Queer film festivals, movies and TV shows streaming this March

March break doesn’t always have to be spent abroad on a beach. In fact, sometimes it’s better spent at home on your couch. If you have time off and are planning to chill swaddled in blankets in the comfort of your home, this list of queer content to stream will keep you entertained. From a gay war drama to Lizzo’s new competition series to New York’s biggest queer film festival, you can make the most of your at-home spring break with these LGBTQ2S+ movies, TV shows and festivals streaming throughout March.  

Benedetta

March 4 on Hulu 

The 2021 French film Benedetta directed by Paul Verhoeven, will be viewable on Hulu starting March 4. The film is centred around Benedetta Carlini, a nun at the turn of the 17th century who joins an Italian convent and has a lesbian love affair with another nun. Touching on the relationship between profane and sacred love, the film is a wild ride. Based on true events, the controversial but highly-anticipated biographical drama is loosely based on the 1986 non-fiction book, Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, by American historian Judith C. Brown. 

Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls (season one)

March 25 on Amazon Prime in the U.S. 

Lizzo’s infectious personality is hitting the big screen. The first season of her new reality competition series, Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, premieres on Amazon Prime in the U.S. on March 25. Lizzo is on the hunt for “confident, bad-ass women to join the elite ranks of the Big Grrrls” as one of her back-up dancers. Ten contestants—including women of colour, plus-size and queer dancers—move into the Big Grrrls House, where they compete to prove they have what it takes to join Lizzo on centre stage.

Master

March 18 on Amazon Prime

Mariama Diallo’s directorial debut, the American thriller film Master, will be available to watch on Amazon Prime starting March 18. The movie centres around two Black women attending a predominantly white college in Massachusetts. One of the characters, Gail, is a queer, Black liberal arts college student who’s not only fighting racism on campus, but supernatural forces, too.

BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival

March 17 to 28 online and in-person 

BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, the biggest LGBTQ+ film festival in Europe, is taking place in-person and online this year for London residents from March 17 to 28. The springtime celebration of queer media focuses on themes of love, identity and community. Premiering in their short film category is the American/Japanese short film And Then, directed by Ravenna Tran, about two women who can’t help but fall in love despite their very limited time together. The short romance flick premieres at the festival on March 20. 

Joe vs. Carole 

March 3 on Peacock

Tiger King took the world by storm in 2020, and now a scripted adaptation based on the original podcast is being released on Peacock on March 3. Joe vs. Carole stars queer icons John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) as Joe Exotic and the hilarious Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) as Carole Baskin. The show follows Joe and Carole’s relationship after the former was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for animal abuse and attempted murder-for-hire for his plot to kill Baskin. The series hopes to show viewers the eccentric pair in a whole new light. 

Great Freedom 

March 4, limited release in select U.S. theatres 

The queer war drama film Great Freedom, directed by Sebastian Meise, is premiering in select theatres across the U.S. beginning March 4. This movie won’t be reaching streaming platforms just yet, but it’s worth a trip to the multiplex if you’re in the U.S. Great Freedom centres Hans, a man in post-Second World War Germany who is imprisoned for being gay under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. But as decades pass, his unlikely bond with his cellmate Viktor grows.

Queer Eye Germany

March 9 on Netflix

The popular makeover reality show Queer Eye is premiering its latest international instalment, Queer Eye Germany, dropping on Netflix, March 9. In the American series, the Fab Five, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Jonathan Van Ness spend a week making someone over, both physically and spiritually. The concept stays the same in the European spinoff, but a group of German Fab Five members take the reins, including work/life coach Leni Bolt, fashion virtuoso Jan-Henrik Scheper-Stuke, beauty guru David Jakobs, nutrition and health expert Aljosha Muttardi and design ace Ayan Yuruk.

Muskoka Queer Film Festival 

March 18 to 20 online

The third annual Muskoka Queer Film Festival will bring national and international queer cinema to viewers virtually from March 18 to 20. The festival is showcasing 14 films streaming over three days, and will feature Q&As with filmmakers each day. One of the movies premiering at the festival is Stories from Land Back Camp, about a camp of queer, Two-Spirit, trans and non-binary youth learning and practicing their Indigenous cultural heritages.

Neptune Frost 

March 4 to 13 online and in person at the Miami Film Festival 

The 39th annual Miami Film Festival is returning for a 10-day cinema party with in-person and virtual screenings from March 4 to 13. One of the 120 featured films is Neptune Frost, by Rwandan filmmakers Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams. The Afro-sonic sci-fi musical chronicles the relationship between an intersex hacker and a coltan miner that sparks a revolution.

Good Girls (final season)

March 7 on Netflix

The final season of the American crime comedy series Good Girls is coming to Netflix on March 7. The NBC show is about three suburban Michigan mothers, two of whom are sisters, who unite to pull off a grocery store robbery after years of struggling to make ends meet. As you can imagine, things go downhill from there. During the series, one of the children comes out as trans and the show explores their storyline as they navigate their identity with their mom’s support.

Caer (Caught): NewFest Festival

March 24 to 25 online and in-person for New York residents

New York’s queer film festival NewFest is presenting the experimental documentary Caer (Caught) in-person on March 23 and online for New York residents from March 24 to 25. The hybrid narrative/documentary by Nicola Mai centres around the violence and struggles for justice experienced by trans Latina sex workers living in Queens.

The Andy Warhol Diaries (limited series)

March 9 on Netflix

The Andy Warhol Diaries, a new documentary series about the life and work of Andy Warhol produced by Ryan Murphy, will be available to watch on Netflix starting March 9. The artist, known for his distinctive pop art, was almost killed in 1968 after being shot by radical feminist Valerie Solanas. Based on his memoir of the same title, The Andy Warhol Diaries combines Warhol’s diary entries with rare archive footage to explore the famous artist and gay icon. 

PrideArts Spring International Short Film Festival

March 14 to April 11 online

PrideArts has announced a four-week film festival of 32 short films from 13 countries that will be streaming online from March 14 to April 11. The festival’s diverse, curated list includes international musicals, films about young and old love, as well as some addressing anti-LGBTQ2S+ descrimination. One of the featured films, Homo Pol, directed by Amadeus Pawlica, is a short dance documentary about nationality and identity through the lens of the queer community in Poland.