As the colourful flags of this year’s BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Film Festival fluttered in the wind, a poignant sense of queer unity and emotion filled the air, and the hearts of all 28,923 attendees – including my own. Held at Southbank’s iconic British Film Institute, the 37th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival the UK’s leading LGBTQIA+ film event, closed on 26 March seeing a continued growth in audiences returning to cinemas to experience the festival.
Over the first four days of the festival, 800 attendees experienced the first BFI FLARE EXPANDED programme, a selection of five immersive art and virtual reality works from inspiring LGBTQIA+ artists working across emerging technologies. The artistic works, including interactive virtual reality, screen-based installations and 3D-scanning, explored themes of identity, belonging, self- expression and vulnerability and moved all who visited.
This year, the festival welcomed 280 filmmakers and their teams in person from 30 countries. Special guests among many included Richard Wilson, Chris Jenks, Marielle Scott, Zackary Drucker and Kristen Lovell, who received a standing ovation when she walked out on stage after the opening night screening of her powerful documentary – The Stroll.
Over 12 days between 15– 26 March, BFI Flare welcomed audiences to its home at BFI Southbank with 58 feature premieres and 90 shorts screened from 41 countries. 8 short films were made available for free on BFI Player plus the 5 shorts selected as part of Five Films For Freedom. The festival hosted 6 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, 4 European Premiere and 18 UK Premieres from across the features programme.
Partnering for the ninth year, BFI Flare and the British Council made five LGBTQIA+ short films from the BFI Flare programme available to global audiences for the duration of the festival with the ground-breaking Five Films For Freedom. The LGBTQIA+ digital campaign attracted over three and a half million views from around the world with a quarter of views coming from parts of the world where freedom and equal rights are limited. Figures from international content partnerships are still to be counted. The project allows audiences worldwide to show solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities and this year’s selection spanned from Guyana, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Nigeria, South Korea, with each story celebrating love as a human right.
Every year I attend this incredible film festival excited at the plethora of queer films and always leave with my heart full and deeply moved by the haunting narratives created by the community’s most talented filmmakers. All films I watched were wonderful, yet there were three favourites which really left me in awe…
The Stroll
Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s stirring and deeply personal Sundance Award winning documentary about trans sex workers of colour in New York’s Meatpacking District was a definite crowd pleaser at this year’s festival. A deeply moving, powerful and extremely necessary documentary, The Stroll depicts the harsh realities of trans women of colour living in New York, their struggle to survive, but also their moments of joy and unity. Fresh off its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Stroll delves into the fascinating history of this unique location and the women and non binary people who worked here night after night, including their problems with the corrupt police – many who were also regular clients.
The film paints a powerful message that when people are discriminated against purely for who they are, they are forced to do whatever they can to make money, to make a life for themselves, because a difficult life filled with trouble is more desirable than suppressing who you are and living a lie.
Who I am not
Another powerful documentary focusing on gender identity was the BFI Flare’s Centrepiece Presentation – Who I am not. The film is a deeply intimate portrayal of the lives of two intersex South Africans and the challenges they face navigating binary sex and gender systems.
Sharon-Rose Khumalo is feminine presenting and identifies as a woman, whereas Dimatatso Sebidi is masculine presenting and uses they/them pronouns. Both discuss their fears and daily struggles living as intersex people in South Africa and invite us into their most intimate life moments. This intimate open book style film making allows the viewer to truly understand and empathise with their pain, and the pain of all the other 150 million intersex people around the world.
We see Sharon-Rose on an awkward date with a potential suitor who ends the date abruptly after she reveals that she can not biologically have children and witness Dimatatso in a job interview from hell where they are told that they would be too much of an inconvenience to hire. “how would we call you?” and “we have no money to change the signs about gender” were two of the main concerns of the interviewer.
The pain of not being fully accepted by society is a central theme in this gripping documentary, as is the issue of consent (or lack of) when it comes to unethical decision-making by doctors to “correct” genitalia of intersex people.
The film explores how gender is identified in our highly gendered society and Khumalo expresses her thoughts on the matter so poignantly – “We are not defined by chromosomes, by reproductive organs. The only thing we can really be defined by is ourself.”
I couldn’t agree more…
The Blue Caftan
Maryam Touzani’s mesmerising cinematic masterpiece is a tale of illegal love between two men (Halim and Yousef) set in modern day Morocco. It also tells the story of a heterosexual woman who loves her (closeted gay) husband with all her heart and the emotions she goes through watching him fall for another man.
The Blue Caftan is a visually stunning film, with vivid cinematography celebrating the vibrant colours and intricate patterns that capture the essence of Moroccan culture.
Halim (played by the enigmatic Saleh Bakri) leads a monotonous life running a traditional caftan store in the bustling medina of Salé with his wife Mina (the talented Lubna Azalea). They pair share a comfortable “best friend-style” bond with dry humour and mutual compassion lighting the way in their humble day to day life. All is well until the arrival of sultry Yousef (brilliantly acted by Ayoub Missioui) stirs an uncontrollable longing in Halim.
We watch Mina go though the pain of realising her husband is gay and enamoured with this younger, adoring apprentice but are then moved at how accepting Mina becomes of the pair’s blossoming love during the final stages of her battle with cancer. It is also incredible heartwarming to see the love shown towards Mina from Yousef when he learns she is dying and the subsequent bond between the three characters.
This outstanding film also depicts the pain of Halim – and therefore all gay men in countries where it is illegal to be themselves. He asks for forgiveness from his dying wife for living with a sexuality that “could have brought her shame” and she responds heartwarmingly by saying it was a true honour to have been his wife and he has nothing to be ashamed of.
The bonding, uplifting effects of music and how it unites people is also poignantly depicted by Touzani. There is an incredibly heartwarming scene when Mina plays an uplifting Moroccan song after breakfast and encourages the two men to dance, laugh and be happy. It is this scene that shows Mina “giving her blessing” for the two men to love each other and we get a sense that she is comforted that her husband will be loved and looked after by the incredibly nurturing Yousef after she passes.
The Blue Caftan serves as a powerful reminder that love and acceptance can be found by the most unexpected people in the most unexpected places and emphasises the life-changing power of love in all its forms.
As I look ahead to next year’s festival, I’m filled with anticipation and excitement for the continued growth and evolution of the outstanding LGBTQIA+ cinema it showcases. We celebrate the voices that have been heard this year, and eagerly await the stories yet to be told. The BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Film Festival remains a vital and inspiring celebration of the art of queer filmmaking, and a beacon of hope for a more inclusive and compassionate world.
