Skip to main content

Flare · 2020

Flare 2020

Bodies

Programme

15 films · 7 reviews

Jump to a film

Ask Any Buddy

A compilation of erotic gay films.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Evan Purchell)

Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes And Sadomasochism

Review preview for Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes And Sadomasochism

Where it really delivers is in capturing a hidden history.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Eight self-described leather dykes discuss queer politics, power and self-determination.

(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: Michelle Handelman; Writer: Michelle Handelman; Stars: Patrick Califia, Skeeter, Wickie Stamps)

Full review

Changing The Game

Review preview for Changing The Game

Barnett excels at capturing nuances of expression and action.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Transgender high school athletes from across the US compete at the top of their fields, while also challenging the boundaries and perceptions of fairness and discrimination.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Michael Barnett; Writer: Michael Barnett, Michelle Mahaffie)

Full review

Don't Look Down

Five strangers (four men and one woman) arrive at a chic Parisian apartment. They may not know each other, but each share one thing in common – the duplicitous man who used and abused their emotions.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau; Writer: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau; Stars: Manika Auxire, Geoffrey Couët, François Nambot)

Drag Kids

Review preview for Drag Kids

There's a sense of joy around the kids' participation that has at least as much to do with their parents.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary about four pre-teens who enjoy competing in drag pageants.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Megan Wennberg; Stars: Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden, Bracken Hanke, Dominique Hanke, Stephen Hirst, Megan Wennberg)

Full review

Flawless (Haneshef)

Three teenage girls in search of physical perfection are drawn down a dark path of black-market plastic surgery, an impulsive adventure that ultimately becomes a journey of self-discovery.

(Country: Israel, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon; Writer: Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon; Stars: Stav Strashko, Netsanet Mekonen, Noam Lugasy, Assi Levy, Arad Triffon Reshef, Micha Celektar, Niv Sultan, Dekel Adin, Morin Amor, Yaron Ben-Harush, Or Cohen, Alex Muskal, Afek Siboni, Yarden Siboni, Olga Strashko)

Make Up

Review preview for Make Up

Oakley doesn't oversell the unnerving elements, instead letting them unsettle us as they settle on Ruth.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teenager finds herself increasingly troubled on an off-season trip to a caravan site.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Claire Oakley; Writer: Claire Oakley; Stars: Molly Windsor, Joseph Quinn, Stefanie Martini, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Lisa Palfrey, Elodie Wilton, Maureen Wild, Derek Frood, Ruben Wheeler, John Macneill, Emilia Copeland, Yazmin Joy Vigus, Molly Windsor, Joseph Quinn, Stefanie Martini)

Full review

Midnight Kiss

It’s time to kiss your nerves goodbye as there’s a killer in town with taste for ripped male flesh.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Carter Smith; Stars: Augustus Prew, Scott Evans, Ayden Mayeri)

No Hard Feelings (Futur Drei)

German-Iranian Parvis’ life revolves around pop culture, sex dates and raves. Through the refugee siblings Banafshe Arezu and Amon, Parvis rediscovers his roots.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Faraz Shariat; Writer: Paulina Lorenz, Faraz Shariat; Stars: Paul Lux, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Eidin Jalali, Benny Radjaipour, Paul Lux, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Eidin Jalali, Benny Radjaipour)

Sixth Happiness

Review preview for Sixth Happiness

Waris Hussein breaks with the stereotype and shows Brit as a flawed, sexual character, not passive but actively trying to forge a future for himself beyond the life of dependence his disease forces upon him.

John Gallagher · 4.5 out of 5
The life, loves and laughter of an irrepressible Indian with brittle bone disease.

(Country: UK; Year: 1997; Director: Waris Hussein; Writer: Firdaus Kanga; Stars: Firdaus Kanga, Souad Faress, Khodus Wadia, Nina Wadia, Ahsen Bhatti, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Nisha K Nayar, Indira Varma)

Full review

Sequin In A Blue Room

Review preview for Sequin In A Blue Room

Sequin in A Blue Room is a reminder of Nineties angst media and queer celebration, within the dark corners of adolescence.

Stephanie Brown · 5 out of 5
When a teenager's thrill-seeking leads to a memorable encounter at an anonymous sex party, he resolves to track down the mystery guy - even if he has to rely on a menacing former hook-up to help him.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Samuel Van Grinsven; Writer: Samuel Van Grinsven; Stars: Anthony Brandon Wong, Conor Leach, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Samuel Barrie) , Official site

Full review

Showgirls

With lifelong dreams of becoming the world’s greatest topless dancer, tempestuous Nomi sets her sights on the Stardust Hotel.

(Country: France, US; Year: 1995; Director: Paul Verhoeven; Writer: Joe Eszterhas; Stars: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon)

Spiral

Review preview for Spiral

Bowyer-Chapman is superb.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A same-sex couple move to a small town so they can enjoy a better quality of life and raise their 16-year-old daughter with the best social values. But nothing is as it seems in their picturesque neighbourhood, and when Malik sees the folks next door throwing a very strange party, something has got to give.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Kurtis David Harder; Writer: Colin Minihan, John Poliquin; Stars: Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Lochlyn Munro, Ari Cohen, Chandra West)

Full review

Transkids

Four very different Israeli teenagers, on the verge of military conscription, divulge the turning points in their transitions.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2019; Director: Hilla Medalia; Writer: Hilla Medalia)

You Don't Nomi

Released in 1995, Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls was met by critics and audiences with near universal derision. You Don’t Nomi traces the film’s redemptive journey from notorious flop to cult classic.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jeffrey McHale; Writer: Jeffrey McHale)