Five more films to see before BFI Flare closes
BFI Flare runs at BFI Southbank until Sunday 24 March
The 38th edition of BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Film Festival is flying by in a whirl of queer cinematic excellence.
The festival will end on Sunday (24 March), and there is still plenty to see and do.
Here are five films we recommend seeing over the next few days of BFI Flare All screenings will take place at BFI Southbank.
Don’t Ever Stop
The amazing story of legendary DJ and record producer Tony de Vit, who changed many lives with his music, most famously at Trade nightclub. De Vit kept the ’90s generation dancing through the worst years of the Aids epidemic. The story of his life is told in his own words and through interviews with those closest to him. This is a profoundly moving tale of hard beats, heavy living, ecstasy, and the continuing legacy of the late great.
Don’t Ever Stop is screening on Friday 22 March in NFT 1 at 6:10pm and Saturday 23 March in NFT 1 at 6:20pm
Orlando, My Political Biography
Nearly a century after Orlando was published, Paul B. Preciado unpacks the meaning and importance for trans people of Virginia Woolf’s classic novel. Best known for his groundbreaking ‘auto-theory’ book Testo Junkies, Preciado’s feature debut employs a cast of trans and non-binary characters to explore the multi-faceted identity of Woolf’s enigmatic protagonist, with a result that is part documentary, part literary essay and part music video. More importantly, it skilfully examines how the straitjacket of a single identity can blind us to revelatory social and political possibilities.
Orlando, My Political Biography is screening on Sunday 17 March in NFT 2 at 8:50pm and on Saturday 23 March in NFT 1 at 3:45pm
Crossing
Lia and Achi, the protagonists of Levan Akin’s impressive fourth feature, forge an unlikely alliance as they hit the road trying to trace a young trans woman who has vanished in Istanbul. No-nonsense Lia, a retired teacher, turns up on the doorstep of affable aimless Achi, who lives in a Georgian backwater. Lia is trying to build bridges with her niece Tekla, a twenty-something trans woman who was regretfully banished years before. Achi remembers his neighbour and believes she has crossed the border. Spying an opportunity for escape, he offers to help Lia in her search.
With a half-baked plan and only a little money, tracking down Tekla sparks some soul-searching within them both, while their journey attracts both suspicion and generosity. Their best ally is trans lawyer Evrim, who works in an LGBTQIA+ centre, fighting for trans rights in an environment that forces many into survival sex work. The result is a compelling, character-driven drama and a superb follow-up to Akin’s lauded 2019 queer coming-of-age feature And Then We Danced.
Crossing is screening on Sunday 17 March in NFT 1 at 8:20pm and on Thursday 21 March in NFT 1 at 3:30pm.
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
Journey to the world of Montero in this exuberant documentary, which follows Lil Nas X as he embarks on his first live tour. In a world where being an openly gay Black rapper still feels like a rarity, Lil Nas X has faced more than his fair share of scrutiny. In this electrifying tour documentary, we see behind his witty – and occasionally controversial – online presence: a young gay man reconciling the price of fame and the musical prowess that got him there.
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero is screening on Wednesday 20 March in NFT 1 at 9:00pm and on Saturday 23 March in 11:45am in the Studio.
I Don’t Know Who You Are
In this urgent film, a young gay man races against time to procure funds for HIV prevention treatment following a sexual assault. Told by doctors that PEP (post-exposure prophylactic) is most effective for 72 hours following an assault, musician Benjamin finds himself on an increasingly desperate odyssey across Toronto to find money. Highlighting the aftermath of sexual assault with unflinching urgency, I Don’t Know Who You Are never shies away from showing trauma, but also offers a vision of hope and compassion.
I Don’t Know Who You Are is screening on Friday 22 March in NFT 2 at 6pm and on Saturday 23 March in NFT 2 at 3:50pm.