Skip to main content

Festival coverage

Flare

17 March – 28 March 2021

This year's Flare s taking place online because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. All films will be available for UK viewers to watch on BFI Player. The festival, now in its 35th year, features a selection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-themed content from around the world.

The festival runs from 17 to 28 March.

Other years (12)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Boy Meets Boy
    Review preview for Boy Meets Boy

    Frequent close-ups build on the chemistry between the actors to capture that feeling when one individual suddenly seems bigger and brighter and louder than everything else in the world.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A brief encounter in a Berlin nightclub changes the course of two lives.
  • Tove
    Review preview for Tove

    Pöysti is extraordinary.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    A dramatisation of the life of Moomins creator Tove Jansson.
  • Sweetheart
    Review preview for Sweetheart

    A storyline that sometimes feels rushed or contrived is balanced here by a solid performance from Hartley and a tender one from Barlow.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A socially awkward, environmentally conscious teenager is dragged to a coastal holiday park by her painfully family, where she becomes unexpectedly captivated by a chlorine smelling, sun-loving lifeguard.
  • Poppy Field
    Review preview for Poppy Field

    Merricoffer's performance will keep you rivetted.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    The struggle of a closeted young genderme.
  • Rurangi
    Review preview for Rurangi

    The production values are modest, in accordance with the budget, but the actors acquit themselves well.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Burnt-out trans activist Caz returns to the rural dairy community he fled before transition, to reconnect with his father. As father and son reconcile, Caz finds new purpose, spearheading the town's environmental fight against 'Big Dairy'.
  • I Am Samuel
    Review preview for I Am Samuel

    Although the film has a heartfelt sweep, it is so tightly focused that questions go unanswered.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    An intimate portrait of a gay Kenyan man balancing pressures of family loyalty, love, and safety and questioning the concept of conflicting identities.
  • La Dosis
    Review preview for La Dosis

    Portaluppi makes a great lead, fully invested in his character and easy to relate to no matter one's opinion of his choices.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    Marcos is an experienced nurse. He works in the night shift of a provincial private clinic. He is applied and professional but has a secret: in some extreme cases he applies euthanasia. Then he meets a handsome young nurse who kills patients on a whim.
  • Cowboys
    Review preview for Cowboys

    Rather than following somebody raised a girl who is learning to live as a boy, it's about a boy who, all too quickly, has to start learning to be a man.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Troy and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from his conservative mother in the Montana wilderness, with a detective in hot pursuit.

Features

  • Back on the trail
    Anna Kerrigan on depicting mental illness and creating backstories for Cowboys
  • Montana story
    Anna Kerrigan on gender, casting and locations in Cowboys
  • Shouting and silence
    Eugen Jebeleanu on homophobia, Poppy Field and moving from theatre to film

News