OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Spring Edition 2026 at OUTshine Film Festival

The OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival spring edition returns April 23 – May 3, 2026! This year’s festival is proud to feature more than 20 international, North American and East Coast premieres from 20 countries across Miami-Dade and Broward counties! Adding to the excitement of the festival will be a special recognition ceremony for Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, whose Rock Out (USA, 2025) film will be screening on Monday, April 27, at Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway Fort Lauderdale (1820 E Sunrise Blvd). Other special events, filmmaker panels and afterparties will add diversity to South Florida’s cinema scene.

Internationally acclaimed as one of the largest LGBTQ+ cultural festivals in the world, OUTshine will debut its first Opening Night Under the Stars party featuring The Dinner (La Cena) (Spain, 2025), a delicious blend of tension, history, and irreverent humor, on Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m., at Miami Beach Botanical Gardens (2000 Convention Ctr Dr, Miami Beach). This year’s previously announced Centerpiece film, Maspalomas (Spain, 2025), an intimate story that delves into the subject of homosexuality in elder age through the journey of a 76-year-old man confronting fears and dilemmas that cross generations, screens at the Koubek Center Theater (2705 SW 3rd St, Miami) at 7:30 p.m. on April 30. Closing night on Sunday, May 3, at 6 p.m., at Savor Cinema (503 SE 6th St, Fort Lauderdale) will feature the international premiere of We’ll Find Happiness (Canada, 2025), an award-winning drama about how far one will go for love,  followed by another first - a Community Block Party featuring food vendors, filmmakers, live performers, entertainment and more. 

Festival highlights this season include the international premieres of An Island Away From You (A Una Isla Deti) (Spain, 2025); The Children of Silverstreet Take a Stand (Børnene Fra Sølvgade Tager Kampen Op) (Denmark, 2025); and Unicorns (Italy/Spain, 2025). This edition’s North American premieres include the star-studded documentary Armani And The Birth of Italian Fashion (Italy, 2026) that traces the rise of Italian fashion through the story of the families that have been ruling it for decades – from Armani, Versace, Gucci and Valentino to Missoni, Zegna, Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada and featuring legendary insiders, rivalries, personal stories and the enduring love affair between Hollywood and Italian designers; Baracoa (Cuba/Italy, 2025); Free At Heart (Germany, 2025); In A Whisper (À voix basse) (France/Tunisia, 2025); Jone, Sometimes (Jone, batzuetan) (Spain, 2025),OUTshine’s Ladies Latin Spotlight Film; La Carn (Spain, 2025); Lone Star Bull (USA, 2025) starring Luke Macfarlane, Sebastian Roché, and D.J. “Shangela” Pierce; Patty Is Such A Girly Name (Greece, 2025); and Madfabulous (UK, 2026), a riotous, uncompromising celebration of otherness inspired by the unlikely British aristocrat who bankrupted his estate, lived fast and died young starring Rupert Everett, Greta Jones, and Ruby Stokes. 

Adding to the excitement will be a special recognition ceremony for Dustin Lance Black, director of Rock Out (USA, 2025), an excavation of the queer roots of rock, punk and metal featuring Roger Daltrey, Dolly Parton, John Reid, Danny Fields and more, at the Monday, April 27 Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway Fort Lauderdale Cocktails & Cinema™ screening. An American screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBTQ+ rights activist, Black won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2009 for Milk, a biographical drama film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He also wrote the screenplay for the film J. Edgar and the 2022 crime miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven. Additionally, he worked on Big Love, Rustin and Mama’s Boy. Black served as a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER). He played a pivotal role in the legal fight to overturn California’s Proposition 8, notably writing the play "8" based on the trial transcripts to raise awareness and funds. 

The festival continues with select films available for OUTshine At-Home viewing from May 4 - 10.

This year’s OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival spring edition is presented by CAN Community Health and The Warten Foundation. Premiere sponsors are Gilead and Comcast; Presenting Media are HotSpots! Media and It’s Happening Out; Grand sponsors are Google, Wilton River Suites, Silverspot Cinemas, Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway Fort Lauderdale, Major Prevention 305, Fast Printz, Tito’s and Commissioner Damian Pardo; Supporting sponsors are Latino Salud J. Mark’s, Miami Beach Botanical Gardens and Media partners include Culture Owl, The Bulletin, I Love Gay Movies, Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, MOCHEE, TampaBayGay.com, OUTFRONT MEDIA, OUT SFL, OutClique, queerguru.com, Wire magazine, Skirt South Florida and GPR| Goodman Public Relations. 

Ticket subscription packages and individual tickets starting at $17 are on sale now. OUTshine passholders and Producer Circle members receive priority advance ticket purchase opportunities. For a full listing of films, parties, special events and more and to purchase tickets, visit outshinefilm.com.