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Flare · 2024

Flare 2024

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Programme

15 films · 4 reviews

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Aligned

Review preview for Aligned

The unspoken thing developing between them is expressed through brief glances, and through the dances they perform together and apart.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Two dancers find a connection that goes beyond their art.

(Country: US, Greece; Year: 2023; Director: Apollo Bakopoulos; Writer: Apollo Bakopoulos; Stars: Panos Malakos, Dimitris Fritzelas, Mantalena Papadatou)

Full review

Chasing Chasing Amy

Review preview for Chasing Chasing Amy

A multi-layered journey into the filmmaking process.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary about the complex legacy of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy for LGBTQ+ people and its life-saving impact on director Sav Rodgers.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sav Rodgers; Writer: Sav Rodgers; Stars: Kevin Smith, Guinevere Turner, Joey Lauren Adams, Andrew Ahn, Trish Bendix)

Full review See: Interview with Sav Rodgers about Chasing Chasing Amy

Isla's Way

The story of a great-grandmother, carriage driver and handywoman, and the woman she loves.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2023; Director: Marion Pilowsky)

Lesvia

Review preview for Lesvia

An assured feature debut that’s confident enough to explore the sometimes complex dynamics at work while celebrating the community at its heart.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The history of the lesbian community that sprang up on Lesbos in the 1970s.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2023; Director: Tzeli Hadjidimitriou)

Full review

Our Son

Fed up with the state of his relationship, Gabriel files for divorce from his partner of 13 years, Nicky. Thus begins their complex journey to find themselves and support their son along the way.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Bill Oliver; Writer: Peter Nickowitz, Bill Oliver; Stars: Billy Porter, Luke Evans, Robin Weigert, Andrew Rannells, Isaac Powell, Phylicia Rashad)

Pine Cone

The story of gay director Sid unfolds over 2019, 2009 and 1999 – key dates for gay rights in India – recounting three different encounters in his love life. The change from innocent adventurer to world-weary sophisticate is neatly captured through reverse chronology.

(Country: India; Year: 2023; Director: Onir; Writer: Onir, Ashwini Malik; Stars: Vidur Sethi, Sahib Verma, Aniket Ghosh)

The Queen Of My Dreams

Review preview for The Queen Of My Dreams

Mirza may sometimes over-indulge in sentiment, but there’s a warmth to the film that makes it easy to like, and she handles its more chaotic scenes with flair.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy, Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter Azra come of age in two different eras.

(Country: Canada, Pakistan; Year: 2023; Director: Fawzia Mirza; Writer: Fawzia Mirza; Stars: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Charlie Boyle, Trina Corkum)

Full review See: Interview with Fawzia Mirza about The Queen Of My Dreams

Since The Last Time We Met (Desde La última Vez Que Nos Vimos)

Two men who were once in love and went through a painful break-up encounter each other again, years later, and rediscover their feelings for one another.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2023; Director: Matías De Leis Correa; Writer: Matías De Leis Correa; Stars: Patricio Arellano, Esteban Recagno, Martin Stark)

Solids By The Seashore

Two young women fall in love in a coastal town which is suffering from the ravages of climate change.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2023; Director: Patiparn Boontarig; Writer: Patiparn Boontarig, Kalil Pitsuwan; Stars: Ilada Pitsuwan, Rawipa Srisanguan)

Summer Solstice

A trans man and his cis, straight friend take a weekend trip which pushes the limits of their longstanding relationship

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Noah Schamus; Writer: Noah Schamus; Stars: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Marianne Rendón)

Unicorns

A meeting between a queer South Asian nightclub performer living a double life and a young single father who works as a mechanic leads to an exploration of identity.

(Country: US, Sweden, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd; Writer: James Krishna Floyd; Stars: Ben Hardy, Michael Karim, Hannah Onslow, Nisha Nayar, Sagar Radia, Jason Patel, Ali Afzal)

What's Safe, What's Gross, What's Selfish And What's Stupid

The filmmaker navigates relationships, sperm banks, multiple queer communities and the NHS itself, in an attempt to do family and reproduction differently.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Jasmine Johnson)

What A Feeling

A woman's life is shattered when her husband, in front of friends, asks for a divorce. She subsequently spends the night drowning her sorrows in a lesbian bar, where she encounters a charismatic heartbreaker who is busy running her business and caring for her elderly Iranian mother.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2024; Director: Kat Rohrer; Writer: Kat Rohrer; Stars: Caroline Peters, Proschat Madani, Nicole Ansari-Cox)

Who'll Stop The Rain

In post-martial-law Taiwan, Chi-wei realises her university cherishes classicism while simultaneously punishing independent thought. As demonstrations opposing this increase, she encounters the enigmatic and alluring Ching.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2023; Director: I-Hsuan Su; Writer: I-Hsuan Su; Stars: Lily Lee, Hsiao-Fei Yeh, Roy Chang)

Woman Of... (Kobieta Z...)

The story of a closeted trans woman’s life in small-town Poland, set against the tumultuous backdrop of a crumbling Soviet Bloc.

(Country: Poland, Sweden; Year: 2023; Director: Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert; Writer: Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert; Stars: Małgorzata Hajewska, Joanna Kulig)