Rainbow Shorts: Flickerfest Returns in 2025 With Stunning LGBT Program

Australia’s premier global short film festival Flickerfest returns in 2025, with a stunning program that offers something to interest folks from all walks of life. 

This year, the festival will celebrate 34 years of entertaining patrons with the very best short films from Australia and across the world.

Rainbow Shorts is a curated program within Flickerfest, which spotlights short films with LGBTQIA+ themes and by queer filmmakers.

Curator Craig Boreham spoke about the range of LGBTQIA+ shorts that were submitted to Flickerfest this year, stating that there had been a “real growth”.

“What queer filmmakers are talking about this year seems to be really looking at the way LGBTQIA+ people create space for themselves in the world, even when that world is hostile or difficult,” he explained.

The Rainbow Shorts 2025 program

This year’s Rainbow Shorts program has some big names, including Sir Ian McKellen and Ben Wishaw – beloved as the voice of Paddington — but it also works hard to spotlight up-and-coming filmmakers and actors from all around the world. 

“Now that Rainbow Shorts has been running for eight years, queer filmmakers know about it – so we’re getting a lot more submissions”, he said.

“[LGBTQIA+ filmmaking has] been not entirely missing, but it’s been hidden or on the fringes. And I think it’s exciting to see our voices getting nurtured more and turning up more in the foreground. But there’s always still room for more.”

Creating a program that is representative of all parts of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow is vital, and a challenge Boreham says he’s honoured to take on.

“I try really hard to come up with a program that you know represents everyone in their very diverse community. That is quite a jigsaw puzzle.”

Boreham explains that as he’s been curating the Rainbow Shorts program, he’s noticed a graduation of sorts for queer cinema. 

Much of our community storytelling has moved from classic ‘coming out’ stories, and shifted with how our community has grown, and how the world has evolved; with the cultural zeitgeist, global politics, and more. 

“None of them are ‘coming out’ stories… your classic ‘coming of age’ kind of stories we often see in queer cinema, but they’re even more interesting,” Boreham explains. “[Queer filmmakers] are now experimenting with new ideas and new characters.”

But all up, Boreham says his goal is to curate a program that entertains, and brings the LGBTQIA+ community together.

“I hope that they just enjoy the ride and have a really entertaining, eye-opening night of some really good cinema. I think that’s what I would like people to walk away with. 

“It’s a great session for people to just get together afterwards and have a drink on the balcony and just chat about all the different things that they experienced.”

Learn more about Flickerfest 2025 and the Rainbow Shorts program, and buy tickets, at flickerfest.com.au.