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Festival coverage

Flare

16 March – 27 March 2016

BFI Flare is back with a fantastic line up of films from around the world, celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex lives and exploring the issues that LGBTI people face.

Other years (12)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Girls Lost
    Review preview for Girls Lost

    So many questions... challenging us, in one filmic episode, to think long and hard about our definitions and expectations of trans, lesbian and gay.

    Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
    A strange plant gives three teenage girls the chance to experience life in male bodies.
  • Theo And Hugo
    Review preview for Theo And Hugo

    Nambot's previous feature experience shows in the greater confidence of his delivery, but natural chemistry between him and Couët is at the core of film's success.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    After a brief encounter in a Paris sex club, two men fall abruptly and unexpectedly in love.
  • The Pass
    Review preview for The Pass

    It is very well acted, with an explosively complex lead performance from Russell Tovey and an equally expressive supporting turn from Arinzé Kene.

    Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
    The lives of two young premier league footballers are complicated by an impromptu kiss.
  • Summertime
    Review preview for Summertime

    Though the events unfold forward, the feel of Summertime is that of a pleasantly painful memory recalled backwards, clutching you emotionally as if you were looking at a faded photo album.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    Drama about social change in France in the early 1970s.
  • Carmin Tropical
    Review preview for Carmin Tropical

    Neither the mystery of Mabel's past nor the mystery she faces in her present fully satisfy - the former is too opaque and the latter telegraphed early.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A trans woman returns to her hometown to investigate the murder of her oldest friend.
  • The Girl King
    Review preview for The Girl King

    Buska seems completely at ease with this complicated woman who is by turns childish and playful, ferocious and tyrannical, and keenly intellectual.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A biopic of Kristina, Queen of Sweden.
  • Closet Monster
    Review preview for Closet Monster

    Well-paced, genuinely funny most of the time and emotionally resonant.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    A sexually confused teenager drifts into a fantasy world where his anxieties take physical shape.
  • Sworn Virgin
    Review preview for Sworn Virgin

    Bispuri is interested in how escape from one form of repression seamlessly flows into another.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A woman who has taken an oath to live as a man rediscovers her sexuality.
  • Tangerine
    Review preview for Tangerine

    This film is a shot of dayglo-coloured adrenaline to the vein, a vat of sugar poured into the eyes.

    Owen Van Spall · 5 out of 5
    A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
  • Carol
    Review preview for Carol

    A beautifully crafted piece.

    Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
    A department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

A–Z of Flare 2016 reviews

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