Scottish-Asian queerness. This is intersectionality in action — messy, diverse, global.
It gets even juicier. The Expanded film strand isn’t just about watching — it’s about doing. We KNEAD to talk (Nandal Seo, 2024) is a dumpling-making film-meets-workshop at the Museum of the Home, followed by a chat on food, identity, and queerness. Meanwhile, Things and Tingling is a midnight screening-meets-shibari performance that dives into material fetishism, live. We know. We’re booking tickets too.
Don’t miss it – and don’t come quietly
So whether you’re a film geek, performance art addict, literature nerd, or just here for the vibes, Queer East Festival 2025 is unmissable. It’s a month-long culture shock in the best possible way — and it’s rewriting London’s queer cultural playbook.
Tell your mates, book your tickets, and prepare to be moved. This isn’t just a festival. It’s a movement.
