BFI Flare: London's LGBTIQ+ Film Festival
Oh how I’ve missed new films. With cinemas closed for the best part of a year, it’s been hard to watch new releases when you don’t want to spend £15 on streaming or terrestival televion (looking at you, Wonder Woman 1984). With many film festivals moving online during the pandemic, it was no surprise that BFI Flare did the same and I’m so glad they did.
BFI Flare is Europe’s biggest LGBTQI+ film festival founded in 1986 and based in London; it not only showcases but celebrates some of the best LGBTQI+ films from around the world. This year’s festival ran from Wednesday 17th March to Sunday 28th March but I was fortunate enough to get a press pass on behalf of The Everyday to get early access to screenings!
This year’s picks included documentaries, short films and feature lengths; from directorial debuts to contemporary filmmakers, the catalogue of works not only showcases a range of genres including romance, coming-of-age and thriller, it also offers a look at these stories against a backdrop of different settings, from New York and the typical British coast to Tel Aviv and Midwest America.
To be precise, there are 26 feature films and 38 short films to watch from the comfort of your own home. The representation across the catalogue of films was impressive, with such a diverse range of characters and stories. Three to four films were released daily for P&I screenings but unfortunately I was unable to watch all of the films – as much as I would have liked to, I still work full-time and just didn’t have the time to indulge in more than one film a day! It was incredibly hard to choose which film to watch however I don’t regret any of my choices.
I started with Jump Darling, dedicated to Cloris Leachmen, who plays the supporting role of Grams, she passed away earlier this year. This was a lovely film to begin my BFI Flare week; it tells the story of a young, aspiring drag queen, played by Thomas Duplessie, who moves in with Grams after a break-up with his boyfriend. The performances between the two is dazzling and the drag queen scenes are powerful. The film tackles themes of loneliness, borderline alcoholism and suicide however despite the heavy topics, they just about scratch the surface. These topics are glazed over and their lack of screen time makes it difficult to have be fully invested in these characters.
My second film was Cowboys, directed by Anna Kerigan and features stunning performances from Steve Zahn and Sasha Knight as father and son who run off into the Montana wilderness in the hopes of starting a new life in Canada. The story focuses on relationships and the struggles of a transgender son in Midwest America against a magnificent backdrop of rural America. Kerigan does away with a linear narrative and instead offers flashbacks to show how the characters have ended up in their current situation. There are some tense scenes but the issue of mental health and the struggles of being transgender are portrayed with a tenderness that makes this film loving and warm. It is a brilliant exploration of a family that wants to do the right thing but doesn’t know how.
Sublet, set in Tel-Aviv, depicts the story of a young filmmaker who sublets his apartment to a travel journalist
Sublet presented a story of an American journalist who travels to Tel-Aviv and sublets an apartment from a younger, Israeli man who he not only befriends but also engages in a romantic relationship with. The story is not a new one however Sublet navigates themes of surrogacy, loss and infidelity with a tenderness that is new to cinema. Although the ending was not as fulfilling as you would have liked, the film itself leaves you satisfied.
After focusing my time on mainly feature length films, I decided to watch a couple documentaries. I began with AIDS Diva: The Legend of Connie Norman which details the life of transgender activist, Connie Norman, who died in 1996 of AIDS. It was only an hour long (I wish it was longer!) and it gave an insight into the years of dedicated hard work of not only Connie but also the LA organisation, Act-Up. I’m disappointed in myself for never having heard of Connie despite her life’s work of activism and her fierce defiance against transphobia, homophobia and the response to the AIDS crisis in late 80s/early 90s America. The documentary is a powerful one and it’s at its best when footage from those early decades are shown; ranging from Connie’s speeches at rallies to her resistance against talk-show hosts live on air. In the footage, Norman bridges the gap between sexuality and gender and speaks of sexuality as a spectrum, why heterosexual have “lives” and homosexuals have “lifestyles” and why being transgender is not a choice – all themes that are prevalent today.
A still from the Rebel Dykes documentary
Offering a slightly different take to the documentary style is Rebel Dykes. A mash-up of documentary footage, interviews and animation, the film follows a group of friends rebelling against the “acceptable” lesbian and instead refused to be told who they could have sex with and how they should be having sex with them. The documentary is just as you’d expect from its title – defiant, fierce and rebellious, not only in the story itself but in the style of the documentary and the format. The story follows a group of friends who met at Greenham Common peace camp and have rebelled against a society that deemed them inappropriate, fascists and sadomasochists. They set up the first lesbian S&M night in Vauxhall because “they wanted what gay men had access to – places to have sex” and stood in defiance of Section 28 and the AIDS pandemic wth other members of the LGBTQ+ community. The film does pause, ever so slightly, on the AIDS crisis and other members of the LGBTQ+ community however it is the rebel dykes that take front and centre here with them offering their side of the story for how history played out during those years.
Portraying a more subtle kind of defiance is I Am Samuel; a story about a Kenyan man who is torn between family duty and his heart. Filmed over the course of 5 years and condensed into 69 minutes, it is an eye-opening look at what it means to be gay in Kenya. Samuel and his partner Alex have friends in Nairobi but video footage shows one man being beaten and attacked by a group of others for being gay and, as Samuel narrates, that could have been him. The documentary is not invasive and although you hear a question from the cameraman every so often, the audience mostly follows Samuel as he travels back and forth from his home in Western Kenya to visit his family and his home in Nairobi which he shares with Alex and some friends. The societal pressure to be married and have a wife is shown again and again through Samuel’s father and once his father finds out about Samuel’s relationship with Alex, the relationship between Samuel and his father is broken. The narrative is, during the most part, warming as Alex and Samuel fight back against society’s customs and their love endures. However, Pete Murimi does not let you off lightly as there is a sense of fear that permeates several scenes which remind us just how scary it can be to be gay in Kenya.
AJ and her family holidaying at a typical English holiday park in Sweetheart
One of my favourite films I’ve watched this week has to be Sweetheart. Marley Morrison’s debut feature is has everything you want from a coming-of-age film; AJ is a socially awkward 17 year old forced to go on holiday to a typical English caravan site where she meets a flirtatious lifeguard, Isla. Nell Barlow as AJ is mesmerising, she is the embodiment of a teenager who is confused and lost at this time of their life, her humour and wit garners some genuine laugh-out-loud scenes and although she is flawed, so are all of those around her. The familiar tropes of a mother trying make her daughter more feminine, of a dad not in the picture and of a typical socially awkward girl who doesn’t have many friends are not overplayed and instead these offer a deeper look into who AJ really is. AJ’s relationship with her mother, sister and with Isla evolve drastically for a week spent at the seaside but it’s a relief to see each relationship repair itself in one way or another by the time the film is finished. The soft soundtrack, the lingering camera shots and the scenic setting all create a beautiful atmosphere that will leave you longing to be seventeen again even after the credits roll.
BFI Flare has been incredibly eye-opening, offering stories that I most likely would not have had the chance to watch in the cinema. Each film offered something different whether that be a different perspective, different setting or a different understanding of history. I would recommend every single film above to anyone and my only regret is that I couldn’t write about more them for this article! BFI Flare 2021, you’ve been a joy… BFI Flare 2022, I can’t wait.
Written by Issy Packer
Hi, I’m Issy, the Music and Film Editor at The Everyday! I’m an English Literature graduate and have been passionate about all things to do with writing and journalism from a young age. I am interested in a number of things, including politics, feminism and music and am a firm believer that Bristol is ONE of the best cities in England for anything to do with culture, art and music. You can find me either at the cinema watching all sorts of films or trying to work my way through the long list of books I’m desperate to read.