Founder of the Queer Palm, Franck Finance-Madureira observes the changes in LGBTQIA+ representation in cinema. More films, less overt activism, more integrated queer characters in narratives. For Technikart, he deciphers the paradoxes of a prize long considered marginal.
For its 16th edition, the Queer Palm breaks its record with selected films. What does that say about the times?
Franck Finance-Madureira: We have twenty-two feature films selected, and five shorts, which is huge. Previous records were already high, but this is quite significant. And of course, it reflects something about what is happening in world cinema and at the Cannes Film Festival.
Do you feel that queer cinema has become more visible?
Yes, but mostly it has become more widespread. We are entering a form of normalization. That means that more and more films feature queer characters without it necessarily being the main subject of the story; it’s no longer an event that a character is queer. They simply exist in stories that also talk about something else. The more these characters are normalized, the less they are reduced to their sexuality or gender, the more we move towards something interesting. It’s no longer “the queer film” as a closed category.
Like in Autofiction, the new Pedro Almodóvar film.
Yes, because in his films, queer characters exist naturally. It’s not a constant focus. They are there, they live, they love, they suffer. And I think that’s positive. It creates empathy, understanding. People realize that ultimately, regardless of gender or sexuality, human issues are the same.
But this “normalization” is still very Western, isn’t it?
Of course. In some countries, the issue remains central in narratives because it is still extremely problematic in everyday life. There, filming these identities remains a strong political gesture.
The Queer Palm has been around for sixteen years now. Do you feel fully accepted at Cannes today?
Let’s say that the festival somewhat mirrors our existence. The Queer Palm is recognized, identified, but we are also a bit apart as a prize. We are not entirely in the institutional norm, always on the margin.
This year, you chose a double presidency of the jury. Why?
Because I found it interesting to have two very different personalities engage in dialogue. What fascinates me every year is bringing together people who do not necessarily come from the same universe but who share the desire to discover films and discuss them. Each year, the juries redefine a bit what a queer film can be. Is it about the subject? The perspective? The staging? The representation? The discussions are always fascinating. So this year, we have Anna Mouglalis, whom I recently admired on stage with Ovidie’s text, La chair est triste hélas. And Thomas Jolly, actor, theater and opera director, and of course artistic director of the Olympics.
Is there a trend, a theme for this new edition of the Queer Palm? I haven’t seen all the films yet, but I feel that something is happening within French cinema, especially when I discover Du fuel dans les artères or La Gravida, two films from the Critics’ Week. There is a new way of writing characters, something less demonstrative, less assigned. It feels like a new generation of filmmakers is arriving with a different approach. I haven’t seen the French queer animated film Jim Queen yet, but I am very curious.
Economically, how does the Queer Palm sustain itself?
We have some public funding, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, CNC, and LICRA. The prize operates a lot thanks to a club of partners, producers, and distributors who support the initiative because they believe in it. Some years are easier than others, but we are not dependent on a single partner. Honestly, it’s fragile.
https://queerpalm.org/
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Quote of the day: “We will have to have fierce debates.”
Park Chan-wook, president of the 2026 jury
By Marc Godin
