Sundance 2026: 14 must-see LGBTQ+ films

The Sundance Film Festival has been one of the premier destinations for queer independent film for over 40 years. Classic queer productions like Y Tu Mamá También, Paris Is Burning, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Tangerine have all debuted at the festival over the years.

Now, as the festival prepares for its final year in Park City, Utah, before moving to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, the slate of new movies has been announced, and it includes quite a few queer films we can't wait to see.

From genre films and documentaries to coming-of-age stories and romances, there's a wide variety of films for queer to excite audiences at the festival and beyond. Here are 14 to look out for.

Learn more about the 2026 Sundance Film festival at sundance.org.

'Barbara Forever'

This documentary from Brydie O'Connor tracks the life, work, and legacy of iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer.

'Big Girls Don't Cry'

New Zealand filmmaker Paloma Schneiderman writes and directs this film that takes place over one transformative summer in rural New Zealand in 2006. It follows 14-year-old Sid Bookman as she discovers desire, identity, and the internet as she imitates the people she longs to be loved by.

'The Brittney Griner Story'

Filmmaker Alex Stapleton explores the circumstances that led to WNBA star Brittney Griner playing basketball outside the U.S. despite being one of the best players in the sport, including her harrowing Russian detention, unwavering determination to secure her freedom, and her advocacy for the release of other wrongful detainees.

'Extra Geography'

This film from director Molly Manners and writer Miriam Battye takes place in an English girls' boarding school where two teenage best friends grapple with the challenges of girlhood, including friendship, boys, studies, and growing up, as well as working on their school project, falling in love.

'Give Me the Ball!'

This documentary from directors Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff follows tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King with archive footage and candid interviews to reveal how she put changing the world ahead of saving herself.

"I Want Your Sex'

Legendary filmmaker Gregg Araki returns to Sundance with this new comedy about fresh-faced Elliot, who lands a job with artist and provocateur Erika Tracy, and sees his fantasies come true as she taps him to become her sexual muse, drawing him into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder. Starring Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, and Charli XCX.

'Jaripeo'

This documentary journeys to Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos and descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing, leading to a reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.

'LADY'

Olive Nwosu's film taks place in the sprawling African metropolis of Lagos, where a fiercely independent young cab driver meets a band of radiantly reckless sex workers whose sisterhood pulls her into danger, setting her on a journey toward her own transformation.

'Leviticus'

This Australian film follows two star-crossed teenage boys who must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most.

'Mysterious Skin'

Gregg Araki's classic 2004 coming-of-age story stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet as two boys whose lives take different directions following sexual abuse as children.

'Public Access'

This documentary takes an unprecedented look inside one of the greatest media experiments to hijack American screens through rare archives from New York's underground public access. The film shows a world of creators who shattered rules, defied censors, and transformed televisions into a free-speech battleground.

'Tell Me Everything'

Amid the late ’80s pop craze and rising HIV epidemic, 12-year-old Boaz uncovers a devastating secret about the father he idolizes that threatens to tear his family apart. Across a years-long journey, Boaz seeks to heal the wound and reclaim the father-son bond he never stopped yearning for.

'Theydream'

After 20 years of chronicling his Puerto Rican family, a director and his mother face devastating losses in this documentary. Through tears and laughter, they craft animations that bring their loved ones back to life, discovering that every act of creation is also an act of letting go.

'zi'

Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jin Ha star in this film set in Hong Kong, where a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night.