Scene
Manchester LGBTQ+ Film & TV Festival
Thursday, 20 August 2026 until Thursday, 27 August 2026
Scene Festival takes over Manchester ahead of Pride weekend for a celebration of both new and classic LGBTQ+ cinema and television.
Expect classics, timeless queer camp films, TV shows, documentaries, feature films, previews of fresh content and shorts as well as Q&As, events, parties and more.
Screenings are hosted on screens in spaces throughout the city including outdoor screens, traditional cinemas and pop-up spaces in iconic venues.
2026 films...
Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging
Castration Movie Chapter iii. Junior Ghosts—Premorphic Drift; a fragmentary passage
Heartstopper Forever - In Conversation with Alice Oseman
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
It’s A Sin – Full Series Screening and Panel
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders
Moonlight - 10 Year Anniversary
St Trinian's (2007) Party Screening
Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma
The Serpent's Skin + Queer Horror Shorts
Short films...
Aks: Trans Stories Across South Asia
Darling
By: Saim Sadiq, Pakistan, 2019, 16 min, Urdu with English subtitles
An erotic dance theatre in Lahore prepares for a new show just as a sacrificial goat goes missing, a dreamy trans girl played by Alina Khan vies for the spotlight, and a naive young boy falls in love. In this award winning short fiction, Saim Sadiq simply digs a hole into human emotions to confront societal oppression and injustice towards minorities.
Happy Marriage
By: Sana Jafri , Pakistan, 2020, 11 min, Urdu with English subtitles
A strong-willed trans woman played by Alina Khan encourages her lover to get married to a woman of his family’s choosing as his masculinity is questioned by his friends and family.
Vadhai
by: Claire Pamment, Pakistan, 2020, 20 min, Urdu, Punjabi with English subtitles
Khwaja sira performances of “Vadhai” devotional songs, dances, prayers, and comic repartee celebrating weddings and births, are the central to community identity. Following Guru Amber’s Toli in Lahore, this documentary explores the kinship, beliefs, joy, and economies that sustain these vibrant street performers.
RAJA BRO - Acceptance Story of an Indian Transman
By: Sridhar Rangayan, India, 2021, 26 min, Hindi, Marathi with English Subtitles
Raja Bhau is a heartfelt portrait of Merlin, an Indian trans man’s journey toward self-acceptance and family acceptance. Supported by his mother and extended family, Merlin embraces his identity after a courageous transition. Now proud of who he is, he finds strength through fitness, work, and a renewed sense of belonging.
FOUR FIFTY-FIVE ML
By: Mahnoor Zaidi, 7 min, Pakistan, 2020, Urdu with English subtitles
In response to a call for blood donations for a critically ill boy with a rare blood group, Kausar, a middle-aged trans-woman, rushes through the busy streets of Lahore.
Mujra
by: Saadat Munir, Pakistan, 2012, 5 min
Mujra is an experimental video exploring the unique performance tradition of Lahori Khawaja Siras, reflecting on an art form often overlooked as culture yet vital to the trans* community’s survival and livelihoods.
Iris Prize Best British Shorts announcement
Between Breath & Silence (2026)
Directed by Nicole Pott
Written by Thomas Sargeant
Set across one day, ‘Between Breath and Silence’ follows Tom as he sits with his dying father. Surrounded by family and the quiet presence of a palliative care worker, Tom is forced to confront the love, guilt, and unspoken truths that have shaped his relationship with his father. Inspired by a true story, the film explores how connection can exist even when words fail.
Acting Up! Forty Years of George House Trust (2025)
Directed by Nathaniel J Hall
Staff, volunteers, and activists reflect on forty years of Manchester-based HIV charity George House Trust (@georgehousetrust) in this powerful short documentary.
Skate Like A Lass (2026)
Directed by Juliet Klottrup
Shines a light on peripheral skateboarding communities for women, marginalised genders, and LGBTQIA+ people in the North West of England.
ORIGINS x SCENE Northern Shorts Showcase
PROTEST! - CONDENSATION Short Film Premiere
SCENE Northern Shorts Showcase
BABA (dir. Adam Ali and Sam Arbor),
Maghreb’s Hope (dir. Bassem Ben Brahim)
What Do the MakninesDream Of (dir. Sarra Ryma)
its nice and calm here for sure. there’s so much i wish i could've done. but now all i can do is this :( (2025, USA, 3’)
Dir. / Writ. Orla Meyer & Alex Hickey
Two children find each other under strange circumstances.
Lost Bois (2024, USA, 4’)
Dir. / Writ. Devyn Galindo
A hedonistic and gritty exploration of the lives of three rebellious trans bois in New York City.
Purebred (2025, Northern Ireland, 15’)
Dir. / Writ. Caleb J. Roberts
During a heatwave, a trans man returns to the flat of his on-off-again lover after taking a pregnancy test.
Not Exactly Strangers (2025, USA, 15’)
Dir. / Writ. Ryan Rox
A tipsy hookup between a Latine trans woman and a skater boy from her past transforms into a tender story of forgiveness, self-worth, and the messy beauty of post-surgical sex.
PHOBOSPLUNKER (2026, Ireland, 4’)
Dir. / Writ. Bee Mulvihill
A hungry inventor must traverse the inside of her own mind in order to track down the source of sudden, wormy hallucinations.
RAT+CAMMIE=FOREVER (2025, Canada, 12’)
Dir. / Writ. Marissa Sean Cruz
Meeting on a digital self-help app and united by unrealized aspirations, a sentient webcam and an isolated ratgirl’s late night conversations develop into a profound connection.
Gamètes (2024, Belgium, 16’)
Dir. Nova Lov
Before she starts hormones, Nova is tasked with masturbating into a cup for fertility treatments. It’s an awkward endeavour – until Nova’s T4T lovers infiltrate the hospital to help get her off in spite of the clinical setting.
Rat Trap (2025, USA, 15’)
Dir. / Writ. Anaïs Alias & Avery Jaye
Ratgirl Angel has an easy rat life until she’s captured by a pervert ratologist. First Angel is subjected to orgasmic experiments in rat-human transgenesis–then she becomes Dr. Fontina’s plaything.