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Flare · 2022

Flare 2022

Minds

Programme

14 films · 6 reviews

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Charli XCX: Alone Together

Review preview for Charli XCX: Alone Together

Having been largely shot by amateurs, this documentary looks rough, but as always, the magic is in the edit.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Acclaimed pop star Charli XCX teams up with her legions of queer fans across the globe to create a new album, in this DIY documentary.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Bradley Bell, Bradley Bell, Pablo Jones-Soler; Stars: Charli XCX, Huck Kwong)

Full review

The Divide (La Fracture)

Review preview for The Divide

Corsini agilely combines elements of cinéma verité and farce.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Two women on the verge of a breakup, in a hospital, are further stressed on the night of a big demonstration by the overwhelmed staff and by angry, injured protestors who land up besieging the building.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Catherine Corsini; Writer: Catherine Corsini, Agnès Feuvre, Laurette Polmanss; Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Marina Foïs, Pio Marmaï, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h)

Full review

The End Of Wonderland

From the outside, comics writer and mechanic Emory’s home looks just like any other rural American property. However, inside it’s an ultra-kitsch sex fetish film set, with flying starships, giant robots and exploding dildo machines.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2021; Director: Laurence Turcotte-Fraser)

Esther Newton Made Me Gay

Esther Newton was drawn to the drag scene as a student in the 1950s. Identifying as both butch lesbian and between genders, she felt a kinship with the queens; what the feminine clothing society expected her to wear felt like a form of drag.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Jean Carlomusto; Stars: Esther Newton)

Everything At Once: Kink

A peek behind the scenes at the homoerotic photography zine Kink, which has cultivated an intimate style employing non-professional models.

(Country: Spain, Chile; Year: 2021; Director: Alberto Fuguet; Stars: Paco Moyano, Manolo Rodríguez)

Fanny: The Right To Rock

The untold story of a Filipina American garage band that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny, who almost became the female Beatles.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2021; Director: Bobbi Jo Hart; Writer: Bobbi Jo Hart; Stars: Joe Elliott, Bonnie Raitt, Cherie Currie)

Framing Agnes

Review preview for Framing Agnes

For such a studiously artificial work...it is profoundly moving.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After discovering case files from a 1950s gender clinic, a cast of transgender actors turn a talk show inside out to confront the legacy of a young trans woman forced to choose between honesty and access.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2022; Director: Chase Joynt; Writer: Chase Joynt, Morgan M. Page; Stars: Angelica Ross, Jen Richards, Silas Howard, Zackary Drucker, Chase Joynt, Max Wolf Valerio, Stephen Ira Cohen)

Full review

Gateways Grind

A journey through lesbian London to uncover the history of the Gateways club and the women who drank, danced and loved inside it.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Jacquie Lawrence; Stars: Lu Corfield, Victoria Broom)

Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music

Review preview for Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music

Like the best country songs, it uses a simple format well, and it’s the sincerity, charm and good humour of its contributors that carries it.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
This documentary explores a group of gay women songwriters who have successfully navigated the male dominated country music genre and have written number one hits for some of country music's greatest stars.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: TJ Parsell; Writer: TJ Parsell; Stars: Bonnie Baker, Cidny Bullens, Dianne Davidson, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt)

Full review See: Interview with TJ Parsell about Invisible: Gay Women In Southern Music

It Runs In The Family (Lo Que Se Hereda)

A queer filmmaker discovers that she’s related to a long-forgotten pioneer of Caribbean cinema.

(Country: Dominican Republic, US; Year: 2022; Director: Victoria Linares; Writer: Guillermo Zouain, Wendy Muñiz, Victoria Linares; Stars: Victoria Linares)

The Law Of Love

A documentary following a group of queer activists in the Czech Republic as they fight for same-sex marriage to be recognised in law.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2021; Director: Barbora Chalupová)

North By Current

The unexplained death of his niece leads the director back to his family. His investigation of injustice and the arbitrariness of officialdom turns into cathartic family therapy.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Angelo Madsen Minax)

Sirens

Review preview for Sirens

A fascinating watch.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and Shery, co-founders and guitarists of the Middle East's first all-female metal band, wrestle with friendship, sexuality and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars.

(Year: 2022; Director: Rita Baghdadi)

Full review

The Sound Of Scars

Review preview for The Sound Of Scars

The Sound Of Scars is one of those documentaries which starts with something very specific and finds the whole world within it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary about metal band Life of Agony, whose lead singer Mina Caputo came out as transgender in 2011.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2021; Director: Leigh Brooks; Stars: Mina Caputo, Joey Zampella, Alan Robert)

Full review See: Q&A with Leigh Brooks on The Sound Of Scars