Preview: BFI Flare 2025

Queer cinema sustains the arthouse, and no festival is more the spot to see and enjoy the LGBTQ+ Films that will be on everyone’s lips in 2025 than BFI Flare.

It’s one of my favourite festivals of the calendar - the programme is always stacked with highly anticipated films, they do some amazing Screening Pairings (See: Our Review of Old Lesbians and Lesvia from last year) and no matter what screening you walk into, you’ll enjoy yourself. It’s truly a festival of quality.

Here are just some of the films that are on everyone's lips this year.

Been there, loved that...

(All of these films still have tickets available! Get yours now!)

Queens of Drama

What Emilia Pérez WISHES she was - an outstanding, camp, glittery, gritty and bold film.
Get your tickets here!

Sad Jokes

"There is a mournful quality running throughout - not just sad, but stuck in some way. Like a pattern is repeating that no one can identify. The humour serves as a coping mechanism and a marker of time. It turns up to remind you why life isn’t just an inescapable sinking feeling. When you laugh, you laugh well."
Get your tickets here!

Four Mothers

We can't link our review yet, but if you enjoy films about the wrestling between family duty and personal agency, you'll love this film.
Get your tickets here!

We're quaking and waiting

We have four team-members heading to Flare this year – if two or more of us voted to see a film, we've named it below!

The Astronaut Lovers

Two childhood friends, out and proud Pedro and the carefree straight Maxi, are reunited during a vacation with friends. When Maxi learns his ex-girlfriend is in town, he convinces Pedro to pose as his boyfriend to make her jealous. As the men exchange playfully flirtatious banter, romantic and sexual tension builds between them, forcing them to question their views on sexuality.

Dreams in Nightmares

(Tickets still available at the link above!)

Best friends Z, Lauren and Tasha are all going through one hassle or another and desperately need a change. On a much-needed night out they realise that nobody has heard from Kel, the final member of their quartet, for some time. Their solution? A spontaneous cross-country trip to find Kel. And maybe they’ll all uncover something about themselves along the way. Featuring star-making central performances from Denée Benton, Dezi Bing, Sasha Compère and Mars Storm Rucker, Shatara Michelle Ford’s riveting drama is a love letter to queer Black kinship that’s all too rarely seen on the screen.

Drip Like Coffee/Grace

Kali has found herself in a rut, weighed down by a needy boyfriend and a boss who won’t listen to her new ideas for coffee concoctions. But when the artistic Mel becomes her co-worker, Kali finds her passions re-awakened. As intoxicating as the drink it’s named after, Drip Like Coffee is a gorgeous depiction of Black queer women’s love.

Drive Back Home

(Tickets still available at the link above!)

Weldon is a small-town plumber from rural New Brunswick. When his brother Perley is arrested for having sex in a public park, Weldon is forced to drive 1,000 miles to Toronto in his beat-up work truck to get Perley out of jail and bring him home. As they journey back, the estranged brothers reconnect with each other while dealing with their past family traumas.

Hot Milk

(Tickets still available at the link above)

Anthropologist Sofia and her domineering mother Rose arrive in a Spanish seaside town to find a diagnosis for the condition that has left Rose unable to walk. While Rose attends sessions with an unconventional doctor, Sofia falls for beguiling seamstress Ingrid. As mother and daughter’s paths diverge, Sofia seeks out her emancipation. Hot Milk is a compelling and sensuous drama.

Lakeview

(Tickets still available at the link above!)

Darcy, a bisexual woman, is divorcing her husband. Her close friends all arrive at her parents’ lakeside house, ready to see her through this major life development. However, everyone is distracted by their own dramas, relationships and personal milestones. Plus, Darcy’s ex-lover Dax is about to arrive. Lakeview is a funny and honest portrait of queer women’s friendships and loves.

Lucky, Apartment

Seonwoo and Heeseo have put everything into their small flat and life together. After losing her job, Seonwoo finds herself at home every day, obsessing over a foul odour she cannot get rid of. A compelling portrayal of Korean residential politics, queer life partnerships and grief, Kangyu Garam’s drama is an immersive cinematic experience that evokes all the senses.

Peaches Goes Bananas

For nearly two decades, Marie Losier (Cassandro, the Exotico!) followed Merrill Nisker, known to the world as Peaches, with her 16mm camera. From sold-out concerts to family moments with her parents and sister, the passage of time brings loss but also provides liberation for an artist whose body is a canvas for artistic expression. A film as unique as Peaches herself – prepare to be moved and galvanised.

Ponyboi

It’s a Valentine’s Day like any other for Ponyboi, until an encounter with a gangster goes horribly wrong and he finds himself on a desperate journey across a New Jersey populated by sadistic pimps, sympathetic cowboys and his own personal demons. Written by and starring River Gallo, Ponyboi is both a high-octane neo-noir and a reflective depiction of the intersex experience.

The Wedding Banquet

The remake we've all been waiting for! "Andrew Ahn explores new queer family models and the pressures of cultural traditions in a loving and hilarious update of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic."

The World According to Allee Willis

(Tickets still available at the link above)

Welcome to the wonderland of Allee Willis, the songwriter behind hits like ‘September’ and ‘Neutron Dance’. An unrivalled and wildly inventive creative spirit, she explored different avenues of art and left a vibrant legacy, an archive lovingly pieced together by collaborators and friends (including Lily Tomlin, Patti LaBelle and Cyndi Lauper). Alexis Manya Spraic’s joyous tribute captures the artistry of this trailblazing genius.

✨The Shorts Programmes

This is your Editor-in-Chief talking — don’t sleep on the Shorts Programmes! This is where the hidden gems, your future faves, the gut punches, are hiding. Here are the screenings that still have tickets left!