Ricardo Baltazar Launches Transgression Film Festival in Finland
A new queer and trans film festival arrives in Tampere and Helsinki to celebrate resistance, community, migration, pleasure, and self-expression.
©Transgression Film Festival
For the first time ever, Transgression Film Festival will take place across Tampere and Helsinki, Finland, from June 24–30, bringing together powerful queer and trans stories through cinema, discussions, performances, and community gatherings.
Hosted across Arthouse Cinema Niagara, IDA Radio Helsinki, Post Bar, and Trans Library Helsinki, this inaugural edition creates a vibrant space where LGBTQ+communities, artists, activists, and allies can connect through storytelling, culture, and collective imagination.
More than a film festival, Transgression emerges as a cultural statement at a time when queer and trans communities continue to face increasing political challenges across many parts of the world.
The Vision Behind Transgression Film Festival
©RicardoBaltazar
The festival is curated by Ricardo Baltazar. A transdisciplinary artist with a degree in Cultural Heritage from the University of Évora, Baltazar's work explores anti-fascist and queer resistance, healing practices, archives, memory, sound, image, and performance.
Their inspiration for creating the festival comes from a deep belief in the importance of seeing queer and trans lives represented on screen.
"I truly believe in the importance of representing trans and queer bodies in cinema. A space where we can see ourselves and also be inspired in our journeys as dissident bodies."
Ricardo Baltazar
Baltazar also credits the strength of community, particularly within ballroom culture, as a driving force behind the festival's creation.
"The connection to our community and the warmth I feel when I'm surrounded by queer people fuelled me to create this project. The sense of belonging and support I feel within the ballroom community also drove me to discuss issues such as affection, migration, pleasure and freedom." Ricardo said.
Read more about the Transgression Film Festival dates, program & Manifesto HERE
A Program Celebrating Queer Lives and Resistance
At a time when queer communities and migrant populations face growing hostility across many regions, the festival's program centers around three acts of survival and transformation: caring, resisting, and expressing.
From ballroom culture and collective care to migration, pleasure, identity, and transness, the selected films and conversations celebrate the power of queer resilience.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
June 24 | Tampere - Caring
Arthouse Cinema Niagara
19:30
Tickets: HERE
This Is Ballroom (2024)
Directed by Juru and Vitã (94 min) An intimate exploration of ballroom culture, community, identity, and belonging. In Rio de Janeiro City and its outskirts, LGBTQ+ youth of color recreates Ballroom culture on their own terms. A portrait of the dramas, the voguing performances, and the art of shade, 50 years after its inception in New York.
Language: Portugese | Subtitles: EnglishSpecial discussion: Ballroom Talk with Zahara Pleasures and Vilma Pleasures
June 25 | Helsinki - Resisting
Short Film Eve - Post Bar
20:00
More info HERE
A celebration of queer survival, intimacy and transformation through cinema.
At a time when queer lives and migrant communities face increasing political hostility, Transgression Film Festival focusses on three acts of continuing to exist: caring, resisting and expressing.
Djivas:
Kiia Online
BERSEiD
Saint Nia
An evening dedicated to queer celebration, connection, and collective joy.
June 30 | Helsinki - Expressing
Trans Library Helsinki
19:00
Tickets HERE
Tchindas (2015)
Directed by Pablo García Pérez de Lara and Marc Serena (94 min) A moving documentary exploring identity, visibility, and community.
Short Film Program
Featuring works that explore survival, activism, and queer futures.
Why This Festival Matters
Transgression Film Festival arrives at a crucial moment. Across Europe and beyond, conversations about gender identity, migration, bodily autonomy, and LGBTQ+ rights continue to shape public debate.
By centering queer and trans voices, the festival offers something increasingly necessary:
Space for reflection. Space for visibility. Space for community.
And most importantly, space for imagining futures where everyone can exist freely and safely.
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