BFI Flare Festival to open with The Wedding Banquet remake starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone
The remake will feature a number of changes including the addition of a lesbian couple at the centre of the plot
By Gary Grimes
BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival announced today that this year’s festival will open with the upcoming remake of the 1993 dramedy The Wedding Banquet.
The film, which is directed by Andrew Ahn, features a star studded cast including Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone. Ahn is best known for previously directing the hit queer romcom Fire Island, in which Yang also co-starred.
Yang was most recently seen on the big screen in the 2024 blockbuster Wicked. Most will know Gladstone for her Oscar-nominated performance in Killers of the Flower Moon in 2023. Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung also feature in the film.
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!
The film is set to make its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month before travelling to BFI Flare where it will play on 19 March as part of the film’s opening night gala.
“Andrew Ahn is a filmmaker we’ve long admired and we’re delighted to welcome him to London to open our 2025 festival with this joyous and heartfelt ode to love and community,” BFI Flare programmers said of the announcement.
“I’ve fallen in love with London on my many previous visits, so it feels fitting to bring this love story to the city”
“I’m incredibly excited for The Wedding Banquet to have its international premiere at BFI Flare, a festival that celebrates and cultivates queer talent,” Ahn said. “I’m honored to be a part of a cinema legacy that includes filmmakers like Amrou Al-Kadhi and Hong Khaou. I’ve fallen in love with London on my many previous visits, so it feels fitting to bring this love story to the city.”
The 1993 original was both a commercial and critical success, picking up nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film at both the Oscars and the Golden Globe Awards.
The full programme for BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival will be revealed on Tuesday 18 February at 11am.