Brussels Queer Film Festival 2025: Pink Screens in Belgium

Khoshnaw Rahmani, Jadetimes Staff

K. Rahmani is a Jadetimes news reporter covering culture.

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Image Source: Pink Screens

Introduction — the news in brief

From 30 October to 10 November 2025, Brussels will host the 24th edition of the Pink Screens Queer Film Festival, bringing a curated program of feature films, documentaries and shorts to Cinema Nova, Cinema Galeries, Cinema Aventure and other cultural venues across the city. This year the festival expands its footprint with screenings reaching Ghent for the first time and a program of more than 150 films that explores migration, low‑budget queer filmmaking and contemporary Spanish queer cinema among other themes.

Part I — Festival overview and this year’s program highlights

·      Dates: 30 October–10 November 2025.

·      Core venues: Cinema Nova, Cinema Galeries, Cinema Aventure and additional Brussels cultural spaces; program elements also take place in Ghent as part of the festival’s 2025 outreach.

·      Organisers: the festival is presented by the Brussels queer arts collective Genres d’à côté under the Pink Screens banner.

·      Scale and scope: the 24th edition comprises over 150 films — features, shorts, fiction and documentary — alongside panels, workshops, parties and community screenings; curated strands this year include “Queer Attitudes” (migration and LGBTQIA+ identities), “Queer & Cheap” (low‑budget cinema) and a spotlight on Spanish queer cinema in collaboration with cultural partners.

Part II — What audiences can expect in 2025

·      Opening and closing events at central arthouse venues with national and international guests engaged in Q&A sessions and masterclasses.

·      Retrospectives and “Pink Memories” screenings dedicated to landmark LGBTQIA+ films designed to trace cinematic lineage and community memory.

·      Community outreach: youth‑focused screenings, access initiatives and multilingual subtitling to broaden accessibility and cross‑generational engagement.

·      Live culture: festival parties and public events such as “Jeudi du Pink” at established queer nightlife venues, blending cinema with performance and community celebration.

These audience elements reflect the festival’s stated programming objectives and recurring features reported by local cultural outlets and the festival’s schedule.

Part III — Origins and history: tracing Pink Screens’ development

Overview statement: Pink Screens has evolved from a local queer film initiative into one of Europe’s most resilient grassroots queer festivals, now entering its 24th edition and operating across multiple venues and cities in Belgium. The following historical outline draws on the festival’s public profile, program archives and contemporary reporting.

·      Early phase and formation: the festival emerged from Brussels’ grassroots queer cultural scene and a network of local cinephile collectives, establishing a recurring annual program that foregrounded LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and community‑driven curation.

·      Institutional growth and consolidation: over time Pink Screens professionalised programming while retaining activist roots, increasing the number of venues, collaborating with city cultural departments and attracting international submissions and guests.

·      Programmatic expansion and thematic innovation: the festival broadened its remit to include retrospectives, thematic strands (gender diversity, migration, queer aging) and partnerships with cultural seasons and international festivals, reflecting an editorial commitment to both discovery and critical engagement.

·      Recent milestones: the 24th edition’s expansion to Ghent and a lineup of over 150 films marks a new outreach phase for the festival, signalling growth in audience demand and institutional partnerships in Belgium’s cultural network.

Where possible, historical claims in this section are anchored to the festival’s public materials and reporting that document continuity and scale across editions.

Part IV — Programming philosophy and curatorial priorities

Pink Screens balances cinematic discovery with civic purpose. Its curatorial practice typically emphasizes:

·      Visibility and plurality: programming under‑represented national and international queer voices across different aesthetics, languages and production scales.

·      Political engagement: films and events foreground questions of migration, social rights, queer aging and intersectional identities, encouraging debate and solidarity beyond festival walls.

·      Experiment and accessibility: an inclination toward hybrid, experimental and low‑budget formats that challenge mainstream festival norms while maintaining practical access (subtitles, sliding‑scale tickets) for diverse audiences.

·      Community rootedness: collaborations with local LGBTQIA+ organisations, youth groups and grassroots venues create pathways from screening rooms to activism and social support.

These priorities are consistent with the festival’s public statements and programming patterns reported by local cultural press.

Part V — The festival’s cultural and social significance in Brussels and Belgium

·      Urban visibility: by occupying central arthouse venues across Brussels, Pink Screens transforms civic cultural spaces into accessible moments of queer visibility and community conversation.

·      Cultural ecology: the festival acts as a nexus connecting filmmakers, activists, educators and cultural institutions; it supports distribution channels for queer cinema that might otherwise be marginalised in mainstream circuits.

·      Audience development: youth screenings and outreach programs foster intergenerational dialogue and cultivate the next generation of queer audiences and film‑makers.

·       Festival programming that foregrounds migration and intersectionality contributes to broader conversations about belonging, asylum, civic rights and cultural recognition in Belgian public discourse.

These impacts are derived from the festival’s stated aims and media reporting that highlights its role as both a cultural event and social platform.

Part VI — A complete description and explanation of how Pink Screens operates (logistics, programming loops, partnerships)

Organisational model

Genres d’à côté, the collective behind Pink Screens, combines volunteer curatorial labor with institutional partnerships to run year‑round activities and an intensive festival period in autumn. The model mixes grassroots activism with municipal collaboration to secure venues, funding and accessibility programs.

Programming cycle and submission pipeline

·      Call for submissions and curated invitations run year‑round.

·      Program selection balances international premieres with national works and archival restorations.

·      Workshops, panels and community events are scheduled alongside screenings to create a multi‑dimensional festival experience.

Funding and partnerships

Pink Screens typically relies on a hybrid of municipal cultural support, ticket revenue, grants, and sponsorships; partnerships with cultural seasons and international festival networks help secure guest participation and programming exchanges.

Volunteer and community networks

Volunteers, local queer associations and venue staff form the operational backbone during the festival run, providing front‑of‑house, accessibility services and outreach that sustain the festival’s local legitimacy.

Part VII — Comparative analysis: Pink Screens and peer queer film festivals worldwide

Pink Screens sits within a global ecosystem of queer film festivals. Key comparisons illuminate differences in scale, mission and cultural context:

·      Frameline San Francisco: one of the oldest and largest queer festivals with substantial municipal support and wide distribution networks; Frameline operates at larger scale and with more institutional resources, while Pink Screens retains a more grassroots, locally embedded curatorial identity.

·      BFI Flare London: a major European platform with strong industry linkages and visibility; BFI Flare functions within a national film institute framework, contrasting with Pink Screens’ collective, activist roots.

·      OUTshine and NewFest (US): these festivals combine local community programming with strong national curatorial profiles; Pink Screens is comparable in programming ambition but differs in its explicit activist programming and accessibility priorities.

·      MIX Copenhagen and Berlins Queer Film Festival variants: share experimental, critical programming and strong political engagement; Pink Screens aligns with these festivals in foregrounding experimental and low‑budget queer cinema but scales its local outreach to Brussels’ civic network.

·      Regional peers: festivals such as Merlinka (Belgrade) and Roze Filmdagen (Amsterdam) share cross‑border programming and a focus on social rights; Pink Screens differentiates itself through specific local themes (migration in Belgium, multilingual audiences) and recent intra‑national expansion to Ghent.

Comparative takeaways: Pink Screens is distinctive for its long‑standing grassroots origins, sustained local integration and its deliberate programming that weaves activism, accessibility and cinematic experimentation — positioning it as a mid‑sized, high‑impact festival within the European queer festival circuit.

Part VIII — Audience, outreach and accessibility strategies

·      Accessibility: the festival emphasises multilingual subtitles and sliding‑scale or reduced pricing to lower barriers to attendance; youth screenings and community slots are intentionally scheduled to welcome diverse audiences.

·      Outreach: partnerships with local cultural centres, schools and community organisations extend festival programming beyond cinemas and into public cultural life.

·      Digital programming: while Pink Screens prioritises theatrical communal experience, recent editions have experimented with hybrid or streamed elements to reach diasporic and provincial audiences.

·      Impact measurement: audience surveys, venue attendance reports and community feedback guide programming decisions and inform municipal cultural partners about the festival’s civic value.

Part IX — Timeline: milestones and recent editions (representative chronology)

·      Early 2000s: Grassroots queer film events and local screenings form the seeds of what becomes Pink Screens.

·      2000s–2010s: Regular annual programming consolidates; the festival builds partnerships with Brussels arthouse venues and civic cultural departments.

·      2010s: Expanded programming strands, retrospectives and workshops deepen editorial scope and community engagement.

·      2020–2024: Continued resilience through shifting public‑health contexts and digital experimentation; the festival sustains a steady program of new international submissions.

·      30 October–10 November 2025: 24th edition takes place across Brussels venues and, for the first time, presents a selection of screenings in Ghent; program lists more than 150 films and introduces curated strands on migration, low‑budget production and Spanish queer cinema.

Part X — Cultural context: queer film festivals as civic infrastructure

·      Festivals like Pink Screens operate as cultural infrastructure for LGBTQIA+ communities: they create public recognition, provide distribution channels for marginalized narratives, and convene stakeholders across arts, policy and social services.

·      In cities such as Brussels, queer festivals intersect with multilingual publics, migrant communities and layered governance structures; programming that addresses migration and intersectionality responds to real civic concerns in Belgium’s urban context.

·      Through retrospectives and archival programming, festivals also preserve communal memory and foster intergenerational dialogue about queer life and politics.

Part XI — Risks, challenges and opportunities

Challenges

·      Funding volatility: grassroots festivals often face year‑to‑year funding uncertainty and reliance on small grants and sponsorships.

·      Audience diversification: reaching beyond existing queer‑identified audiences to broader public constituencies requires sustained outreach and accessible programming.

·      Political pressures: festivals that foreground migration and queer rights may encounter political contestation or cultural backlash in some contexts.

·      Digital fragmentation: balancing the irreplaceable communal experience of theatre with the reach of digital programming is an ongoing strategic challenge.

Opportunities

·      Regional expansion: the 2025 Ghent programming signals an opportunity for a broader Belgian footprint and deeper provincial engagement.

·      Partnerships and co‑productions: collaboration with cultural seasons, film institutes and international festivals can strengthen funding, programming exchange and distribution pathways.

·      Education and research: sustained educational programs, archives and festival‑led research can cement Pink Screens’ role as a knowledge hub for queer cinema studies.

Part XII — Practical information for attendees (what to know)

·      Tickets and passes: expect a mix of single screening tickets, day passes and limited festival passes; concessions and sliding‑scale pricing are often available for students and community organisations.

·      Venues and accessibility: main venues include Cinema Nova, Cinema Galeries and Cinema Aventure; check venue access details for wheelchair access and subtitling options.

·      Program guide: daily schedules, panel details and late additions are normally published in the festival program and on-site information desks.

·      Safety and inclusivity: Pink Screens maintains a code of conduct for audience and guest safety; community‑oriented programming ensures spaces for queer youth and elders.

Part XIII — Reporting standards, sourcing notes and verification guide

Journalist‑style sourcing and verification guidance for editors and researchers:

·      Festival primary sources: official Pink Screens program, press releases and the Genres d’à côté announcements provide authoritative details on dates, venues and programming.

·      Local coverage: Visit Brussels and City of Brussels event listings confirm scheduling and venue details for the 2025 edition.

·      Press reporting: local cultural outlets, including The Brussels Times and cultural blogs, provide on‑the‑ground reporting and deeper features on program themes and expansions to Ghent.

·      Academic context: European queer film festival scholarship and comparative festival studies provide frameworks for historical and comparative analysis. Use peer‑reviewed articles and recent festival studies for rigorous context.

why Pink Screens matters now

Pink Screens 2025 demonstrates how a locally rooted queer film festival can sustain artistic ambition, social relevance and institutional growth over decades. By bringing more than 150 films to Brussels and extending screenings to Ghent, the festival amplifies queer cinema’s reach in Belgium and deepens the civic imprint of LGBTQIA+ cultural practice. In a cultural moment where migration, intersectionality and accessibility are central public concerns, Pink Screens models how film festivals can be both artistic showcases and community infrastructure — preserving memory, amplifying under‑heard voices and creating collective spaces for visibility and debate.