The 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival will take place from 18–29 March 2026 at BFI Southbank. It will celebrate four decades as one of the most significant LGBTQIA+ film festivals in the world. It is also one of the longest-running festivals of its kind. The host venue will be buzzing throughout. It will feature packed screenings, special events, talks, panels, and DJ nights. The festival marks its landmark anniversary. BFI Flare 2026 is structured into four thematic strands: HEARTS, BODIES, MINDS and a new strand for this 40th edition, TREASURES, dedicated to LGBTQIA+ film history. This year’s programme includes 31 World Premieres, which are both features and shorts. It also features 65 features and 62 shorts from 47 countries. Tickets will be on sale from 24 February for BFI Members. Sales for general audiences will start on 26 February via whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare.
Screen Talk with Russell T Davies
BFI Flare Screen Talk will host a special guest. The festival welcomes Russell T Davies. He will discuss his acclaimed career and his upcoming Channel 4 show, Tip Toe. As a television writer and producer known for milestone LGBTQIA+ representation, he introduced openly queer characters and storylines to Doctor Who. He brought LGBTQIA+ experiences into mainstream television with unprecedented visibility and nuance. He created Queer as Folk (1999), Cucumber (2015) and its companion series Banana (2015). It’s a Sin (2021) explored gay lives, relationships and the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis. His credits also include A Very English Scandal (2018). Hugh Grant starred as politician Jeremy Thorpe. He also created the dystopian series Years and Years (2019). Tip Toe will examine the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQIA+ community today, exploring the danger as prejudice creeps back into everyday life.
Opening, Closing and Programme Vision
BFI Flare opens with the World Premiere of HUNKY JESUS. This documentary, directed by Jennifer Kroot, is riotous and follows the unique social justice movement, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Their story is interwoven with their wildly popular annual Easter Sunday tradition in San Francisco. Alongside the premiere, Sister Roma, an iconic and long-serving member of the San Francisco chapter, will join a talk. This talk, Divine Dissidence: A Sistory of the Sisters, includes members of UK chapters and explores the history and impact of their work. The Closing Night film is the UK premiere of Sandulela Asanda’s exuberant romance BLACK BURNS FAST. It follows studious scholarship student Luthando at a prestigious South African boarding school. Her world is upended by the arrival of a new girl, igniting suppressed desires and challenging everything she thought she knew about herself. The 2026 Programming team comprises Grace Barber-Plentie, Diana Cipriano, Zorian Clayton, Jaye Hudson, Darren Jones and Wema Mumma. The programmers note that as BFI Flare celebrates its 40th anniversary, the programme is filled with cinematic gems and compelling events, continuing to champion bold storytelling and providing a vital space for connection, visibility and unapologetic, truthful representation.
World Premieres and New Features
Among the exciting World Premieres is MADFABULOUS, Celyn Jones’ quirky period drama based on the life of Henry Cyril Paget, the dancing Marquess of Anglesey, starring Callum Scott Howells, Ruby Stokes and Rupert Everett. BEYOND THE FIRE: THE LIFE OF JAPAN’S FIRST PRIDE PARADE PIONEER, directed by Hiroaki Matsuoka, explores Japan’s queer history through the life of Teishiro Minami, who led the country’s first Pride march. Ethan Fuirst’s CAN’T GO OVER IT follows two queer best friends confronting the slow dissolution of their bond on an annual hiking trip. Louise Weard’s CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER iii. JUNIOR GHOSTS – PREMORPHIC DRIFT; a fragmentary passage, finds a heterosexual couple upended by an abrupt transition. I AM GOING TO MISS YOU, Daniel Ribeiro’s indie romantic drama, centres on a T4T couple moving in together and facing their differences, featuring an all-trans cast. Pamela Adie’s ìfé: (THE SEQUEL), a highly anticipated follow-up to Nigeria’s first lesbian film, reunites former lovers ífé and Adaora years after their separation. LADY CHAMPAGNE from D’Arcy Drollinger invites audiences into the lewd, rude and gloriously silly world of erotic dancer Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White. In Nick Butler’s offbeat comedy LUNAR SWAY, a bi man in a desert town receives a chaotic visit from his con-artist birth mother. OUT LAWS by Lexi Powner chronicles one gay Namibian man’s battle to secure rights for same-sex couples. TO DANCE IS TO RESIST, by Julian Lautenbacher, follows two Ukrainian dancers seeking life and artistic freedom after Russia’s invasion. Isabel Daly’s Cornwall-set WASHED UP finds a struggling artist falling for a mythical selkie on the coastline.
Treasures and Restorations
To mark the TREASURES strand and the festival’s 40th anniversary, BFI Flare presents the UK premiere of the awe-inspiring 4K restoration of PINK NARCISSUS (1971). James Bidgood directed this milestone of experimental cinema. It serves as a landmark of queer representation. The film presents the erotically charged dreamscape of a young hustler. It celebrates the male body in ways that have influenced artists such as John Waters, Pierre et Gilles, and Charli XCX. Once shrouded in mystery, the film has now been restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive. UK-wide screenings will accompany the BFI Flare premiere. Venues include Tyneside Cinema (Newcastle upon Tyne), Filmhouse Edinburgh, Showroom Sheffield, and HOME Manchester. They also include Chapter Cardiff, Midlands Art Centre Birmingham, Queen’s Film Theatre Belfast, and Glasgow Film Theatre. Other highlights in this area include MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Gregg Araki’s haunting and uncompromising drama. It has been newly restored by the Academy Film Archive and UCLA Film & Television Archive in collaboration with Sundance Institute. Another highlight is THE WATERMELON WOMAN, the first feature directed by an African-American lesbian. Cheryl Dunye’s film remains as funny, thought-provoking, and original as it was three decades ago.
Documentaries and Non-Fiction Highlights
Beyond already announced titles, the festival showcases additional non-fiction work. BARBARA FOREVER by Brydie O’Connor is a striking portrait of trailblazing experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer. Sze-Wei Chan’s 10s ACROSS THE BORDERS dives deep into Southeast Asian ballroom culture with a soulful documentary lens. In THE BROKEN R, Ricardo Ruales Eguiguren reflects on his rare genetic condition and sexual identity, while JARIPEO, from Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig, journeys into the dreamlike world of Mexican rodeos. MICKEY & RICHARD, directed by Ryan A. White, offers a frank portrait of Richard Bernstein, known in the 1980s as porn star Mickey Squires. TREAT ME LIKE YOUR MOTHER is based on Trans* Histories from Beirut’s Forgotten Past. It is a contemplative exploration of the lives of five Lebanese women by Mohamad Abdouni. WE ARE PAT examines Saturday Night Live’s androgynous character Pat in Rowan Haber’s thoughtful, uproarious film, inviting trans comedians to recreate and reclaim the figure for a new context.
Global Stories and Fiction Standouts
Narrative highlights include MONTREAL, MY BEAUTIFUL, where Joan Chen gives a stunning performance as a Chinese immigrant in her fifties, tentatively awakening to long-suppressed lesbian desire. SATISFACTION, directed by Alex Burunova, offers a tender, finely observed study of intimacy and creative tension between two British composers. QUEEN OF COAL presents a defiant portrait of self-determination through Patagonia’s first female coal miner, played by Lux Pascal, in a world shaped by tradition, labour and masculinity. In Ramiel Petros’ documentary feature debut THE LAST GUEST OF THE HOLLOWAY MOTEL, a former British soccer star reflects on his past and the family he abandoned to hide his true identity. Campbell X’s long-awaited second feature LOW RIDER takes audiences on a fun, cross-country ride across South Africa.
Trans Narratives Across the Programme
Trans narratives are strongly represented. DEATH AND LIFE MADALENA is Guto Parente’s dryly witty eleventh feature. It follows a heavily pregnant woman. She takes control of a kitsch B-movie juggernaut after her father, an eccentric film legend, dies. I AM MY OWN WOMAN sees German trans icon Charlotte von Mahlsdorf recount her semi-fictionalised life in a landmark doc-drama classic, screening in memory of director Rosa von Praunheim. Punk queer horror THE SERPENT’S SKIN delivers a visceral mix of lesbian goths and vampiric trade, unfolding like a Gen-Z echo of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. WHAT WILL I BECOME? serves as a vital memorial. It highlights the often-silenced vulnerabilities of trans masculine youth. It calls urgently for trans-led support and education. WOUBI CHÉRI is Africa’s first transgender film. It is also featured. This film reflects on its significant impact since the 1990s. During that time, it collected Best Documentary awards at festivals in New York, Italy, and London.
Asian and South American Cinema at BFI Flare
Asian cinema features prominently, including IMPURE NUNS, a transgressive 1950s treasure, previously unseen outside Japan, chronicling an affair between two nuns at a boarding school. THE DEEPEST SPACE IN US follows an aromantic asexual woman seeking connection among people who repeatedly misunderstand her. WARLA, directed by Kevin Alambra, is a provocative socio-realist drama. It depicts a group of vigilante Filipino trans women who kidnap foreign businessmen to fund gender-affirming surgeries. WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON, Lai Yuqing’s handheld debut feature, portrays an actress returning to Cambodia after a bereavement and reconnecting with a former lover. South American stories also stand out. BABY by Marcelo Caetano, follows Body Electric. It explores a complex, loving relationship between two men against São Paulo’s vibrant queer scene. CHERRI offers a poignant, melancholic character study. It challenges prejudice and promotes respect for diverse body types. KEEP COMING BACK, directed by Sergio De León, follows an 18-year-old. He navigates grief, financial pressure, and surging hormones as he enters adulthood. PERRO PERRO by Marco Berger is a boldly absurdist fairy tale. It playfully reimagines pet ownership.
Recent Queer Cinema and Special Presentations
BFI Flare will also screen four of the best queer films from the past 12 months. PILLION is Harry Lighton’s charming, sexy, and often hilarious debut. It follows a shy young man. He finds his place in the world as a submissive to a handsome biker. DREAMERS, Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s impressive feature debut, centres on Nigerian immigrants Isio and Farah as they dare to imagine a vibrant future beyond the confines of a British immigration removal centre. BABY returns as a key title. It closes out with its dynamic exploration of São Paulo’s queer community. The focus is also on its central relationship. LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS, Urška Djukić’s sensorial and sensitive feature debut, follows a Slovenian Catholic girl as she navigates the exhilaration and confusion of first desire. As previously announced, Paloma Schneideman’s BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY screens as a Special Presentation. It offers a tender, unflinching portrait of queer adolescence. This happens through one transformative New Zealand summer for 14-year-old Sid Bookman.
Events, Five Films For Freedom and Industry Programme
Alongside the Screen Talk, BFI Flare will host numerous events and talks, including Heartstopper Forever!, The Makers with Cheryl Dunne, and the 40 Years of BFI Flare exhibition at Queer Britain. The festival again partners with the British Council for the 12th edition of Five Films For Freedom. This is a landmark international initiative. It presents five shorts from the BFI Flare programme online for free worldwide. The initiative invites audiences everywhere to show solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities where freedom and equal rights are limited. The 2025 digital campaign reached 2.7 million views globally. Notably, 87% of audiences tuned in from parts of the world where rights remain restricted. Since 2015, the initiative has generated nearly 29 million views across more than 200 countries. The 2026 Five Films For Freedom selection will be available free across the UK on BFI Player, with the new programme announced on 20 February. For industry professionals, BFI Flare’s industry strand returns with delegate networking, dedicated events, and Press and Industry screenings at BFI Southbank. The full industry line-up will be announced in the coming weeks, with accreditation opening on 18 February. The current cohort of the BFI NETWORK and BAFTA Mentoring Programme, delivered in partnership with BFI Flare, will attend bespoke events at BAFTA and the festival, including a special panel celebrating ten years of the mentoring programme.
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