The Hidden Review

The 40th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (18–29 March), the UK’s leading LGBTQIA+ film event, closed on 29 March with strong audience growth for in-person events at its home, BFI Southbank. The 40th anniversary edition attracted 39,405 attendees, including 8,087 for two special anniversary exhibitions and a documentary marking “BFI Flare at 40”.

Over 12 days, audiences enjoyed 65 feature films and 63 shorts from 48 countries, with a line-up that celebrated queer stories from around the globe. The festival hosted 31 World Premieres, 9 International Premieres, 11 European Premieres and 33 UK Premieres, underlining its role as a key launchpad for LGBTQIA+ cinema.

Global guests and industry talent

More than 250 filmmakers and guests attended this year’s edition, including Pamela Adie, Celyn Jones, Callum Scott-Howells, Ruby Stokes, Louis Hynes, Tom Rhys-Harries, Hiroaki Matsuoka, Alex Burunova, Fionn Whitehead, Helen Walsh, Lorne MacFayden, Xiaodan He, A.P. Pickle, Richard Bernstein, Nick Butler, Noah Parker, Liza Weil, Kaden Connors, Douglas Smith, James Lewis, Lexi Powner, Friedel Dausab, Rosana Flamer-Caldera, Isabel Daly, D’Arcy Drollinger, Ethan Fuirst, Julian Lautenbacher, Daniel Ribeiro, Brydie O’Connor, Fabian Suarez, Juan Ramos, Todd Wiener, Simone Mercado, Ramiel Petros, Nicholas Freeman and Xinyi Cao.

Their presence reinforced BFI Flare’s position as a global hub for queer filmmakers, offering networking opportunities, Q&As and industry conversations alongside public screenings.

#FiveFilmsForFreedom: a global digital movement

This year marked the 12th edition of #FiveFilmsForFreedom, delivered in partnership with the British Council. This landmark digital initiative showcases five LGBTQIA+ short films from the BFI Flare programme, made available for free worldwide, inviting people everywhere to watch, share and spark conversations in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities, especially where freedom and equal rights remain limited.

The 2026 selection featured:

• SWEAT / MỒ HÔI – Vietnam
• ROOM 206 – France
• RAG DOLLS – USA/Mexico
• THEO – Brazil
• I HATE HELEN – UK

Early figures indicate the campaign has already generated over 3.5 million views, with global totals still being counted. The five filmmaking teams were welcomed to the UK at a reception at the Houses of Parliament. Alongside the online programme, in-person screenings and events took place worldwide, including in New Zealand, Brazil and across Europe.

Over the last 11 years, #FiveFilmsForFreedom has become a global movement, reaching more than 32 million views and bringing audiences together in a celebration of love as a human right.

Opening, closing films and standout highlights

The 2026 edition opened with the World Premiere of HUNKY JESUS, Jennifer Kroot’s riotous documentary, and closed with the UK Premiere of Sandulela Asanda’s exuberant romance BLACK BURNS FAST.

Among the many highlights was the Special Presentation of BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY by Paloma Schneideman, a tender yet unflinching portrait of queer adolescence.

BFI Flare also welcomed television writer and producer Russell T Davies for a Screen Talk at BFI Southbank on 23 March, moderated by Amrou Al-Kadhi. The conversation traced his groundbreaking career for a packed audience and included an exclusive clip of his new show Tip Toe, launching on Channel 4 later this year.

World premieres: new voices and bold stories

The programme featured an exciting slate of World Premieres, including:

• MADFABULOUS – Celyn Jones’ quirky period drama about 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, this documentary explores Japan’s queer history through the life of Teishiro Minami, who pioneered the country’s first Pride march.
• CAN’T GO OVER IT – by Ethan Fuirst, following two queer best friends whose annual hiking trip forces them to confront the slow dissolution of their friendship.
• CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER iii. JUNIOR GHOSTS – PREMORPHIC DRIFT; a fragmentary passage – a bold new chapter in Louise Weard’s trans epic, where a heterosexual couple is upended by an abrupt transition.
• I AM GOING TO MISS YOU – directed by Daniel Ribeiro, this indie romantic drama centres on a T4T couple who move in together and must face their differences, featuring an all-trans cast.
• ìfé: (THE SEQUEL) – Pamela Adie’s highly anticipated follow-up to Nigeria’s first lesbian film ìfé, reuniting former lovers ífé and Adaora years after their separation.
• LADY CHAMPAGNE – from D’Arcy Drollinger, a wild dive into the lewd, rude, and utterly silly world of erotic dancer Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White.
• LUNAR SWAY – an offbeat comedy by Nick Butler, in which a bi man living in a desert town gets an unexpected visit from his con-artist birth mother, with chaos ensuing.
• OUT LAWS – by Lexi Powner and James Lewis, a strident documentary about a gay Namibian man fighting for same-sex couples’ rights.
• TO DANCE IS TO RESIST – directed by Julian Lautenbacher, following two Ukrainian dancers seeking life and artistic freedom after Russia’s invasion.
• WASHED UP – Isabel Daly’s charming Cornwall-set drama about a struggling artist who falls in love with a mythical selkie.

Pink Narcissus 4K restoration and UK-wide screenings

The festival also showcased the awe-inspiring 4K restoration of PINK NARCISSUS (1971), directed by James Bidgood. This milestone of experimental cinema and landmark of queer representation presents the erotically charged dreamscape of a young hustler, celebrating the male body and influencing artists such as John Waters, Pierre et Gilles and Charli XCX.

Once shrouded in mystery, the film has been restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The BFI Flare UK Premiere of the new restoration coincided with UK-wide screenings at venues including Tyneside Cinema (Newcastle upon Tyne), Filmhouse Edinburgh, Showroom Sheffield, HOME Manchester, Chapter Cardiff, Midlands Arts Centre (Birmingham), Queen’s Film Theatre (Belfast) and Glasgow Film Theatre.

Best of Year: encore screenings of festival favourites

On the final day, audiences were given a second chance to catch some of the buzziest BFI Flare 2026 titles in the BEST OF YEAR section, including:

• DREAMERS – the powerful feature debut of Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, following Nigerian immigrants Isio and Farah who dare to imagine a vibrant future beyond the confines of a British immigration removal centre.
• BABY – Marcelo Caetano’s follow-up to Body Electric, portraying a complex and loving relationship between two men, intertwined with a dynamic exploration of São Paulo’s vibrant queer scene.
• PILLION – Harry Lighton’s charming, sexy, tender and frequently hilarious award-winning debut.
• LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS – Urška Djukić’s sensorial and sensitive coming-of-age feature about a Slovenian Catholic girl navigating the exhilaration and confusion of first desire.

Talks, events and 40 years of BFI Flare

The programme included a rich slate of talks and special events. The festival’s popular THE MAKERS interview series returned with:

• Acclaimed Black lesbian filmmaker Cheryl Dunye (THE WATERMELON WOMAN)
• Award-winning filmmaker Campbell X (LOW RIDER)
• A joint talk with transgressive Canadian filmmaker Louise Weard (CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER III) and emerging Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay (THE SERPENT’S SKIN).

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, BFI Flare hosted:

• 40 YEARS OF BFI FLARE – an exhibition at Queer Britain tracing the evolution of festival artwork.
• BFI Flare: FOUR DECADES OF QUEER CINEMA MAGIC! – a gathering of Flare programmers past and present reflecting on landmark films championed over the years.
• BACK TO ’86 DJ Night – transporting audiences back to the music that defined the year the festival began.

Additional highlights included:

• THE ROAD TO THE OSCARS: A FRIEND OF DOROTHY – a special screening of the Oscar-nominated short and in-depth conversation with its filmmaking team.
• HEARTSTOPPER FOREVER! – an exclusive talk with Alice Oseman (writer-creator and executive producer) and Patrick Walters (executive producer) of the hit Netflix series Heartstopper.
• LEATHER BOYS! – an illustrated talk exploring BDSM and the gay leather scene on film.
• CAMP CLASSICS PRESENTS: QUEERLY BELOVED? – a celebration of hidden LGBTQIA+ cinematic gems hosted by Crystal (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK) and drag monstrosity Baby Lame.

Industry programme: resilience, inclusion and the business of queer cinema

The 2026 industry programme offered topical, industry-focused discussions, networking events, and press and industry screenings. Highlights included:

• Before You Shout “Action”: The Legal Checklist For Filmmakers – with Alastair Mavor (partner at Lee & Thompson), outlining essential legal steps for film and TV production.
• Frameline 50 – exploring the history of Frameline in its 50th anniversary year and the future of LGBTQ+ film festivals in a changing global landscape with Allegra Madsen, Executive Director of Frameline.
• Behind The Camera: Ensuring Inclusivity on Set – focusing on deaf, disabled and neurodiverse talent, examining how inclusive hiring, crew culture, leadership and on-set practices shape who gets to work in film and improve creative outcomes.
• Do No Harm: Portraying Trauma and Resilience Responsibly – a thoughtful discussion on telling stories shaped by trauma and lived experience, and how to portray them with care, honesty and responsibility.
• Where We Are Now: A Decade of Resilience and Queer Voices – celebrating 10 years of the BFI NETWORK and BAFTA Mentoring Programme in partnership with BFI Flare, featuring alumni shaping today’s screen industries, including:
  • Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (Dir. Dreamers, Alumni 2016)
  • Georgi Banks-Davies (Dir. The Night Manager Season 2, Alumni 2018)
  • Nosa Eke, platform-agnostic writer-director (Alumni 2018)
  • Charlie Tidmas, writer-director focused on intersectional masculinities and trans identity (Alumni 2024)
• The Business of Queer Cinema: Navigating Festival Circuits, Distribution and Streaming – a practical session on what happens once a film is finished, covering festival strategy, sales, distribution and the evolving streaming landscape.
• BFI Doc Society Roundtables – two informal roundtables where the BFI Doc Society team outlined their funding schemes for shorts and features, explaining criteria and processes.

If ​you are a filmmaker or just an aspiring one, you can learn filmmaking by purchasing this book. Get it from our shop here, Amazon or Barnes & ​‍​‌‍​‍‌Noble.

This article contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

🎥 Follow The Hidden Review!

Stay ahead with the latest news, reviews, and interviews. Gain tips from our Blog and exclusive insights. Get behind-the-scenes updates on movies, TV shows, and more!

📌 Don’t miss out—hit that subscribe button and tap the bell for notifications. 🔔

🔍 Stay in the know with The Hidden Review:

✨ Discover what’s hidden, only with The Hidden Review.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• TikTok
• X
• Link
• Threads

©2026 The Hidden Review