BFI Flare 2025 drops full programme boasting films with Bowen Yang, Alan Cumming, and more
This year's festival, now in its 39th edition, also includes appearances from Lily Gladstone, Alexander Lincoln and stars of 'Paris Is Burning'
By Gary Grimes
BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival has dropped the full programme for its 39th edition which runs from 19 – 30 March at BFI Southbank.
As we previously reported, things will kick off with an opening gala screening of Andrew Ahn’s remake of the 1980s dramedy The Wedding Banquet starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone. From there onwards, the programme is jam packed with a diverse range of films of all types, from hilarious comedies and heartwarming road trip dramas, to mesmerising shorts and confronting documentaries.
This year’s programme boasts a total of 56 features, 1 series and 81 shorts from an impressive 41 countries, with 34 world premieres across features and shorts.
To whet your appetite, we’ve pulled a selection of highlights from the newly announced programme below.
The Wedding Banquet
Directed by Andrew Ahn and featuring a star studded cast including Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone, this is sure to be one of the big queer films of the year. Ahn is best known for previously directing the hit queer romcom Fire Island, in which Yang also co-starred.
Ahn’s interpretation of the 1993 film will feature a number of changes from the original including the addition of a lesbian couple at the centre of the plot who are struggling to conceive via IVF. One of the women is approached by her closeted gay co-worker who offers to fund another round of the fertility treatment for the couple if she will agree to marry him so that he can obtain a green card to stay in the US. But when his grandmother arrives unannounced from Korea to organise a full blown wedding extraganza for the ‘happy couple’ – you guessed it – mayhem ensues!
A Night Like This
Two seemingly mismatched men form an unexpected connection over the course of one cold London night in this warm-hearted debut from director Liam Calvert. The film stars Alexander Lincoln, who fans will remember from the steamy rugby drama In From The Side, as well as his turns in Emmerdale and Doctors. Lincoln appears opposite Jack Brett Anderson and David Bradley, who is best known for playing Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series.
I’m Your Venus
I’m Your Venus returns to the world of one of the most important films in LGBTQ+ history, Paris Is Burning. Whilst the groundbreaking 1990 documentary, which showcased the world of the New York City ballroom scene, was filming, one of its brightest stars, Venus Xtravaganza, was murdered.
In I’m Your Venus, her family and friends seek justice for her murder, for which no culprit was ever found, and gain an understanding of her life and legacy.
Drive Back Home
Drive Back Home see two estranged brothers forced back together when one man answers a call to bail out his brother from a Toronto jail after he’s been arrested for having sex with another man in a public park. As the pair embark on a 1000 mile road trip back to their home town, they are forced to confront their tense relationship and the differences between their lives.
The brothers are played by Alan Cumming, best known for his work on The Good Wife, Burlesque, and more recently as the much beloved host of The Traitors US, and Charlie Creed-Miles, who has appeared in Peaky Blinders and King Arthur.
Departures
This exhilirating northern drama tells the story of a truly toxic relationship. Co-directed by by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely, the film previously played at the Manchester Film Festival to positive reviews. Perhaps one for soaps fans, it stars Eyre-Morgan, David Tag (Hollyoaks, Emmerdale), Liam Boyle (Coronation Street, Emmerdale) and Bafta nominated stars Kerry Howard (Him & Her) and Lorraine Stanley (London to Brighton, EastEnders).
Dreams In Nightmares
Dreams In Nightmares follows three black femmes in their thirties road tripping across America in search of their friend who has seemingly gone missing.
The film, which is being screened as a special presentation at the festival, stars The Gilded Age actress Denée Benton, newcomer Dezi Bing, and Mars Storm Rucker who was famously the first out non-binary actor to originate a role on Broadway. Charlie Barnett, of Russian Doll fame, and Jasmin Savoy Brown, star of Yellowjackets and late-era Scream franchise films, will also feature.
To peruse the full programme for the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2025, please see here. Tickets go on general sale from 27 February, with BFI members having early access to tickets from 25 February.