BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival returns to BFI Southbank from 18–29 March 2026 to celebrate its 40th edition with a packed, global and proudly queer programme. The landmark festival remains one of the world’s most significant and longest‑running LGBTQIA+ film events, combining screenings, talks, parties and industry activity across eleven vibrant days.
BFI Flare 2026: Dates, Venue and Strands
The 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival will take place at BFI Southbank from 18–29 March 2026. It celebrates four decades of queer cinema and community, reaffirming its status as a flagship LGBTQIA+ film festival.
This year’s programme is structured into four thematic strands with Hearts, Bodies, Minds and a new 40th‑anniversary strand, TREASURES, dedicated to LGBTQIA+ film history. The festival atmosphere at BFI Southbank will be buzzing with screenings, special events, talks, panels and DJ nights throughout the eleven days.
Programme Highlights and World Premieres
BFI Flare 2026 features 31 world premieres, plus 65 features and 62 shorts from 47 countries, showcasing the diversity of global queer storytelling. Standout new titles include:
- MADFABULOUS, Celyn Jones’ period drama about Henry Cyril Paget, starring Callum Scott Howells, Ruby Stokes and Rupert Everett.
- BEYOND THE FIRE: THE LIFE OF JAPAN’S FIRST PRIDE PARADE PIONEER, exploring Teishiro Minami’s role in Japan’s first Pride march.
- CAN’T GO OVER IT, about two queer friends facing the slow dissolution of their bond on an annual hiking trip.
- ìfé: (THE SEQUEL), Pamela Adie’s follow‑up to Nigeria’s first lesbian film, reuniting lovers Ifé and Adaora years after their separation.
The programme spans romance, horror, documentary and experimental work, with films such as LADY CHAMPAGNE, LUNAR SWAY, OUT LAWS, TO DANCE IS TO RESIST and WASHED UP reflecting the breadth of LGBTQIA+ lives onscreen.
TREASURES Strand and Restored Classics
Marking the new TREASURES strand and the festival’s 40th anniversary, BFI Flare will present the UK premiere of a stunning 4K restoration of PINK NARCISSUS (1971), James Bidgood’s milestone of experimental queer cinema. At the same time, the film’s erotically charged dreamscape has influenced artists including John Waters, Pierre et Gilles and Charli XCX.
Furthermore, UK‑wide screenings will accompany the festival premiere, with the film showing at venues such as Tyneside Cinema, Filmhouse Edinburgh, Showroom Sheffield, HOME Manchester, Chapter Cardiff, Midlands Arts Centre Birmingham, Queen’s Film Theatre Belfast and Glasgow Film Theatre.
Other treasures include restored screenings of MYSTERIOUS SKIN and THE WATERMELON WOMAN, both recognised as landmark works in queer film history.
Screen Talk with Russell T Davies
A major 2026 event is a BFI Flare Screen Talk with Russell T Davies. The acclaimed writer and producer will discuss his trailblazing career and his upcoming Channel 4 series Tip Toe, which examines the corrosive forces facing the LGBTQIA+ community as prejudice resurfaces in everyday life.
Moreover, Davies is known for bringing queer stories into the mainstream with series such as Queer as Folk, Cucumber and Banana; the AIDS‑crisis drama It’s a Sin; A Very English Scandal; Years and Years; and for introducing openly queer storylines to Doctor Who. His Screen Talk will be a key draw for both fans and industry delegates.
Opening and Closing Films
BFI Flare 2026 opens with the World Premiere of HUNKY JESUS, a documentary by Jennifer Kroot about The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and their iconic Easter Sunday tradition in San Francisco.
The screening is accompanied by Divine Dissidence: A Sistory of the Sisters, a talk featuring Sister Roma and members of UK chapters, exploring the history and impact of their radical, joy‑filled activism.
The Closing Night film is the UK premiere of BLACK BURNS FAST, Sandulela Asanda’s exuberant romance about scholarship student Luthando at a prestigious South African boarding school. The arrival of a new girl ignites suppressed desires and forces Luthando to question everything she thought she knew about herself.
Global Queer Stories and Trans Narratives
Across the festival, BFI Flare showcases queer stories from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Highlights include:
- MONTREAL, MY BEAUTIFUL, with Joan Chen as a Chinese immigrant awakening to long-suppressed lesbian desire.
- QUEEN OF COAL, starring Lux Pascal as Patagonia’s first female coal miner, confronting tradition and masculinity.
- BABY, set in São Paulo’s queer scene, charting an intense relationship against a vibrant city backdrop.
Trans and gender‑expansive narratives are a vital part of the programme, in fact, titles include DEATH AND LIFE MADALENA, I AM MY OWN WOMAN, the horror feature THE SERPENT’S SKIN, the memorial documentary WHAT WILL I BECOME? and WOUBI CHÉRI, celebrated as Africa’s first transgender film.
Asian cinema is strongly represented with films such as IMPURE NUNS, THE DEEPEST SPACE IN US, WARLA and WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON, while South American stories feature in BABY, CHERRI, KEEP COMING BACK and PERRO PERRO.
Events, Five Films For Freedom and Industry
Beyond screenings, BFI Flare’s 40th edition includes events such as Heartstopper Forever!, The Makers with Cheryl Dunne, and the 40 Years of BFI Flare exhibition at Queer Britain.
Moreover, the festival again partners with the British Council on Five Films For Freedom, a global digital initiative that makes five shorts from the BFI Flare programme available online for free worldwide, inviting viewers everywhere to show solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities where rights are restricted. Since 2015, the initiative has reached tens of millions of views across more than 200 countries.
For industry professionals, BFI Flare’s sector‑facing programme offers networking, talks and dedicated press and industry screenings at BFI Southbank. The BFI NETWORK and BAFTA Mentoring Programme cohort will attend bespoke events and a special panel celebrating ten years of the mentoring scheme.
Tickets and On‑Sale Dates
Tickets for BFI Flare 2026 go on sale to BFI Members on 24 February 2026. General public booking opens on 26 February 2026 via whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare. If you plan to attend key premieres, talks or late‑night events, early booking is strongly recommended.
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