Best of the Fest -Fall 2026

Five Streaming Programs Celebrating LGBTQ+ Cinema

Presented by Open Space Arts, Chicago

QUEER EXPRESSION: BEST OF THE FEST celebrates outstanding films selected from the QUEER EXPRESSION Film Festival, bringing powerful stories of love, identity, community, history, and resilience to audiences everywhere.

Beginning November 18, Open Space Arts will present five specially curated streaming programs, with a new program premiering each Wednesday. Each program will be available online for a limited two-week viewing period.

Discover exciting new voices, unforgettable personal stories, and remarkable LGBTQ+ filmmaking from around the world.

QUEER EXPRESSION: BEST OF THE FEST
Streaming Schedule — November–December 2026

PROGRAM A — SHORT FILMS
November 18, 2026

PROGRAM B — LOVE, DESIRE, AND IDENTITY
November 25, 2026

PROGRAM C — QUEER LIVES AND RESILIENCE
December 2, 2026

PROGRAM D — ENCUERADOS
December 9, 2026

PROGRAM E — IL ROSA NUDO: DIRECTOR'S CUT 2026
December 16, 2026

Each program will be available to stream for 14 days beginning on its premiere date.

Presented by Open Space Arts | QUEER EXPRESSION Film Festival

OpenSpaceArts.org

A vibrant collection of LGBTQ+ short films exploring family, relationships, personal identity, and the often surprising paths toward self-discovery.

Country: United States
Director: Jayme Coveliers
Running time: 7 minutes, 53 seconds

Sayed moves through the echoes of a loved one, uncovering memories and reflecting on the life they shared.

Country: United States
Director: Adia Ivey
Running time: 12 minutes, 16 seconds

A talented hairstylist, desperate to hold on to her favorite client—and secret crush—finds herself spiraling out of control as her dreams begin to go up in flames.

Country: United States
Director: Lizbeth Calleja
Running time: 15 minutes, 29 seconds

When her only daughter announces that she's moving away, Estella, a codependent mother, must confront the possibility of building a life of her own for the first time in decades.

Surrounded by familiar routines and nosy neighbors in her desert mobile home community, Estella takes an unexpected leap into the dating world, beginning a journey of self-discovery.

Additional short films to be announced.

Two distinct explorations of love, relationships, and the search for authentic connection, revealing how personal identity shapes our relationships with others and ourselves.

Country: United States
Director: Alex ByTrade (he/him)
Running time: 43 minutes

A live visual album inspired by the filmmaker's personal experiences with romantic turmoil and the recurring patterns of gay dating.

Structured around a series of missed telephone calls from friends and family, the film explores the advice, insights, and alternative perspectives offered by those who care about us.

Moving chronologically from past to present, ARLO & THE OTHERS begins with the excitement and humor of romantic encounters before gradually confronting deeper questions about vulnerability, emotional connection, and what it means to love and be loved.

Country: Iran
Director: Zahra Mohsen-Zadeh
Running time: 22 minutes

Mahtab, a deaf transgender woman, is preparing for gender-affirming surgery with the support of her mother.

Meanwhile, her partner Matin, a transgender man from Afghanistan, faces a painful choice as the Taliban advances across his homeland in August 2021.

As uncertainty grows, their relationship becomes a refuge amid displacement, offering an intimate portrait of love, identity, and the search for belonging.

Additional films to be announced.

Two compelling documentaries illuminate the courage, creativity, and determination of LGBTQ+ people who build community and protect one another, even when confronted by institutional discrimination and political hostility.

Country: United States
Director: Christopher Sanders
Running time: 58 minutes

CORPS MAN reveals the previously untold true story of Mexican American combat corpsman Dave Lara and his fellow servicemen, known as "The Group," who shared a dangerous secret during the Vietnam War.

For the first time on film, Lara recounts how these gay men navigated a hostile military and society at a time when openly acknowledging their identities could lead to criminal prosecution and the destruction of their careers.

Through one veteran's remarkable recollections, the documentary uncovers a hidden chapter of LGBTQ+ military history and celebrates the bonds of friendship, courage, and survival.

Country: United States
Directors: Talia Sprague (she/her) and James Wieners (he/him)
Running time: 27 minutes

During the spring of 2025, as LGBTQ+ communities face renewed political attacks under the second Trump administration, queer residents across Central Illinois create spaces where they can express themselves and support one another.

From local drag performances in Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington to a queer musician in Peoria and the founders of a high school Gay-Straight Alliance in Tuscola, the documentary introduces people whose struggles and successes reveal the meaning of community in an uncertain political era.

An intimate celebration of LGBTQ+ resilience beyond America's major metropolitan centers.

Additional films to be announced.

Country: United States
Director: Orlando Bedolla
Running time: 60 minutes
Documentary

ENCUERADOS chronicles the year-long experiences of nine Latino men involved in the leather community, with particular attention to the historic achievement of Leo Iriarte, the first Latino man to win the title of Mr. Los Angeles Leather.

Through the personal stories of nine trailblazers, filmmaker Orlando Bedolla explores the importance of representation and leadership within leather competitions and major gatherings, including International Mr. Leather, Up Your Alley, Folsom, CLAW LA, and Pride celebrations.

The documentary challenges stereotypes surrounding Latino masculinity, kink, and fetishes while examining how individuals create visibility, solidarity, and community within an often-misunderstood culture.

ENCUERADOS is a celebration of Latino LGBTQ+ identity and a call for greater acceptance, representation, and understanding.

Country: Italy
Director: Giovanni Coda
Running time: 70 minutes
Language: Italian with English subtitles

Inspired by the life of Pierre Seel and his autobiography, co-written with French LGBTQ+ rights activist Jean Le Bitoux, IL ROSA NUDO (NAKED ROSE) confronts the persecution of homosexuals under the Nazi regime.

Seel was just seventeen years old when he was arrested and deported to the Schirmeck internment camp near Strasbourg in May 1941.

There he endured torture, humiliation, and unspeakable violence because of his sexual orientation. Among his most devastating experiences was being forced to witness the brutal murder of his lover, an event that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Through experimental imagery and historical reflection, director Giovanni Coda brings attention to a chapter of LGBTQ+ history that remained largely unacknowledged for decades.

This special presentation features the film's 2026 director's cut, offering audiences an opportunity to experience Coda's haunting and deeply personal examination of persecution, memory, and survival.

All five BEST OF THE FEST programs are presented online through QUEER EXPRESSION, a program of Open Space Arts.

Each program will be available for a limited two-week streaming window beginning on its scheduled premiere date.

OPEN SPACE ARTS
Chicago, Illinois
OpenSpaceArts.org

Open Space Arts amplifies LGBTQ+ voices and challenges homophobia and transphobia through theater, film, community, and art.