The Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) will be held in November, featuring queer films from around the world, public programs, and special events across twelve days.

Now in its 32nd year, MQFF will feature 49 feature films and documentaries, 12 short film packages, 35 Australian premieres, and four Melbourne premieres to be shown at venue partners ACMI, Village Cinemas Jam Factory, Cinema Nova, and the outdoor Victorian Pride Centre Rooftop.

Opening the festival will be Aly Muritiba’s Private Desert, a story about a genderfluid blue-collar worker named Sara who lives as her male birth identity Robson, in an online relationship with Daniel. When Sara suddenly disappears, Daniel drives 2,000 miles across Brazil to find her – a journey of the heart that will change Sara and Daniel forever.

The screening kicks off the festival’s Spotlight on Brazil, encompassing five Brazilian films, and a Brazilian short package.

It runs right through to the closing night film, Juliana Curi, Uýra: The Rising Forest, in which Uýra, a trans-indigenous artist, embarks on a journey of self-discovery using performance art and ancestral messages to teach indigenous youth and confront structural racism and transphobia in Brazil. The film will screen at the Victorian Pride Centre.

The full MQFF program will be unveiled October 13 at mqff.com.au.