QUEER EXPRESSION Film Fest BEST OF THE FEST Shorts!

QUEER EXPRESSION Film Fest Announces 2025 “Best of the Fest”

Eight Short Films and Two  Feature Selected for the Summer Showcase

The QUEER EXPRESSION Film Fest, proudly presented by Open Space Arts, is thrilled to announce the eight short films and two feature-length films selected as the QE Best of the Fest. These dynamic and daring works of LGBTQ+ cinema spotlight bold storytelling and fresh perspectives from rising queer filmmakers across the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Mexico.

Feature selection are:  Storytellers: An Oral History Anthology, directed by Eric Handel, stitches together the powerful testimonies of 13 unique queer voices, creating a moving portrait of identity, memory, and resistance; and Eva i Bea, a potent conversation between a film director and actress. All selected short films are under 22 minutes in length, offering intimate and imaginative glimpses into queer lives, dreams, relationships, and resilience.

• Short Films streams August 13–27
• Feature Films 

Eva i Bea streams August 20 - September 3

Storytellers: An Oral History Anthology streams August 27 to September 10

• Tickets: $12 per program | Stream globally at OpenSpaceArts.org
  

Storytellers: An Oral History Anthology
Directed by Eric Handel (USA) – 61 min
Produced through Rainbopedia’s one-day oral history workshop, this anthology introduces 13 compelling storytellers—from a trans photographer embedded in the frontlines of political art, to a son uncovering his father’s brush with Noël Coward, to tales from LA’s punk and leather bar scenes, and a performance artist once targeted by Jesse Helms.
About the Director: A lifelong LGBTQ+ and AIDS activist, Eric Handel is the founder of Rainbopedia and a former ACT UP/LA organizer. His design and storytelling experience fuel his vision for a more inclusive queer narrative worldwide.

Eva i Bea

Directed by Nando Caballero (Spain) - 74 min

Bea is a film director who is waiting for her partner in a bar. Eva is an actress and is late for the date. They have agreed to talk about the crisis in their relationship but each one has a very different idea of ​​how the meeting will end. Cinema, job insecurity, feelings and lies will surround a conversation that will be situated on the limits of reality and fiction and that will mark their lives. After that afternoon, nothing will be the same again.

About the Director: Musician, radio host, painter, writer, festival organizer, record and literary editor... Nando Caballero is a restless artist. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to audiovisual production, making music videos, documentaries, short films, and feature films. 

all that’s left.
Directed by Fae Hartt (USA) – 17 min
A sapphic “situationship” told from the heart of Artemis, a hopeless romantic tangled in feelings for Calypso.
About the Director: Fae Hartt (they/them) is a queer NYC-based director/performer and producer with Kitchen Sink Theatre Co and Fireside Theatre Co, focusing on queer and disabled stories. faehartt.com

Fantasy
Directed by Alejandro Carrasco (Mexico) – 12 min
At a weekend party, Alex must confront what remains of his childhood friendship—and what may already be lost.
About the Director: A young filmmaker from Mexico City, Alejandro Carrasco’s first horror short screened at 25 festivals. "Fantasy" is now making the festival rounds.

Gogo
Directed by Sergio Alvarado (Canada) – 22 min
Randy, a closeted pretty boy, tries to win back his ex by scoring a Gogo Dancing shift at Pride.
About the Director: A veteran casting director, this marks Sergio Alvarado’s directorial debut.

Long Gone
Directed by Icarus Roberts (USA) – 15:21
As he battles cancer, a bitter older man reflects on a long-lost secret love.
About the Director: Icarus Roberts is a non-binary Telly Award-winning cinematographer focused on trans and queer narratives.

Man Cured
Directed by Kyle Heiner, Johan T. Anderson (USA) – 17:55
Lucas, a closeted babysitter, has a chance encounter that leads to a weekend of queer self-discovery.
About the Directors:  Kyle Heiner and Johan T. Anderson are Brooklyn based storytellers, the former making his writing and directorial debut. 

Pages in the Wind
Directed by Lucas Haviland (USA) – 14:46
While journaling in a park, Bailey reflects on a relationship with his roommate Gavin—and what might be more fantasy than fact.
About the Director: A student filmmaker at DePaul University, Lucas Haviland centers LGBTQ+ romance and introspection in his work.

Small Talk
Directed by Megan Jensen and Sofia Dixon (USA) – 8 min
High schooler Daisy’s gym class crush sparks a chaotic, dodgeball-fueled plan with help from her best friend.
About the Directors: Megan Jensen and Sofia Dixon are first-time directors and friends from Syracuse University, with a focus on queer coming-of-age stories.

XY
Directed by Stephan Fleet (USA) – 12 min
In a gritty strip mall, a repressed store clerk and a trans cam girl collide in a haunting moment of shared pain.
About the Director: Emmy-nominated VFX Supervisor and Co-Producer on Amazon’s The Boys, Stephen Fleet brings his theatrical and film production training to this moving short.

The QUEER EXPRESSION Film Fest, presented by Open Space Arts in Chicago, is a year-round celebration of bold and visionary LGBTQ+ storytelling.

The festival:

• Elevates global queer cinema, with quarterly online programs (January, April, August, November).
• Highlights marginalized voices, including trans, BIPOC, nonbinary, and drag filmmakers.
• Showcases in-person screenings at Facets in Lincoln Park, the last Monday of each month, September–June.
• Champions positive, authentic portrayals of queer life across genres and styles.
  

Mission:
Open Space Arts uses creative expression to confront homophobia and transphobia, empower queer voices, and challenge discrimination with bold, inclusive art.

To support QUEER EXPRESSION as a donor or sponsor, or to purchase tickets for the streaming events visit OpenSpaceArts.org. 

The Queer Expression Film Fest, sponsored by Open Space Arts in Chicago, is dedicated to elevating global LGBTQ+ cinema and amplifying diverse queer voices.

The festival:

• Celebrates vibrant queer storytelling, showcasing short, mid‑length, and feature‑length films from around the world that reflect the richness of queer life and identity—across narratives, documentaries, music/performance, animation, drag, and more. It welcomes nonbinary, trans, BIPOC, and drag filmmakers, emphasizing healthy and positive portrayals of romance, sexuality, and community.
  
• Promotes inclusivity and access, with films streamed quarterly (January, April, August, and November) on a secure, geo‑free platform, reaching a global audience.
  
• Provides a curated platform for works that challenge conventional norms and authentically resonate with LGBTQ+ communities—especially projects that break boundaries or resist easy categorization.
  
• Expands into live cinema, presenting in-person screenings of queer-themed feature films at Facets, an independent arthouse cinema in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, on the final Monday of each month from September through June.

• Advances the mission of Open Space Arts, using creativity to combat homophobia and transphobia, foster understanding, empower marginalized communities, and challenge discriminatory beliefs and attitudes through bold artistic expression.