BFI Flare 2024
by Col Needham | created - 2 months ago | updated - 1 month ago | PublicI attended The BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ Film Festival from 13 March - 24 March.
These are all of the films I have seen in chronological viewing order. Films #1-#11 were seen before the festival in other locations, then #12 onwards were watched (or re-watched) at the festival.
The list is fed from my BFI Flare Interest List 2024.
From films watched or re-watched at the festival (#12-#20), my highlights (in viewing order) were Layla (2024), What a Feeling (2024), Merchant Ivory (2024), Backspot (2023), and Unicorns (2023).
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1. Close to You (2023)
100 min | Drama
Follow Sam who has the chance to encounter with an old friend on his way back home to a dreaded family reunion that forces him to confront long-buried memories.
Director: Dominic Savage | Stars: Elliot Page, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Peter Outerbridge
Votes: 227
2. Silver Haze (2023)
102 min | Drama
Fifteen years after she got burnt when the pub where she slept as a child caught fire, Franky (23) seeks revenge because she still hasn't found any answers.
Director: Sacha Polak | Stars: Vicky Knight, Esme Creed-Miles, Charlotte Knight, Archie Brigden
Votes: 654
3. The Queen of My Dreams (2023)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy, Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter Azra come of age in two different eras.
Director: Fawzia Mirza | Stars: Amrit Kaur, Hamza Haq, Nimra Bucha, Charlie Boyle
Votes: 113
4. Bottoms (2023)
R | 91 min | Comedy
Two unpopular queer high-school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.
Director: Emma Seligman | Stars: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu
Votes: 41,545
5. All of Us Strangers (2023)
R | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home enters into a fledgling relationship with his downstairs neighbor while discovering a mysterious new way to heal from losing his parents 30 years ago.
Director: Andrew Haigh | Stars: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Carter John Grout, Jamie Bell
Votes: 43,996
6. 20,000 Species of Bees (2023)
128 min | Drama
During a summer in a village house linked to beekeeping, an eight-year-old and her mother experience revelations that will change their lives forever.
Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren | Stars: Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain, Itziar Lazkano
Votes: 3,348
7. Chasing Chasing Amy (2023)
95 min | Documentary
A documentary that examines the complex legacy of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy (1997) on LGBTQ+ people and its life-saving impact on director Sav Rodgers.
Director: Sav Rodgers | Stars: Joey Lauren Adams, Andrew Ahn, Trish Bendix, Alexa Kagan
Votes: 95
8. Rustin (2023)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Drama, History
Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
Director: George C. Wolfe | Stars: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen
Votes: 12,490
9. Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
R | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
Gym manager Lou falls for Jackie, a bodybuilder who is passing through town en route to a competition in Las Vegas.
Director: Rose Glass | Stars: Anna Baryshnikov, Kristen Stewart, Dave Franco, Katy O'Brian
Votes: 11,272
10. Desire Lines (2024)
81 min | Documentary, Drama
An Iranian American trans man travels back in time to an LGBTQ+ archive to understand his sexuality. He encounters his past and present selves during an erotic journey of self-discovery.
Director: Jules Rosskam | Stars: André Alan Pérez, Angel Piedra, Evin Hunter Luehrs, Elijah Valentin
Votes: 43
11. Our Son (2023)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama
A divorcing couple fight over the custody of their 8-year-old son.
Director: Bill Oliver | Stars: Luke Evans, Robin Weigert, Andrew Rannells, Phylicia Rashad
Votes: 935
12. Layla (I) (2024)
100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A drag queen longs for love. Their act at a Pride event attracts a marketing executive. Ensuing romance forces the performer to confront their identity.
Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi | Stars: Bilal Hasna, Louis Greatorex, Darkwah, Tim Bowie
Votes: 57
13. Departing Seniors (2023)
85 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Following an act of bullying, witty high school senior Javier develops psychic abilities which he must use to stop a mysterious serial killer targeting his classmates.
Director: Clare Cooney | Stars: Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Yani Gellman, Ireon Roach, Cameron Scott Roberts
Votes: 167
14. What a Feeling (2024)
110 min | Comedy
Love between cultures and conventions: There is no straight path for Marie Theres and Fa. A heartfelt and clever romantic comedy about two middle aged women who refuse to be pushed to the sideline of life.
Director: Kat Rohrer | Stars: Caroline Peters, Proschat Madani, Anton Noori, Gohar Nurbachsch
Votes: 28
15. Merchant Ivory (2024)
112 min | Documentary
Follows the history of the Merchant Ivory partnership, featuring interviews with James Ivory and close collaborators detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the company.
Director: Stephen Soucy | Stars: John David Allen, Helena Bonham Carter, John Bright, Hugh Grant
Votes: 18
16. Backspot (2023)
93 min | Drama
Riley is given the chance to cheer with the all-star squad, Thunderhawks. With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her crippling anxiety, her relationship with her girlfriend, and her desperate need for approval from her new coach.
Director: D.W. Waterson | Stars: Devery Jacobs, Evan Rachel Wood, Kudakwashe Rutendo, Shannyn Sossamon
Votes: 65
17. Unicorns (II) (2023)
119 min | Romance
It follows a queer South Asian nightclub performer living a double life, and a young, single father who works as a mechanic. When they meet, a search for identity is sparked.
Directors: Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | Stars: Ben Hardy, Hannah Onslow, Madelyn Smedley, Sagar Radia
Votes: 114
18. We Forgot to Break Up (2024)
94 min | Drama
A band of misfits ditches their small town to chase their dreams as indie rock gods in the big city.
Director: Karen Knox | Stars: Lane Webber, Daniel Gravelle, June Laporte, Jordan Dawson
Votes: 12
19. We Were Dangerous (2024)
83 min | Drama
Nellie, Daisy and Lou attend an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island in 1954. The trio rail against the system, finding strength in their friendship but this is challenged when the school's matron divides them.
Director: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu | Stars: Erana James, Rima Te Wiata, Manaia Hall, Aaron Jackson
Votes: 11
20. Lady Like (2024)
87 min | Documentary
Lady Camden becomes a contestant on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race. As she struggles to manage the demands of her fame, she must face her traumatic childhood.
Director: Luke Willis | Stars: Lady Camden, Nina West, Shiloh Brody-Clarke, Kyle Davidian
Votes: 11
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