Mental Health and LGBTQ+ lives in Asia: Cinema and Conversations

How do we hold each other across cultures, across time, and across space, and across our genders? Where is the space for men to be held in tenderness, for trans and queer people to search for communities, and for spaces in which to reflect and recharge?

This special programme brings together three films from India, Malaysia, and Indonesia with expert LGBTQ+ therapy practitioners, academics, and organisational professionals to engage with the complexity of mental health amongst queer Asian communities.

In collaboration with ‘Queer’ Asia, Queer East, and the UK Asian Film Festival this special programme offers the space for a deep reflective conversation on mental health amongst queer Asian communities. Audiences are invited to watch, listen, and participate alongside one another in building a space for a deep conversation on queer mental health. Audiences are invited to stay on for a fundraising mixer after the programme raising support for MANTIS Collective working to support trans and queer communities.

Location: King’s College London, Bush House (Room – SE 1.05), 30 Aldwych, London – WC2B 4BG

7th May 2026, 6pm onwards

Stills from the short films in the curated programme as a camera reel.

Short Films

The Pact (2026), Dir. Lakshmi Iyer

Returning to Pune to sell his late father’s home, Raghav uncovers forgotten memories that reveal their fraught yet loving relationship.

Heels to Heal (2024), Dir. Justice Khor

A musical documentary celebrating Malaysian queer resilience as three local drag queens heal deep wounds through what they do best—heels, makeup, music, and dance.

My Therapist Said, I am Full of Sadness (2024), Dir Monica Tedja

Monica, a filmmaker based in Berlin, ponders the question of being fully accepted and loved by their biological and chosen queer family.