Setting off on the road to a drag pageant, non-binary teacher-by-day/comedian-by-night Jaya seeks to reclaim their quest for fame that was derailed by a typhoon a decade prior. With a young student in tow, Jaya’s journey through the Philippines becomes one of restoration in this visionary blend of fable and nonfiction.

When Matías attended an international school on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, he fell passionately into the world (if not always the arms) of his eclectic classmates, most memorably a live-wire Swedish rebel-prince. Now decades later, as a filmmaker, he is trying to recapture the world — and love — he lost.

In this gleeful buddy/stoner comedy, aspiring actors/childhood best friends Ryan and Danny have one weekend to make an indie movie about two guys making a movie… about two guys making a movie. When one of Danny’s characters in the meta plot inadvertently reveals his real-life secret, the pair must set aside the cameras to confront the deeper storyline of their friendship.

In this funny and tender depiction of the sometimes awkward but often enlightening transitional years of one’s early 20s, naïve but charming Alex (Ramiro Batista) returns home to Miami after a catastrophic breakup back in New York City. But over the course of the summer, he receives a crash course in adulthood from his first hook-up.

With touches of Kelly Reichardt within a unique, fully realized vision, director India Donaldson offers a funny and wry anti-coming-of-age film about a young queer woman (Lily Collias in a revelatory central performance) pressured into weekend camping getaway with her dad (James Le Gros) and his best pal (Danny McCarthy).

For his first feature, world-renowned playwright Marco Calvani places Brazilian star, Marco Pigossi, at the heart of this sexy, moving film about a gay immigrant in Provincetown making a living through the harsh gig economy following an unexpected break-up. Marisa Tomei and James Bland also star.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Directing Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition at Sundance, this delicately powerful ode to fractured fatherhood and sibling solidarity follows two sisters over the course of the most formative years of their lives, with their adoring but tempestuous father.

A must-see on the big screen, this exquisitely cinematic debut feature from celebrated photographer Luke Gilford observes a young man’s blossoming among a community of queer rodeo performers in the American west. Taking an odd job outside of town, 21-year-old Dylan finds himself welcomed into the idyllic ranch family, while falling for champion barrel rider Sky.

Capturing the recklessness of youth and the excitement of newfound sexual liberties in sensuous B&W cinematography, Out offers up a vivid and sensitive tale of being young and gay. Challenging questions of identity and fitting in arise quickly after secondary school sweethearts Tom and Ajani arrive in Amsterdam to start a new life. 

Queer Muslim grad student Azra returns to her native Pakistan after her father unexpectedly dies. Though distance and ideology have driven Azra and her mother apart, they forge a new connection at the busy intersection of East and West, past and present.

Centered on the clashing emotions and pent-up passions of a beloved high school football star, Riley is a compelling tale of a young man’s journey to discover who he is, what he wants, and where he’s going. With a powerful performance by Jake Holley in the title role, Riley takes a deep dive into the complex emotions of budding masculinity and the challenge of connecting with teenage peers.

Set amid a lively DIY scene, Throuple finds stalled gay musician Michael drawn into the web of newly-open married couple, Georgie and Connor. Though it’s never quite clear if the husbands are looking for some NSA fun or on the hunt for a third, this new relationship pushes Michael into uncharted waters, artistically and romantically.

An ode to the love of movies, Una película barata (literally A Cheap Film) is a beguiling dramedy about a gay man in the middle of an existential crisis who meets a wild card friend from his childhood who will shape the course of his summer. With dashes of forgotten Meg Ryan movies of the 90s, classic Pedro Almodóvar humor, and Mondays in the Sun, Una película barata is a wildly inventive feature debut from Spanish director Osama Chami.

A self-proclaimed “genre fluid” film, Underground Orange captures a rare kind of honesty — one that’s both deeply intimate and wildly universal. In director/star Michael Taylor Jackson’s debut feature, a wayward Californian becomes part of a polyamorous relationship within a group of eccentric young actors while backpacking around Argentina. By blending tones, mashing up genre beats, and infusing the everyday with imagination, the film balances thoughtfulness and humor.

A chance encounter at a lesbian bar brings two women of a certain age living strikingly different lives together in this winning romantic comedy. Named after Irene Cara’s classic anthem from Flashdance, What a Feeling blends heart with a lack of self-consciousness, telling a poignant story of new love amongst two women in the “sandwich generation” while also never taking itself too seriously.

Set in the Belgian countryside, Young Hearts is a refreshing tale of first love. When a cool new city boy moves in next door, 14-year-old Elias finds his feelings of friendship going much deeper than he knows what to do with.