Thomas Wilson-White’s The Greenhouse, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, is a queer fairytale, but if that sounds like it’s all prancing twinks in tight shorts running around the woods, I hate to be the one to disappoint you. Like all good fairytales, this one is about bigger, darker things, and... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: I Am Samuel ★★★★
Peter Murimi's I Am Samuel, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival March 17-28th 2021, is an intimate portrait of Samuel, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, and his partner Alex. Shot in verité style, the documentary opens with footage of the two men visiting a beauty spot, a waterfall in a forest,... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: My First Summer ★★★★ 1/2
There is something quintessentially Australian about finding privacy in a wide expanse of nature, and My First Summer, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, uses the depths of Australian forests as a furtive playground for big emotions. A teenage girl, Grace (Maiah Stewardson), witnesses a reclusive writer, Veronica Fox (Edwina Wren),... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: Jump, Darling ★★★1/2
Jump, Darling, the feature debut of writer-director Philip J. Connell, receives its international premiere at the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival. On the surface, the tale of a young gay man escaping the big city to live with his grandmother in the countryside, reeks of every fish-out-of-water story ever conceived. The beauty of... Continue Reading →
35th BFI Flare London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival unveils full lineup available digitally UK-wide
Tickets are now on sale at bfi.org.uk/flare for the 35th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival which runs March 17th - 28th 2021. With 26 features and 38 free shorts from 23 countries, the UK’s longest running queer film event will deliver virtual premieres via BFI Player to audiences nationwide, making it the... Continue Reading →
LFF 2020 Film Review: I Am Samuel ★★★★
Update: I Am Samuel will be available to stream for free across Canada from February 18-22 and a Q+A will follow screening. Tickets are free and must be reserved in advance through Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema website. Peter Murimi's I Am Samuel, which has its European premiere at the London Film Festival on October... Continue Reading →
LGBT Britain – the BFI’s free queer history time capsule
If you're in the UK you can access the British Film Institute’s treasure trove LGBT Britain for free, it's a rich visual time capsule of the country’s queer past. You'll discover the "pioneering gender-bending" risqué music hall ditty Miss Norah Blaney, (1932) and the Tennessee Williams-inspired short film Scarborough Ahoy! (1994). There are period lesbian,... Continue Reading →
Film Review: Ask Any Buddy ★★★★
One of our favourite queer Instagram accounts @askanybuddy delights in the rich history of how gay porn movies of the golden age of the 70s and 80s were advertised in print; the promotional stills, screening listings and cover stars. So our interest was aroused when we learnt that the curator of these treasures, Elizabeth Purchell,... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival 2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
The British Film Institute has taken the difficult decision to cancel this year's LGBTQI+ Flare festival, two days before it was due to begin "due to the scale and complexity of running a large international film festival with filmmakers set to travel from across the world". In a statement released to media the BFI said,... Continue Reading →
34th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival Highlights
The British Film Institute’s annual LGBTIQ+ film festival Flare is back this month with an exciting lineup of more than 50 feature films, including a few The Queer Review favourites. From March 18th-29th the festival will fill the BFI Southbank with queer cinema, discussions, parties and more. Things kick off with the Opening Night world... Continue Reading →
