Top 10 Lesbian Movies at Amsterdam LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2022

For 26 years now, the largest Dutch LGBTQ+ film festival takes place in Amsterdam every March under the name “Roze Filmdagen“, meaning Pink Film Days. The queer Community will be able to watch an extensive selection of international films, documentaries, and short films. Also, on the 25th anniversary of the queer film festival, all the films have something in common: they address queer culture, romantic comedies, provocative documentaries and everything in between. We teamed up with festival director Werner Borkes to choose our best lesbian movies of 2022 including the German film “Glück – Bliss,” the British documentary “Rebel Dykes,” the Georgian film “Comet” and the Australian film “My First Summer.”

Top 10 List of Lesbian Movies 2022 at Roze Filmdagen

In doing so, the selection shown is meant to reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, with lesbian, gay and queer performers. In addition, there will be interesting roundtable discussions that will go beyond the film themes to explore queer film culture. For a total of eleven days, beginning on March 10, 2022, film lovers can experience a diverse program either in the theaters at Ketelhuis or online, in the comfort of their homes. Like the other editions in the past year, enjoy the best lesbian films 2022 for the Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2022 selected by Couple of Men.

#1 Nico | Germany

(2021) German, Spanish, Macedonian, Persian and English, with English subtitles

The cheerful German-Persian Nico loves her job as a geriatric nurse and is popular with everyone because of her easygoing and understanding nature. She enjoys the Berlin summer with her best friend Rosa, until a racist attack suddenly takes her out of her carefree life. Plagued by this trauma, she seeks reassurance from spirited karate training and from Macedonian Ronny, who works at the carnival.

#2 Ma Belle, My Beauty | France

(2021) English and French, with English subtitles

Lane, Bertie and Fred once shared a polyamorous relationship in New Orleans until Lane disappeared from their lives. Two years later, Bertie and Fred are married and living in the countryside of southern France. When Lane shows up unexpectedly in Bertie’s idyllic new life, she finds her former lover very different from what she remembers of him. Lane attempts to reshape their old, carefree dynamic, hoping that her return will lighten Bertie’s mood. But it appears that time has not healed all wounds.

#3 Rebel Dykes – docu | UK

(2021) English, no subtitles

“We weren’t lesbians, we were dykes.” Punk, pot, and activism against Margaret Thatcher’s repressive government formed an explosive cocktail in the 1980s in London. This delightfully rowdy documentary full of historical footage and music, interspersed with interviews with the women today, paints a powerful picture of a decade when these women were more than tired of asking nicely and politely for some tolerance. An absolutely necessary piece of lesbian history, clarifying that the radical “pot” fight did a lot for the LGBTQ+ community.

#4 As We Like It | Taiwan

(2021) Taiwanese and Mandarin, with English subtitles

Shakespeare’s original already played with gender roles; after all, it was about the blossoming love between Orlando and Rosalind, who is disguised as a man. But in this adaptation, this is further amplified: all the main roles are played by women. With energy and a lot of fun, a world of neon-lit Taipei is set, with magical interventions alongside action, fights, and family feuds. So basically, everything that belongs to a good Shakespeare, but all ready for a non-binary and dazzling version of today. Pure enjoyment!

#5 Leading Ladies | Colombia

(2021) Spanish, with English subtitles

Long-held secrets and new lies come to light at a dinner party among five queer friends. Diana, Ana, Silvia, and Ana María celebrate that Marce is back. But why did she leaves in the first place, and where did she go? This improvisation-based film manages to create a more intimate, yet darker setting with each revelation. An intense contemporary drama from Colombia about the complex relationships between women.

#6 Sweetheart | UK

(2021) English, no subtitles

AJ is an environmentally conscious and socially awkward teenager who drags herself through life. Ideally, she would like to plan a gap year to knit sweaters for elephants. Reluctantly, she accompanies her family to a dreary vacation park in Dorset for ‘a week of hell’. But then suddenly there is the free-spirited and energetic lifeguard Isla by whom she becomes fascinated. Could she mean the beginning of AJ’s happiness?

#7 Bliss – Glück | Germany

(2021) German, English and Italian, with English subtitles

Sascha has been working in a Berlin brothel for many years. Maria is the new girl, she is independent, maverick, and queer. Sascha feels immediately attracted to this otherness, Maria in turn feels fascinated by Sascha’s supreme ease. The attraction becomes a love that works differently than anything they have experienced before. But the happiness soon begins to show some cracks: it is difficult for both of them to bare their whole souls.

#8 The Divide | France

(2021) French, with English subtitles

Two women are about to break up their relationship when one of them ends up in the emergency room due to a minor accident. While bickering, they find themselves in the middle of a frenzy that has been created by a Yellow Jacket demonstration outside the doors of the hospital. Outside and inside the Parisian hospital, things get seriously out of hand. A compelling film that extends over a frenzied night, in which the two women’s relationship drama pales in comparison to the social discussions held by wounded protesters. The tension rises even higher when the building is under siege and the staff has to close their doors for safety reasons.

#9 Comets | Republic of Georgia

(2019) Georgian, with English subtitles

Nora is only fourteen years young but is already slowly discovering what kind of pleasures life has to offer. She attends parties, smokes marijuana, learns to stand up for herself, and, of course, falls in love. The confusion is great because Nora does not fall in love with a boy but with Romy, a sixteen-year-old girl.

#10 My First Summer | Australia

(2020) English, no subtitles

Claudia has been raised in isolation by her mother in a remote house in the countryside. Emotionally unequipped to cope with her mother’s suicide, the teenager hides out in the dilapidated house, her beloved dog her only companion – until feisty Grace walks into her life. But their idyllic summer can’t last forever. Is Grace’s love strong enough to keep Claudia afloat as the adult world approaches them?

Best Lesbian Movies 2022 for Roze Filmdagen:

• Overview: Tips, Info, & Articles for “Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam” >
• Start Planning: 10 Best Queer LGBTQ+ Mix Movies 2022 >
• Good to know: 10 Best Gay Movies 2022 >

• Check the lesbian movie list 2021 >
• Check the gay movies list 2021 >
• Check the queer movies list 2021 >
• Check lesbian movies 2020: Best Queer LGBTQ+ Mix Movies 2020 >
• Check gay movies Best Gay Movies 2020 >
• Check lesbian movies 2018: Best Lesbian Movies 2018 >
• Check lesbian movies 2019: Best Lesbian Movies 2019 >

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This year again, it is possible to support the Amsterdam LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2022 with two different kinds of memberships (website in NL/EN).