By Gary M. Kramer—
This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, October 1–11, will offer dozens of queer films, providing viewers an opportunity to see many of this year’s Oscar hopefuls in advance of their upcoming theatrical release.
A Long Winter, by out gay filmmaker Andrew Haigh, is a period piece, set in the 1950s, based on a long short story by Colm Tóibín. The story addresses grief, as Mike (Fred Hechinger) grapples with queer desire while his family faces a series of crises.
Clarissa, is an adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway, set in contemporary Nigeria in which Clarissa (Sophie Okonedo) is planning a party when she meets a young soldier (Fortune Nwafor). Out actress Ayo Edebiri has a supporting role as Sally, who loved Clarissa when they were younger.
Coward isout gay writer/director Lukas Dhont’s drama about the relationship that develops between two soldiers, Francis (Valentin Campagne) and Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia), during WWI. The two leads shared the Best Actor prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Elsinore with out actor Andrew Scott is generating Oscar buzz for his performance as the late gay actor Ian Charleston (best known for Chariots of Fire). Given the opportunity to play Hamlet at the National Theatre in London, Charleston must also contend with being diagnosed with AIDS. Scott will receive an award at the festival.
Fatherland is the latest work by great Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to Germany with his adult daughter, Erika (Sandra Hüller), to receive a Goethe award. Mann’s gay son, Klaus (August Diehl), is also featured in this film.
La Bola Negra,which will receive the festival’s ¡Viva el Cine! Award, tells three stories about “what it means to be gay.” The filmmakers—and former partners—Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, shared the Best Director prize at Cannes.
La Gradiva is a highly regarded coming-of-age film about a group of French teenagers, at least one of whom is gay, on a trip to Pompeii and Naples. The film won the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
Lady features the title character (Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah), a female cab driver in Nigeria, reconnecting with her friend Pinky (Amanda Uroh), a sex worker.
The Man I Love, by out gay writer/director Ira Sachs, stars Oscar-winner Rami Malek as a gay man with AIDS in 1980s New York.
Mouse is a queer coming-of-age story set in 2002, about Minnie (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), a high school senior who loses her best friend, Callie (Chloe Coleman). While grieving, Minnie develops a bond with Callie’s mother (Sophie Okonedo). Out actor David Hyde Pierce has a supporting role.
Rose features the title character (Sandra Hüller), who disguises herself as a male soldier and even marries a villager’s daughter (Caro Braun) to reap the benefits afforded to men in 17th century Germany.
The short film, Swing Swish Sway,directed by TT Takemoto, is an experimental collage of images—from animals to a paintbrush to women’s bodies—that are meant to recall lesbian activist Rose Bamberger.
The Mill Valley Film Festival is also screening the classic 1944 noir Laura,featuring Dana Andrews as a detective trying to solve the murder of Laura (Gene Tierney), only to fall in love with the deceased. Clifton Webb delivers a deliciously catty performance as Waldo Lydecker, and the fabulous supporting cast includes Vincent Price as a gigolo.
Three films screening at the festival were available for preview.
Tangles is an excellent black and white animated feature, based on Sarah Leavitt’s eponymous graphic novel. Sarah (Abbi Jacobson) has always seen her mother, Midge (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), as her hero. When she returns home to Maine for a visit, she notices something off about Midge and is concerned. Her mother is eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. As Sarah processes her emotions and the impact this has on her family, images, such as wading through water, convey the difficulties of her situation. She commits to caregiving for her mother, but Sarah may have to sacrifice her relationship with Donimo (Samira Wiley) back in San Francisco. Tangles captures the pain of seeing a parent slip away in a series of heartbreaking, tear-jerking moments. This is a beautiful and poignant film full of love. Bring tissues.
Gay icon Pedro Almódovar’s Bitter Christmas is a remarkable exploration of inspiration. The film opens in 2004 with Elsa (Bárbara Lennie), a director of two cult films, suffering from migraines. The film soon jumps ahead to 2026, when Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia, resembling Almódovar), a successful gay filmmaker, is struggling to write a new script. As Elsa builds a new film from women she knows, Raúl appropriates a real-life situation from his just-retired assistant, Mónica (Aitana Sámchez-Gijón). The parallel narratives are the same, but different, and it takes a while for them to build to a payoff. Almódovar is examining care, pain, and grief here, but he is also providing a self-critical (and self-reflexive) piece of autofiction. Even if the narratives fold in on themselves, viewers will appreciate Almódovar’s trademark use of bold colors and a fun appearance by Rossy de Palma as one of Elsa’s friends). Bitter Christmas is a canny meta-movie, however, milage may vary for the director’s fans.
Elephants in the Fog, directed by Abinash Bikram Shah, is set in southern Nepal, where the third-gender Pirati (Pushpa Thing Lama) is “mother” to Joon (Sahab Din Miya), Chameli (Jasmin Bishwokarma), and Aspara (Aliz Ghimire). Pirati is respected by their elder, Guru Mata
(Umesha Pandey), and is being considered to become a leader of the Kinnar community. However, Pirati is romantically involved with Junge (Ashant Sharma), and when the couple talks about leaving, it prompts a fight between Pirati and Aspara. When Aspara’s wig is found in the forest, where elephants run wild, Pirati investigates the disappearance, suspecting MJ (Sanjeev Gupta), whom Aspara may have had a relationship with. Although the police are unhelpful, an inspector (Akanchha Karki) does assist Pirati by passing along some useful information. However, Gurung Dai (Maotse Gurung) asks the third-genders to leave the village because they are causing trouble. Elephants in the Fog is an absorbing story about family, community, and transphobia—Aspara’s biological family play a role in the story. Providing a glimpse into a fascinating subculture, the film illustrates the power, determination, and resilience of these third-gender characters.
© 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 September 24, 2026
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