The 35th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival will be taking place (digitally) between 17-28 March. The event can be viewed on BFI Flare Facebook and BFI YouTube. It’s one of the world’s most important queer film events. Expect the best new LGBTIQ+ cinema from around the world via BFI Player to UK-wide audiences. If you haven’t tried the BFI Player it’s well worth it. They have a great selection of arthouse movies to explore.
This year’s BFI Flare showcases 26 features and 38 free shorts from 23 countries. We caught up with Michael Blyth, BFI Flare’s Senior Programmer, to find out more.
“Over the past 12 months we’ve seen how digital fests have developed and improved dramatically over such a short space of time, and we’ve been so excited to see how our audiences have embraced this new model. One of the great things about hosting BFI Flare online is the chance to reach audiences outside of London, this year is our most accessible edition yet and we have a unique chance to give filmgoers across the UK the chance to access the entire BFI Flare programme for the first time ever.”
“That sense of community is so important to BFI Flare, I’m definitely going to miss the chance to all be together physically. The community aspect and the experience of being in a queer space is such an important part of the festival, but I definitely feel confident we can create that special BFI Flare vibe online. We’re presenting filmmaker Q&As, discussions and other events as part of this year’s programme, including our own ‘BFI Flare FM’ playlists to make sure we keep that BFI Flare feeling alive. Also all the short films in this year’s programme are available to watch for free, giving people the opportunity to see as many as they want, regardless of income, and share them with friends. I hope that there will be lots of DIY watch parties taking place over the course of the festival!”
“From snappy shorts to sprawling features, BFI Flare is a true celebration of the best in contemporary queer cinema, here to showcase extraordinary filmmaking talent, and to entertain and inspire audiences, here are a few of our picks,” Michael explained.
Here are some of the highlights:
BOY MEETS BOY
Following in the footsteps of films such as Weekend or Theo & Hugo, Boy Meets Boy tells a deceptively simple tale of two young men forming a connection over the course of a single day. A love story with all the clichés stripped away, this is one of those rare romantic dramas that you can actually relate to.
THE DOSE
Deadly desires and simmering homoeroticism underscore this deliciously macabre, slow-burn psychological thriller, in which nothing is quite what it seems. In a private clinic in rural Argentina, an introverted nurse with a dark secret finds his world turned upside down by the arrival of an attractive new co-worker who also has something to hide.
DRAMARAMA
The night before leaving for college, a group of high school drama nerds get together for one last sleepover. But will tonight be the night that Gene finally comes out? Like John Hughes reimagined for a queer audience, this wonderfully enjoyable teen comedy is heartfelt love letter to all the misfits and outsiders.
CURED
In the late 1960s and early 1970s a small group of gay professionals and activists plotted behind the scenes to remove homosexuality from the definition of mental illness. This film boasts an amazing range of archive footage and original interviews with the people who took on the medical establishment and changed lives around the world. Brilliant, empowering, essential viewing.
FIREBIRD
A lavishly sweeping gay romance set at the height of the Cold War, where a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a daring fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base. What begins as a friendship across the ranks soon transforms into something more risky, in feature debut director Peeter Rebane’s beautifully realised account of love’s flourishing against all odds is based on a true story
ENFANT TERRIBLE
The extraordinary career and troubled personal life of pioneering German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder is brought to the screen in this no-holds barred biopic. A visually striking and unapologetically candid portrait of the man behind such queer classic as Fox and His Friends and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant.
The 35th edition of the BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, taking place 17-28 March, UK-wide via BFI Player
Tickets are available now – www.bfi.org.uk/flare
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