“Sporty Spice” Shorts @ BFI Flare

À Poings et À Cœurs

À Poings et À Cœurs, which translates to “with fists and with hearts,” offers a brief look at a French boxing club, made up entirely of trans women. The women speak of their experiences with sport, and how these experiences have been informed by their gender and transness. The sense of sisterhood is palpable and beautiful to witness. At only six minutes long, the film packs a punch, creating a level of intimacy between subject and audience that many feature-length documentaries fail to accomplish. 

CAPITANES

CAPITANES is a gay locker room fantasy on steroids (and I say that with the utmost love and appreciation). What begins as fairly standard festival fare–best friends torn apart by one person’s tragically homosexual orientation–blossoms into an absurd, sweaty free for all. CAPITANES is Challengers for even gayer people. (So if you’re reading this, you should probably go give it a watch…)

Solers United

Solers United is like Derry Girls meets Heartstopper meets Ted Lasso. I was immediately in love with all the characters and heavily invested in their intricate lesbian footballer drama. If for some reason the creators of the short read this: Please make it into a series! Absolute gold. 

Commes Des Cowboys

Strange, haunting exploration of sexuality, power, and love; shot beautifully. Its tone and cinematography style evokes Esther May Campbell’s September. An interesting exploration of the legacy of American cowboy culture, alienated from and refracted back on itself–what does it mean to be a cowboy?