Some 31 films will have their world premiere at the festival, but the programme also includes classics from the queer pantheon. Pioneering director Cheryl Dunye will be present for a 30th anniversary screening of her beloved romcom The Watermelon Woman, which made history in 1996 as the first feature film ever to be directed by a black lesbian.
As ever, the festival also includes a wide variety of filmmaker talks and panel events designed to attract cinephiles and budding directors alike. The closing night party will transform the foyer of the BFI Southbank into a sweaty queer disco where DJs blast dance floor anthems until 3am.
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As queer representation on screen has improved, BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival has also moved with the times. “We’ve almost reached a point where portrayals of queer relationships have become kind of mainstream, but queer films themselves aren’t necessarily [mainstream] yet,”
programmer Grace Barber-Plentie tells Big Issue.
“Some of the films we select have a political message, others are more celebratory, but we’re always interested in how queer filmmakers are reacting to issues that affect us as a community.”
Coming-of-age stories are particularly popular with audiences, but Barber-Plentie says the programming teams looks for films that “turn [the genre’s] familiar tropes on their head”. This year’s closing night film, Sandulela Asanda’s Black Burns Fast, follows a scholarship girl grappling with class, privilege and her emerging sexuality at a South African boarding school. “It’s a story I’ve never really seen on screen before, which is very much rooted in a queer black girl’s experience,” she says.
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At the same time, the programming team is always keen to spotlight stories from the most
marginalised corners of the LGBT+ spectrum. “This year, we have intersex and asexual representation in the programme, whereas usually it feels like we have either one or the other. That makes me really hopeful that we’ll start seeing more of these stories [on screen] in the coming years,” Barber-Plentie says.
Throughout its 40-year history, BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival has built a global reputation for spotlighting diverse queer stories while also nurturing raw talent. Writer, performer and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi volunteered at the festival in 2015 before being selected to join the BFI Flare Mentorship scheme. In 2024, their directorial debut Layla, the story of a non-binary British-Palestinian drag queen who falls for a white gay man with a corporate job, was chosen to open the festival.
“Without BFI Flare, I would not have a filmmaking career,” they tell Big Issue. This year, Al-Kadhi returns to the festival with a short, Original Sin, and to host a screen talk with Russell T Davies, who became their mentor after they met at the festival.
Nick Freeman and Ramiel Petros, directors of The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel, describe being selected for this year’s festival as an “incredible full-circle moment” for their documentary’s subject, Tony Powell. Back in the 1970s, Powell was a top Norwich City footballer, but he all but disappeared after retiring from the game. The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel brilliantly fills in the blanks by revealing that Powell only felt able to come out as gay after moving to Los Angeles and cutting off contact with friends and family in the UK.
Sensitively assembled by Freeman and Petros, it’s a profoundly moving personal story that doubles as an examination of deeply entrenched homophobia.
“Within Tony’s early lifetime, Britain saw the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the start of the
HIV/Aids epidemic and the ‘moral panic’ of the Thatcher era,” Petros tells Big Issue. “So having the film’s UK premiere at BFI Flare in its 40th year feels like a celebration of how far society has come in that time. It’s also a reminder of why it’s vital to continue sharing stories like Tony’s.”
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The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel is one of dozens of unsung gems that audiences can discover at this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. “If you come in the morning to see one film, you’ll probably end up staying all day because there’s so much on offer,” Barber-Plentie says. She has a handy insider tip: don’t give up on seeing a sold-out film because there are always returns on the day.
“Except,” she laughs, “when we screened Love Lies Bleeding in 2024. Kristen Stewart has
so many queer fans that this film really was sold out!”
The 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival takes place 18-29 March at BFI Southbank.
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