The eighth Queerfilmfestival runs from Thursday 10 September to Wednesday 16 September 2026 and plays in thirteen German cities at the same time. In Cologne the programme is split between two art house cinemas in the Nordstadt: the Filmpalette at Lübecker Straße 15 and the Filmhaus at Maybachstraße 111. Both are a short walk from the Hansaring stop, which is two S-Bahn minutes from the main station.
The Filmpalette opens the Cologne edition on 10 September at 19:15 with Fantasy and closes it on 16 September at 20:30 with On the Road, a Mexican road film. In between it lists one or two screenings on most days, among them Cooking Up Democracy on 11 September at 17:30, Skiff on 12 September at 17:30, Paris Was a Woman on 13 September at 14:00 and Body Blow on 15 September at 21:00.
The Filmhaus runs a second strand: On the Sea on 11 September at 19:00, Jim Queen on 12 September at 21:00, Departures at 18:00 and Free at Heart at 20:00 on 13 September, Bearcave on 14 September at 18:00 and Fucking Different Generations on 16 September at 18:00.
One practical point for anyone travelling. The Filmpalette lists every one of its festival screenings in the original language with German subtitles, and the original languages this year include English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Mandarin and Arabic. A film in English original is therefore followable without any German at all, while a film in a language you do not speak is not, because the subtitles are German only.
The Filmpalette also has a separate Queerfilmnacht on Tuesday 8 September at 21:00, two days before the festival opens, in Basque and Spanish with German subtitles.
Advance sales for the Cologne screenings are handled by the two cinemas. The complete film list for all thirteen cities is on the festival's own site.
The week falls well outside Cologne's Pride season, so the city is at its ordinary September pace. Our Germany page covers the legal ground for visitors, and among the places we list in the city are Die Mumu, Zur Kaiserin and the Badehaus Babylon.
