James R | On 16, Feb 2022

BFI Flare returns this spring with another hybrid edition. Now in its 7th year, the London LGBTQIA+ festival will present 5 world premieres, 56 features and 84 shorts from around the world, with films available both on the big screen and to steam at home.

The festival kicks off on Wednesday 16th March with the UK Premiere of Alli Haapasalo’s award-winning coming-of-age drama Girl Picture, which won Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award, and closes on Saturday 26th March with the World Premiere of Kevin Hegge’s feature documentary Tramps!, looking at 1980s London and the unique cross-fertilization of British art, fashion, music and film that culminated in the group known as “The New Romantics”.

Once again, BFI Flare will be in partnership with the British Council for Five Films for Freedom, which makes five LGBTQIA+ themed short films available for the world to watch online for free for the duration of the festival via the British Council’s YouTube channel.

10 of the feature films in the festival will also be available to stream on BFI Player. Films on BFI Player will cost £9 to rent (£7 for BFI members), or a festival pass is available for £80 (£60 for BFI members) that covers 10 film rentals – or a documentary pass covering three films for £21 (£15 for BFI members). The films will be available to rent at any time during the festival and will include exclusive filmmaker introductions.

Short films will also be available to watch for free throughout the festival on BFI Player – but only to viewers in the UK.

Tickets will go on sale on 24th February. Read on for the full streaming line-up.

 

Features

A Distant Place (Dir. PARK Kun-young) follows a young Korean sheepherder raising his niece, who is visited by two people from his past in an intimate and sumptuously shot family drama.

Private Desert (Dir. Aly Muritiba) sees sparks fly with the possibilities of virtual romance between Daniel and Sara. Are they really prepared for a relationship in the real world?

Walk with Me (Dir. Isabel del Rosal) is a romantic feature debut that explores the courage it takes to be true to yourself.

Boulevard! A Hollywood Story is the latest documentary by BFI Flare favourite Jeffrey Schwarz (I Am Divine, Tab Hunter Confidential), which uncovers a part of Hollywood’s queer hidden history and proves that that life does indeed imitate art.

Boy Culture: The Series (Dir. Q. Allan Brocka) is a six-part sequel to Comedy Boy Culture, which had its world premiere at BFI Flare in 2006. It sees popular escort X adapting to a very different world.

Camila Comes Out Tonight (Dir. Inés Barrionuevo) is an Argentine coming-of-age drama that sees a 17-year-old fall for her classmate and find herself fighting against the tyranny of their strict private school.

Sediments (Dir. Adrián Silvestre) follows six transgender women at a rural Spanish retreat who get to know each other.

Two young men learn to navigate the Iranian courts in order to begin their
transition in Saeed Gholipour’s documentary This Is Not Me.

Charli XCX: Alone Together is a DIY documentary by Bradley & Pablo that follows acclaimed pop star Charli XCX, who teamed up with her legions of queer fans across the globe to create a new album during the 2020 lockdown.

Framing Agnes is Chase Joynt’s anticipated follow-up to No Ordinary Man, which screened at BFI Flare last year. An intriguing re-enactment of forgotten trans history, co-written with Morgan M Page and featuring Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross and Silas Howard.

Shorts

Baba
An unexpected discovery forces a gay Libyan teen to question whether or not to flee his homeland.

Between Us
A trans man wants a quiet life in rural Japan, but his non-binary partner craves a queer urban crowd.

Do This For Me
Masks that are worn and secrets that are hidden all come tumbling out during one emotional evening amongst friends.

Egúngún
The power of the past spans the divide between Nigeria and the UK in this beautiful tale of intersecting lives.

Tomorrow Then
When a lover returns from a holiday in Amsterdam, his reunion with his boyfriend is a little strained.

Warsha
A Syrian crane operator working in Beirut finds a moment of personal liberation in the most unlikely of places.

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