It’s not gone unnoticed that the Berlinale – the annual Berlin film festival – starts at exactly the same time as the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. While the Russians have gone out of their way to ban anything but negative mentions of homosexuality, the Berlinale is celebrating it, including a glittering ceremony where 34 films will be up for a Teddy Award. The Teddys recognise films and filmmakers which engage queer issues on a broad social scale, contributing to tolerance, acceptance, solidarity and equality in society.

Together with DiscoDamaged Berlin, the English language website for gay visitors to Berlin, we’ve picked out our top seven LGBT films at the festival. For information on dates and times, see the Berlinale website.