View With Pride-2026

Usually, this time of year for Pride Month, I would post my annual LGBTQ film picks focusing mainly on feature-length films intended for theatrical release; however, this time around I’ve decided to do things quite differently. I’ve decided to mix it up a bit. My yearly picks for LGBTQ related film content have always, intentionally, been a mixed bag spanning various themes, diversities, cultures, borders and backgrounds. That remains the same, but this time I’ve decided to also include more content that are not feature length movies, and from various platforms alongside feature films: SABAR BONDA/CACTUS PEARS, PLAINCLOTHES, UNICORNS and FEMME.

TORE (Netflix), for example, is a comedic/dramatic series from Sweden created by William Spetz who also stars in the title role as a 27-year-old man (yet very boyish) maneuvering through grief with denial, sex, drugs, music, and just getting by with a little help from his friends.

Favourite choice of all my picks for 2026 is the television series NEUMATT (TV5 Monde+/Netflix). Michi lives and works as a business executive in Zurich, but the rural life he left behind is forcing him to return and take control of the family farm, away from his career. Amidst the tense and dramatic situations that play out between Michi and his family throughout season 1, the piece de resistance, for me personally, is the dynamic between him and Joel, his colleague whom he’s just started to build an intimate relationship with. I was truly rooting for them, and you will too. Every scene, line of dialogue, writing, and acting in Neumatt season 1 is superb. The series truly captivated me and happens to be one of the best series I’ve ever seen on Netflix.

The short film AKSIL (YouTube) is close to my heart because it was shot in a neighborhood of North London where I resided for a few years. It’s a short film about a young actor being brave enough to be and express himself creatively regardless of the constraints of his conservative Moroccan-Muslim family and judgmental community.

If you were the type of kid growing up wishing you were able to see representation of two men in love in one of those Ekta Kapoor-type-soapy-shenanigans on TV back in the day, KOI NAAM NA DO (YouTube) delivers just that. Koi Naam Na Do explores true love and unrequited desire shared between two strangers destined for an unbroken bond of true friendship. The series redefines the social construct of what true love can actually be as opposed to what society forces it to be. A will he? Won’t he? type interplay of nature versus nurture between two very charismatic young actors that will keep you wanting more. I highly anticipate the premiere of season two.

African-American identity has always been stolen from and imitated, yet rarely given credit to. The African-American queer “ballroom” scene has had a profound effect on shaping pop culture not only in America itself but worldwide. From the streets of New York to Paris, Mumbai, and Tokyo, some of the phrases we use (what’s the tea?) to the dance moves we try to replicate (voguing) are from the once underground “ballroom” events originating in New York City. I’M YOUR VENUS is a Netflix documentary that picks up where another groundbreaking documentary, PARIS IS BURNING (1990), left off by investigating the story of the life and tragic end of Venus Xtravaganza, a transgender person who made a name for herself within the New York ballroom scene in the 1980s. The documentary follows her family and ballroom counterparts as they investigate the circumstances behind her demise to finally bring closure to a mystery that they will not allow to remain unsolved.

Content is content. Full Stop. The LGBTQ community has recently escaped the draconian era when it was almost impossible to find any content of representation anywhere in mainstream film, television, or elsewhere. Therefore, it is vital to take into account as many aspects of visual representation from varied platforms, genres, and voices as possible, because representation matters. View with pride.