BFI Flare: The events you need to know about

The BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival returns to London’s Southbank once more!

Starting on Wednesday (15 March) and running until Sunday 26 March the film festival will show off some of the best of queer filmmaking.

Returning once more to the BFI Southbank films will be shown from 41 countries around the world.

Selected titles will be able to UK audiences on the BFI Player. International audiences will be able to enjoy the Five Films for Freedom, a scheme now in its 8th year.

Also, 2023 sees the introduction of BFI Flare Expanded – a free immersive storytelling exhibition running from 16 to 19 March.

The full programme for BFI Flare is available here with tickets on sale.

But BFI Flare is more than just a film festival. It’s a chance for people to come together, meet, share stories of their own and enjoy their time on London’s Southbank.

To that end, BFI Flare is running a series of events throughout the festival that are highly recommended.

I’m Coming Out! – 15-26 March

Curated by the Bishopsgate Institute this exhibition tells the story of London’s LGBTQIA+ Nightlife from 1975 – 1985.

Using photographs, oral histories, diaries, newspapers, and ephemera of all kinds, these collections tell a story of monumental political and social struggles. But also of liberation, joy – and lots of dancing.

The exhibition is running from Wednesday 15 March – Sunday 26 March on the Mezzanine at BFI Southbank. It’s free and no booking is required.

Badge Cafe – 15 and 19 March

Fancy a crafty utopian hangout where you can put old books and mags to queer badgemaking use? The Badge Club is for you and it’s free, friendly, easy, and fun!

This session runs on Wednesday 15 March from 8-10pm at the BFI Opening Night Party and on Sunday 19 March from 2:30-4:30pm in the BFI Southbank Foyer.

Peccadillo Sofa Club – 17 March

This is a live edition of the online chat show that talks about everything in queer film. Featuring BFI Flare programmers and filmmakers discussing about their work and the festival. It will be taking place on Friday 17 March at 12:30pm in The Blue Room.

This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rules of Desire Workshop – 17 March

Inspired by Rule 34, this discussion-based workshop will explore how unspoken rules of desire connect to our sexual and political freedoms.

The workshop will explore “how desire is shaped by cultural, racial and socio-political landscapes and how the silent rules by which we follow or resist our yearnings determines the limits to our sexual – and political – freedom.”

This workshop has sold out. It will take place on Friday 17 March at 4pm at BFI Southbank’s The Blue Room.

Spotlight on South Korea – 18 March

This event will shine a spotlight on South Korean filmmakers attending the Festival who will discuss their films, the history of LGBTQIA+ cinema in South Korea, and their experiences of making queer films in the East Asian country.

This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis. It will take place on Saturday 18 March at 4pm in The Blue Room.

We Have Always Been Here! – 18 March

This event highlights the importance of queer disability representation within the landscape of film and culture and includes leading people in the movement for accessibility and queer disability on film.

It features rare clips that highlight the fact that queer disabled folk have always been here. Afterward, film curator Tara Brown will lead an in-depth panel discussion about the intersections of queerness, disability, and film.

This will take place on Saturday 18 March at 4:30pm at BFI Southbank, NFT3. Tickets £11.50, concessions £9.10 (non-Members pay £2 more).

Remembering Ron Peck – 19 March

Following Peck’s passing in November 2022, he will be remembered with this intimate library event. It will provide the chance to learn more from friends of this sensitive giant of gay independent film, who made the first independent British feature centred on the gay community, Nighthawks.

Curated by Will Fowler, the BFI National Archive curator the event will also feature an array of speakers.

This event will take place on Sunday 19 March from 4:30-5:45pm at the BFI Reuben Library. This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

BFI Flare Guide through the ages – 20 March

Drop in to view BFI Flare guides from across four decades of Queer cinema from 1986’s ‘Gays’ Own Pictures’ to today.

This will run on Monday 20 March from 6-8pm at the BFI Reuben Library. This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Bisexual visi-Bi-lity in film and television – 20 March

A panel of out and proud Bisexuals looks at the industry’s poor track record when it comes to portraying bisexuality. It will highlight some of the problematic bisexual stereotypes in TV shows and movies and discuss how bisexuality on film and television has begun to evolve, as filmmakers and showrunners begin to eschew outdated tropes.

This will take place on Monday 20 March at 6:15pm in BFI Southbank, NFT3. It has sold out.

Big Gay Film Quiz – 20 March

Fancy yourself a queer cinema buff? Then test your big screen prowess with the world’s best LGBTQIA+ film quiz. Form your own team (max four) or grab a solo ticket and pair up with fellow quizzers on the night.

There will be prizes, surprises, and more fun than you could imagine.

This will take place on Monday 20 March at 7:30pm in the BFI Southbank’s Blue Room. It has sold out.

We Need to Talk About Loving Highsmith – 23 March

The film, Loving Highsmith, reveals some disturbing truths about the much-loved writer. But can we truly love the work of someone whose views can make them hard to love? And when we still have relatively few queer cultural icons in the mainstream, does the prospect of losing one sometimes lead us to compromise our values and beliefs?

All of this and more will be discussed in a programmer-led session.

This will take place on Thursday 23 March from 8:30-9:45 at the BFI Reuben Library. This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

In conversation: Sadie Lee and Libro Levi Bridgeman – 24 March

Private View, a short documentary about the unveiling of award-winning British figurative painter Sadie Lee’s portrait of non-binary writer Libro Levi Bridgeman, is screening at BFI Flare in the Ethereal Existence shorts programme and is also free to watch online on BFI Player.

Join Sadie and Libro as they discuss their work and share stories and anecdotes about their lives from the 80s onwards.

This event will take place on Friday 24 March from 7:30-8:45pm at the BFI Reuben Library. This is a free event but admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

DJ nights – 15, 17, 18, 23, 24 March

BFI Flare’s popular DJ nights will return on Wednesday 15, Friday 17, Saturday 18, Thursday 23, Friday 24 March at BFI Southbank’s BFI Bar.

The Festival’s favourite DJ’s including Jonathan & Sadie, Bar Wotever, Club Kali, Frankie Goes to Flare, Fèmmme Fraîche will be taking part.

The Closing Night Party will take place on Saturday 25 with Unskinny Bop + The Batty Mama.