Festivalgoers backed the outrageous animated comedy Jim Queen, while the jury chose the intimate drama Test at Australia’s Queer Screen Film Fest 2026. The split verdict gives viewers two very different reasons to pay attention, from a thoughtful queer coming-of-age story to a gleefully rude French-language romp with disco energy and plenty of attitude.
Essential Takeaways
- Jury winner: Test took the Emerging Narrative Feature Competition and its $2,500 prize.
- Audience favourite: Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer won viewers over with animated satire and chaotic humour.
- A divided verdict: The judges preferred character-driven drama, while audiences embraced a bolder midnight-style comedy.
- Online viewing: The festival’s remaining digital programme is available until 11.55pm on Wednesday 16 September, with a 24-hour viewing window after pressing play.
- More to explore: The online selection includes Montreal, My Beautiful and several LGBTQIA+ short-film packages.
Test wins the jury’s confidence
Test emerged as the more measured choice, winning over a jury made up of Craig Boreham, Alice Maio Mackay and Ing Deickman. Sam McConnell’s drama follows a character wrestling with ambition, faith and a queer awakening, creating the sort of emotional pressure that can linger after the credits.
The judges described it as an assured character study with a clear creative perspective, according to DNA Magazine. That’s high praise in a competition featuring six narrative features, particularly for a film that appears to favour uncomfortable inner conflict over easy answers.
Test has already attracted attention elsewhere, too. It shared the Outstanding First Narrative Feature award at Frameline50 in San Francisco with Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus, giving its Queer Screen victory the feel of a continuing run rather than a one-off surprise.
Jim Queen brings the disco chaos
If Test appealed to the jury’s head, Jim Queen clearly captured the audience’s mood. The French and Belgian animated comedy, directed by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athané, won the Audience Award with a premise that sounds designed to provoke both laughter and raised eyebrows.
The story centres on a gay Parisian fitness influencer who contracts a virus that makes queer people straight. He then sets out to find a cure alongside Lucien, a closeted twink. It’s crude, camp and gleefully absurd, with a disco soundtrack helping the whole thing bounce along like a glitter-covered fever dream.
The film’s Cannes reception underlined its crossover potential. Jim Queen premiered in the festival’s Midnight Screenings strand, earned nominations for the Caméra d’Or and Queer Palm, and opened in France with more than 54,000 admissions across 95 cinemas during its first weekend, Variety reported.
Why the split verdict matters
A jury prize and an audience award often reveal more than a simple winner’s list. Test represents the carefully observed drama that festival panels tend to champion, while Jim Queen offers the kind of unruly, instantly discussable experience that can turn a screening into a shared event.
That contrast is part of the fun. One film asks viewers to sit with questions of identity, belief and desire; the other throws them into an animated nightmare involving sexual politics, transformation and a determined search for a cure. Neither approach is automatically better, but together they show how broad queer cinema can be.
The response to Jim Queen at Cannes also suggests that its appeal isn’t limited to a niche midnight crowd. Le Monde highlighted the film’s wild take on gay culture, while The Irish Times described its animated comedy as gleefully smutty. That combination of visual invention and unapologetic humour may explain why audiences reached for it so enthusiastically.
What can you still watch online?
There’s one small catch for anyone hoping to compare both winners: neither Test nor Jim Queen appears in the festival’s online line-up. So the split decision is currently something to debate rather than settle from the sofa.
The digital programme does include Montreal, My Beautiful, starring Joan Chen, alongside three short-film collections: Homegrown - Sydney Shorts, Pure Chaos - Comedy Shorts and Trans and Gender Diverse Shorts. It’s a useful spread, moving from feature drama to bite-sized stories and more mischievous comedy.
According to the festival information published by DNA Magazine, online access runs until 11.55pm on Wednesday 16 September. Once a film is started, viewers have 24 hours to finish it, so it’s worth checking the clock before committing to a late-night watch.
Choose your own festival favourite
For viewers drawn to grounded storytelling, Test looks like the natural starting point. Its jury recognition and previous festival success suggest a film with emotional weight, while its focus on faith and queer self-discovery should offer plenty to discuss afterwards.
Those wanting something louder, stranger and more visually playful will probably be curious about Jim Queen. Cannes coverage from the festival’s official site and European film outlets points to a film that leans fully into its outrageous premise rather than softening its edges.
Personally, the most revealing result is that both films found their audience. A festival is healthier when its judges reward craft and viewers still feel free to choose the film that made them laugh, gasp or leave the cinema slightly dazed.
The best choice may be the one that matches your mood: reflective drama or unapologetic animated chaos.
Source Reference Map
Story idea inspired by: [1]
Sources by paragraph: