QUEER CLASSICS
MAY 2026
In May, Filmhuis Den Haag presents a Queer Classics retrospective in celebration of Pride The Hague. This programme brings together a selection of landmark films that have shaped queer cinema and continue to influence how queer stories and characters are represented on screen. It is both a celebration of Pride and an invitation to revisit works that remain vital, surprising and deeply resonant today. The programme takes place at Filmhuis Den Haag.
Queer Classics is built on the understanding that there is no single way to be queer and no single way to tell queer stories. These films open up a wide range of emotional worlds, perspectives and experiences, reflecting lives that are layered, joyful, complex and sometimes contradictory. Each title offers its own rhythm and truth, showing how queer cinema resists easy definitions and instead thrives in its diversity.
Across the programme, you will encounter films that move between tenderness and chaos, intimacy and boldness, reflection and exuberant expression. From the quiet longing of Maurice to the glitter filled energy of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and from the emotional nuance of Saving Face to the radical vision of The Watermelon Woman, Happy Together and Funeral Parade of Roses, each film has left a lasting mark on cinema history and on queer representation.
We invite you to come as you are and explore these stories with curiosity. Whether you are discovering them for the first time or returning to old favourites, Queer Classics offers space to reflect, feel and be surprised. It is a chance to celebrate the richness of queer cinema and the many ways queer lives continue to unfold on screen.
FILMS IN THIS PROGRAM
Funeral Parade of Roses
Toshio Matsumoto, 1969
Tokyo’s underground club scene becomes a volatile stage where identity is performed, broken apart, and painfully reconstructed through desire, rivalry, and self-mythologizing.
Happy Together
Wong Kar-wai, 1997
In Buenos Aires, two lovers circle each other in a relationship defined less by stability than by repetition—breaking apart, reconverging, and dissolving again in cycles of longing.
Maurice
James Ivory, 1987
Set against the rigid codes of Edwardian England, a young man’s awakening forces him to confront the gap between socially acceptable life and the possibility of authentic love.
Saving Face
Alice Wu, 2004
When a respected surgeon’s carefully balanced life is disrupted by a hidden relationship and her mother’s unexpected pregnancy, both women are pushed into redefining duty, desire, and family.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Stephan Elliott, 1994
Across the vast Australian outback, a travelling drag act turns a performance tour into an unexpected confrontation with prejudice, solidarity, and personal transformation.
The Watermelon Woman
Cheryl Dunye, 1996
A filmmaker’s search for a forgotten Black queer actress gradually unravels into a hybrid investigation where archival gaps, fiction, and lived experience start to overlap.
CELEBRATE TOGETHER
Banner making workshop with The Hangout 070
May 15 | Studio B | Free | FIRST COME FIRST SERVE
After our screening of The Watermelon Woman, we’ll host a banner-making session where you can create your own protest sign for the Pride Parade. Whether you want to craft a catchy rhyme, use humor or irony, strike an emotional chord, make a bold call to action, or let strong visuals speak for themselves, the cardboard is yours. No need to bring anything, we’ll provide all the materials you need to design a banner that reflects what you stand for. Hosted by Hangout 070.
Q&A by Vanity Vickers and Niek Le Freak
MAY 20 | Zaal 2
After the screening of 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' on May 20, Vanity Vickers and Niek Le Freak will be present for a Q&A.
Voguing Workshop by Jo'ellina
May 30 | Studio B | Free | FIRST COME FIRST SERVE
Following the screening of Funeral Parade of Roses, we invite you to join a Voguing workshop inspired by this vibrant culture. Whether you’re completely new or already familiar with voguing, all levels are welcome. Come as you are and wear something you feel comfortable moving in.