By Gary M. Kramer—
This year’s Sonoma Film Festival, March 25–29, 2026, will offer a dozen queer features, documentaries, and shorts. In addition, the festival will give moviegoers sneak peeks of several films directed by queer filmmakers scheduled for release this year including: Our Land, Lucrecia Martel’s potent documentary about the 2009 murder of Javier Chocobar, an indigenous community leader in Northern Argentina; François Ozon’s The Stranger,an adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic existential novel; and The Blue Trail,Gabriel Mascaro’s dystopian drama about a septuagenarian’s journey through the Amazon. The festival will also screen The Christophers, Steven Soderbergh’s new film starring out actor Ian McKellen as a bisexual artist whose children hire a forger to ensure they will have an inheritance.
One of the festival’s highlights will beHafsia Herzi’s The Little Sister, (March 26 at 4 pm; March 29 at 10:30 am). This outstanding coming-of-age story—it won the Queer Palm at Cannes last year—concerns 17-year-old Fatima (Nafia Melliti), a French-born Algerian. Fatima projects a tough exterior that masks her internal conflict about being a lesbian. She is reluctant to commit to her boyfriend who sees a future for them. She hangs out with guys at school and bullies a gay classmate when he clocks her as queer. Fatima starts investigating her sexuality by meeting women online to get both knowledge and experience. She soon connects with Ji-Na (Park Ji-Min) and begins an intense relationship with her. The Little Sister, which is based on Fatima Daas’ autofiction, traces Fatima’s life over the course of a year and includes a rollercoaster of emotions. It is an empowering story of emancipation, marvelously rendered, and Melliti delivers a knockout performance in her film debut.
The intense Mexican drama, On the Road(March 26 at 11:30 am; March 27 at 8:45 pm) has the gay Veneno (newcomer Victor Prieto Simental in a phenomenal performance), asking the straight Muñeco (Osvaldo Sãnchez Valenzuela), a trucker, for a ride. Veneno offers Muñeco, an addict, drugs as well as a percentage of what they get from selling coke on the road. When their friendship turns intimate, it scrambles Muñeco’s circuits. Veneno is, indeed, trouble; he is on the run having crossed a powerful man. On the Road is compelling as the relationship between Veneno and Muñeco unfolds, and the actors have an excellent rapport. But writer/director David Pablos’s film, which won the Queer Lion at last year’s Venice Film Festival, is not a cozy romance. It features moments of grim, gritty realism and savage violence, as well as dreamlike episodes that explain Veneno’s past. This tough, but mesmerizing, road trip is a helluva film for adventurous moviegoers.
Another gay film that will play at the festival, the Spanish feature, Maspalomas, about a gay man who hides his sexuality after suffering a stroke, was not available for preview.
Barbara Forever (March 28 at 4 pm) is a warm, elegiac, and celebratory documentary about the groundbreaking lesbian avant-garde filmmaker, Barbara Hammer, who passed away in 2019. She is first seen in director Brydie O’Connor’s film posing naked and flexing. It’s an apt metaphor for her life and work; she documented herself and her lovers in her films, and “opened a space for queerness” as there was little to no visibility for lesbians in cinema. Her shorts, such as Dyketactics, were invitations to explore female bodies and pleasure. Hammer’s significant body of work has been sold to the Beinecke at Yale, and Barbara Forever shows her partner, Florrie Burke, managing that undertaking. The documentary also recounts Hammer’s claim that she “was born” when she became a lesbian. She lived and worked in San Francisco and New York City creating films that were as experimental as lesbian and queer lives. She had a breakthrough with her first feature film, Nitrate Kisses, in 1992, and continued to make shorts right up until her death from cancer. Hammer talks with candor about trying to find a work/life balance, and it is engaging watching her negotiate with a lover about filming her or meditating on horses and dying. Barbara Forever is an illuminating portrait of the pioneering filmmaker.
Another documentary, State of Firsts (March 28 at 1 pm), directed by trans filmmaker Chase Joynt, showcases Sarah McBride, the first out trans member of Congress. This admirable film shows that McBride is nobly focused more on representing her constituents in Delaware—and being seen as a “whole human”—rather than engaging with Republicans who foment hate, bigotry, and discrimination. The first half of the documentary features McBride on the campaign trail and she balances her hopes with pragmatism. She strategizes how to respond to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attacks, which extend—after McBride is elected—to anti-trans bathroom bills. How McBride defends her position to comply with the bill shows her grace under pressure. Still, there is a backlash that hurts. State of Firsts illuminates how McBride must always smile to reflect pride not despair, and not rise to the MAGA bait, such as being misgendered in her new job. (Yes, the film features a clip of Keith Self disrespecting her.) Joynt’s film also captures several highlights, from an unexpectedly sweet encounter McBride has in a convenience store to her election night landslide, and a call from President Biden. State of Firsts is an inspiring chronicle of the start of McBride’s political career, which will hopefully continue for decades to come.
The Out and About Shorts Program (March 28, 9:30 pm) is a strong program featuring eight queer films:
A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian is a charming animated short about Gray (Jordan Gantos), who meets Fionn (Cecelie Lopez) after a bird dies crashing into her house. After a dark eulogy, Gray and Fionn bond, and Gray gives up smoking, gets a haircut, and moves on from her ex, Alex (Timothy Sullivan). This short is slight, but it is satisfying.
The Deep Desire to Get Lost at Sea is a tender and heartfelt tale of gay love as Franco (Jovany Becera) awaits the return of his lover, Jorge (Kenneth Llanas), so they can decide about their future. Writer/director Marco Aguilar’s short is a poignant slow burn that packs an emotional wallop.
The Handyman is director Fábio Leal’s stylish music video starring a handsome, naked Italian carpenter he once hired. The handyman plays musical instruments—drums, guitar, and a piano (the latter with his penis!)—and is seen working on carpentry to his favorite song, “Take a Toke.” It is more cheeky than sexy, but the film is a fun if naughty five minutes.
Seniors is a cute short about Tom (Noah Pacht), a gay teen, going on a college tour of Vassar with his parents, Nancy (Brooke Bloom) and Pete (Matt Walton). When Pete asks the campus’ colorful tour guide (Dan Thompson) about the school’s LGBTQ community, it embarrasses Tom, but Pete is really trying to be supportive of his son—because there are tensions between Pete and his wife. Seniors mines its humor out of the awkwardness of its situation and the cast’s performances are perfectly pitched.
Two Black Boys in Paradise, based on Dean Atta’s titular poem, and narrated by Jordan Stephens, chronicles the experiences of two lovers who feel free and happy and in love while in “paradise,” but less comfortable in “the real world,” where police harass them. This beguiling animated short conveys Black queer joy amid scenes of racial profiling that emphasize the power of love of both oneself and others.
Wannabeis a high-energy short from Ecuador about teenage Emilia (Martina Pachecho), who hopes to win two tickets to the Spice Girls concert in Miami. (It’s 1996.) She and her gay best friend Mateo (Gabriel Saltos) set out to make a video, but bullies interrupt them. Wannabe is all about dreaming about your best life especially as Mateo stops to fantasize about his crush, a guitarist who plays in Emilia’s brother band. While it wears its heart on its frilly sleeve, Wannabe does deliver a decent payoff and there is a fabulous dance sequence.
Two additional shorts, in the program, Hugs and Sunday Sauce, were not available for preview. For Sonoma Film Festival tickets and more information, visit:
https://sonomafilmfest.org/
© 2026 Gary M. Kramer
Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” He teaches Short Attention Span Cinema at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and is the moderator for Cinema Salon, a weekly film discussion group. Follow him on IG @garyemkramer
Film
Published on March 26, 2026
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