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Outshine Film Festival - Fort Lauderdale
Thursday, 15 October 2026 until Thursday, 22 October 2026
WE ARE A LGBTQI+ FESTIVAL, THEREFORE ALL OF THE FILMS SUBMITTED MUST HAVE CONTENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE THEME.
OUTshine is South Florida's premiere showcase for LGBTQ+ films producing a large scale festival in the Fall (October) and Spring (April) .
OUTshine Film Festival - Fall Edition is a critically acclaimed event, based in the world-renowned South Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
The 17th Fall Film Festival will take place from October 16 - 26, 2025. We will be HYBRID with both IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL screenings. IN-PERSON October 16 - 23 in Fort Lauderdale and October 24 - 26 in Miami and VIRTUAL October 27 - May 2.
OUTshine is committed to its mission: To inspire, entertain and educate the public, encourage a sense of community through international and culturally diverse film, video and other media that offer historical and contemporary perspectives on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.
The festival has grown from a 3-day event in which 25 films were presented to the current format of 10 days with 65+ films. OUTshine is an internationally acclaimed event serving as a platform for numerous World Premiers, North American Premiers and East Coast Premieres.
CASH PRIZE OF $1,000 FOR WINNERS OF AUDIENCE AWARDS - BEST FEATURE, BEST DOCUMENTARY AND BEST SHORT WILL BE AWARDED THE CASH PRIZE.
A COMPLETE LIST OF AWARDS ARE BELOW:
Best Full Length Feature: Audience Favorite Selection ($1,000 CASH PRIZE)
Runner-Up Best Full Length Feature: Audience Favorite Selection
Best Documentary: Audience Favorite Selection ($1,000 CASH PRIZE)
Runner-Up Best Documentary: Audience Favorite Selection
Best Short: Audience Favorite Selection ($1,000 CASH PRIZE)
Runner-Up Best Short: Audience Favorite Selection
Best Full Length Feature: Jury Selection
Runner-Up Best Full Length Feature: Jury Selection
Best Documentary: Jury Selection
Runner-Up Best Documentary: Jury Selection
Best Short: Jury Selection
Runner-Up Best Short: Jury Selection
Programmers Award For Excellence (award at discretion of Programming team)
2026 films...
An Island Away From You (A Una Isla De Ti)
Bea Arthur: The Documentary "I've Done Everything Except Porn"
Celebrating South Florida Films & Filmmakers: The Old Man And The Parrot, Duke, Brackish & Hogar
It's Ladies' Night: Ladies' Shorts Program
Scissors
Hannah Alline, 12 minutes, USA
A slasher with a grudge meets his match when a group of queer friends on a weekend getaway turns his killing spree into a bloody night he never saw coming.
I Hate Helen
Katie Lambert, 7 minutes, United Kingdom
Priya hates Helen. She hates her in the canteen. Hates her in science. Especially hates her at swimming. Mostly, Priya hates the way Helen makes her feel. This film is an exploration of the rising tide of lust in teen girls and how confusing that time can be.
Eri
Yano Honami, 12 minutes, Japan, In Japanese with English subtitles
In a world where dairy cows must bear calves to survive, Eri, a Holstein, falls in love with another cow. Her sighs linger through sleepless nights — will they find their way to the one she loves?
Full Fat
Louisa Connolly-Burnham, 9 minutes, United Kingdom
Grace and Bels do everything together. They live together, spend every waking moment together, and have even slept together. The only problem? Grace is in love with Bels, and Bels has a new boyfriend. Something has to give.
An Inclination
Ciara Ní É, 13 minutes, Ireland, In Irish and English with English subtitles
Peigí is discovered in a bedroom she shouldn't be in.
Beyond the Waves: The Ballad of Alba (Sobre las Olas: La Balada de Alba)
Juan Carlos Palazuelos Covarrubias and Ximena Flores Fregoso, 30 minutes, Spain, In Spanish with English subtitles
In 1897 Sinaloa, Mexico, Alba, a mysterious fisherwoman, takes a runaway bride named Aurora aboard her rowboat, embarking on an adventure across the sea to change their fate and, along the way, find themselves intertwined forever.
Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders + Welcome To The Tool Shed
The Boy With The Light Blue Eyes
We’ll Find Happiness (On Sera Heureux)
Where The Men Are: Men's Shorts Program
Geronto
Mark Pluck, 19 minutes, United Kingdom
Based on true events, GERONTO is a short LGBTQ+ coming-of-age drama about
longing, connection, and self-discovery. Set over the course of one night in the late 2000s, the story follows Younger, a man in his 20s, who meets Older, a man in his 60s, at a discreet London pub. What begins as a tender and intimate connection soon fractures under the weight of a painful misunderstanding in a nearby hotel room, forcing both men to confront their deepest fears. GERONTO sheds a light on the often-taboo subject of gerontophilia, and challenges societal boundaries around age and desire. Delicate yet daring, the film offers a quietly radical portrait of queer intimacy across generations.
Method Cowboy
Carlos Valdivia, 13 minutes, USA
When a struggling actor feigns being gay to land the role of a lifetime in an Oscar-bait Cowboy Western, he decides to transform himself for the role, blurring the lines between reality and performance.
something still
Ariel Mahler, 18 minutes, USA
A heartbroken man returns to the home he shared with his ex-boyfriend, where visceral memories force him to confront the fissures that led to their parting: when the 'casual threesome' they planned evolved into something more.
The Man in the Showers (Douches Pour Hommes)
Hakim Atoui, 14 minutes, France, In French with English subtitles
Skander is ten. Brought to the local swimming pool by his little sister’s babysitter, he steps into the men’s showers for the first time. There, he encounters a moment that awakens something in him : a first, unexpected erotic shock that will stay with him forever.
Yellow Bucket
Simon Brooke, 15 minutes, UK
A gay teenager becomes concerned when he suspects his well-meaning parents may be attempting to influence his younger brother's sexual orientation through unconventional scientific methods.
KILORAN BAY
Michale Bruce 13 minutes, United Kingdom. United States
Starring Alan Cumming and Jack Wolfe, Kiloran Bay is a 13-minute musical short set amid the wild beauty of the Scottish Hebrides and the fierce joy of a wedding cèilidh. A moving story of queer joy and self-acceptance, it follows a man returning to his hometown, where he faces the forces that drove him away.
Out of Checklist
Roman Němec, 26 minutes, Czechia, In Czech with English subtitles
Twelve-year-old, hyper-rational David pays an unannounced visit to his father's Prague apartment. Following a coming out and a subsequent divorce, his father lives alone and already has weekend plans. In a pinch, he convinces the only person available – a hook-up from Grindr – to look after David for the weekend. What could possibly go wrong?