19th Queer Lion Award Lineup

As we all know, the lineup of titles competing for the 2025 Queer Lion Award is compiled with the collaboration of Alberto Barbera, Angela Savoldi, and Paolo Bertolin for all the sections of the official selection, and in particular Venezia 82 Competition, Out of Competition, and Orizzonti); Mariachiara Manci from Venice Immersive; Valentina Bellomo from Biennale College Cinema; Federico Gironi for Venice Classics; Gaia Furrer and Francesco Bonerba from Giornate degli Autori; and, Beatrice Fiorentino from Venice International Film Critics’ Week.

They, along with organizers, chose among the films with LGBT stories and characters dealing with civil rights issues related to different sexual orientations, equal opportunities, and fight against homotransphobia.

As always let's start taking a look at the official graphic image of the award and the reasons why this year the image is as seen here.

Official Image

The 2025 official image by Daniel De Faveri is all about “Lumen Queer” a concept which wraps ideas like the following:

In the heart of the dark forest that life can sometimes become — burdened by norms, fear, and exclusion — a column of light erupts: vertical, uncompromising, radical. Not cast from without, but emanating from within. The kind of radiance each queer existence nurturs as a sacred flame.

It is the light of identity refusing to bend, of desire that asks for no forgiveness, of the body demanding space and authenticity.
Every queer person is an explosion of truth in a world that chooses darkness. v Every gesture, every love, every act of survival is an act of creation — a cinematic act.
“Lumen Queer” is a path of light cleaving through collective shadows, a spine ascending from the depths of being.
It is the visual embodiment of all those lives that have continued to shine in spite of pain, abandonment and refusal.
A vertical temple raised in the midst of chaos.
An initiatory journey.
A rebirth.

This work symbolizes the narrative power of queer stories: luminous, profound, and unyielding.

2025 Lineup

There are 10 films in Competition for the Queer Lion award this year and the figure is still low compared to previous years; but it's higher than last year when the competition reached only 8 films.

19th Queer Lion will be awarded by a jury composed by members of the Board of Queer Lion Association; Daniel N. Casagrande, journalist and film critic, member of the National Italian Film Critics Association, creator and founder of the award, President of Associazione QL; Marco Busato, contributor for Radio Capodistria; Jani Kuštrin, cultural operator; Adriano Virone, LGBTQ activist.

Out of Competition 
After The Hunt, Luca Guadagnino, USA

Orizzonti 
En El Camino, David Pablos, Mexico and France  (G)
Estrany Riu (Strange River), Jaume Claret Muxart, Spain and Germany  (G)

Venice Immersive
Constantinopoliad, Sister Sylvester and Nadah El Shazly, UK, Greece, 55’
Dark Rooms, Mads Damsbo, Laurits Flensted Jensen, and Anne Sofie Steen Sverdrup, Denmark, Germany, Taipei, 35’

Giornate degli Autori
Anoche Conquisté Tebas (Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes), Gabriel Azorín, Spain and Portugal (G)
Arkoudotrypa (Bearcave), Stergios Dinopoulo sand Krysianna B. Papadakis, Greece (L)
La Gioia (Gioia), Nicolangelo Gelormini, Italy 

Settimana Internazionale della Critica
100 Nights of Hero, Julia Jackman, UK (L)
Gorgonà, Evi Kalogiropoulou, Greece and France  (L)

To check available trailer and info go to MOC here.

To check info about each movie go to official site here.

Also, there are films that are Out of Competition for the Queer Lion Award as are films with secondary LGBT+ characters, situations, and/or marginal with respect to the centrality of the plot; have a duration of 30 minutes or less; are restoration films, and/or are serial works made for TV or platforms.

Feature Length Films
Competition
L’Étranger (The Stranger), François Ozon, France

Out of Competition
Marc by Sofia, Sofia Coppola, USA (documentary)

Orizzonti
Il Rapimento di Arabella (The Kidnapping or Arabella), Carolina Cavalli, Italy

Giornate degli Autori
درون امیر Daroon-e Amir (Inside Amir), Amir Arizi, Iran

Settimana Internazionale della Critica
Agon, Giulio Bertelli, Italy, USA, and France

TV Series
Un prophète - La série (A Prophet), Enrico Maria Artale, Framce

Short Films
Orizzonti
螳螂 Praying Mantis, Joe Hsieh and Yonfan, Taipei and Hong Kong 18' (animation)
Saint Siméon, Olubunmi Ogunsola, Nigeria 18'
The Curfew, Shehrezad Maher, USA, 19'
Utan Kelly (Without Kelly), Lovisa Sirén, Sweden 15'

Tribute to the Wave in the Ocean School
A Very Good Boy, Samuel Te Kani, New Zealand 17'

Settimana Internazionale della Critica
La Moto (The Motorcycle), Matteo Giampetruzzi, Italy, Denmark and Spain 20'
Marina, Paoli De Luca, Italy 19'
Sante (Saints), Valeria Gaudieri, Italy 19'
The Pørnøgrapher, HARIEL, Italy (AI) 11'

Restored Films
Aiqing wansui (Vive l’amour), Tsai Ming-liang, Taipei, 1994
Kagi (La key), Kon Ichikawa, Japan, 1959
Matador, Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1986