BFI Flare  London’s Queer Film Fest is special to the Queerguru Team, not just because it’s in one of our ‘hometown’ Fests (the other two being Miami’s Outshine and Provincetown, where we are also based) but after Berlinale, it’s the first in our annual calendar each year. This year it’s their 40th Anniversary, and to celebrate, the Programmers have gone all out to create a jam-packed schedule full of some of the best new queer cinema.

As usual, Ris Fatah, our Senior Contributing Editor, will be putting his regular life on hold as he literally moves into Southbank full-time to review the majority of the cinematic treats for the Fests 11 days.  We haven’t done our usual finite list of MUST SEE MOVIES yet, but we have scrambled together a list of films that we love and think should be the basis of your selection.

It will be no surprise to QG readers that the Opening Night Film HUNKY JESUS is at the top of the list, as we have already published interviews with both Sister Roma, the star and Jennifer M Kroot, the director.  You may also have noticed that we loved the short NEVER NEVER NEVER so very much that we filmed an interview with John Sheedy 

Here is the rest of our list in alphabetical order:

Maspalomas is an interesting character study about what happens when an older man goes back into the closet. Older gay men are rarely given such visibility on our screens, and the directors dive in deep, with sex scenes, full frontal nudity, and main character profiles. The result is refreshing and thought-provoking. The tough relationship between parent and child is well portrayed and is very relatable. Soroiz is perfect at playing the contrasting sides of Vicente’s life, happily out of the closet and broken when concealing his sexuality. An important lesson in living your truest life.

These days, there is a heightened contradiction of the whole adult industry, particularly when it’s queer.  But films such as Mickey and Richard cover important parts of our history that need and deserve to be recorded for us and future queer generations. This documentary explores the complexities of life in the adult film industry and how the boundary between Richard’s reality and Mickey’s fantasy continues to loom large years after leaving the spotlight. Through candid narration, complemented by a treasure trove of archival erotic material, it offers a revealing, nuanced look at the person behind the persona.

Ever since we saw Joan Chen in 1987 in Bernardo Bertolucci historical epic film The Last Emperor, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, we have been major fans. In Montreal, My Beautuful she pays a Chinese immigrant mother who breaks from duty and tradition when she falls for a young Québécoise woman, leading her to confront questions of identity and freedom.  Chen has already won two Best Actress Awards for her performance 

Marco Berger‘s new film PERRO PERRO in a scale of greys has been filmed on location at Tigre, northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, on the Río de la Plata estuary, a place interlaced with numerous rivers and canals of the Paraná River. The spot is an attractive destination for water sports and has vacation homes on wooden stilts by its canals. This is a rare animalistic tale of longing and detachment, beautifully shot in the tradition of Berger´s aesthetic of insinuation. Starring German Flood (Juan), Juan Ramos (Max), Bianca Brandimarte, Matías Quiroga and Aldana Dante.

Storytelling in British film-making is at its best when an underdog punches above their weight, romantically or otherwise. It’s always a subtle journey, no fairy-tale Hollywood gloss or high-action required, just humour, restraint and emotional, sometimes sad, honesty. The journey is internal rather than physical.  Perhaps it’s hard to believe a hot gay guy falling for someone much less attractive on screen, even though in real-life that’s possible. Pillion, probably the most talked-about queer film this year, explores these themes and others in a very entertaining feature debut by director Harry Lighton and starring funky Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) and Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter) in an unusual, offbeat comedy drama romance about BDSM.

Helen Walsh’s sophomore film ON THE SEA is set on a severe, slate-skied stretch of northern Welsh coastline.  Jack (Barry Ward) a mussel farmer, is well aware of the limitations of his life, but then a chance encounter with a roughneck stranger,  his small world turns altogether suffocating.  It’s a delightful romantic drama that everyone will unhesitatingly fall in love with.

In 1970s Britain, Tony Powell was a star defender for Norwich City Football Club — he was also very much in the closet.  When his sports career ended, he seemed to disappear from the face of the world. Now fast forward decades, and he is discovered as the manager and sole resident at the Holloway Motel in the heart of West Hollywood but now he is about to be evicted as the motel is about to shutter for good. This excellent doc The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel, by directors Ramiel Petros and Nicholas Freeman uncover the secrets of Powell’s near-forgotten history and brings together a documentary portrait that is deeply empathetic and unflinchingly investigative.  Powell is a fascinating character with his compelling story that sheds such light on his own history and how it fits into the twists and turns of how the LGBTQ community found its feet.  If there is one big lesson from his story (!) its that it’s never too late to become your true self. 

Filmed over two years in war-torn Ukraine TO DANCE IS TO RESIST is an intimate documentary that delves into the vibrant but often unseen world of Kyiv’s underground artist scene through the lives of two remarkable protagonists, a queer couple who are professional dancers. This compelling film sets their struggles, triumphs, and identity exploration against the backdrop of Ukraine’s complex socio-political landscape, marked by homophobia, mental health challenges stemming from war trauma, and the quest for integration and acceptance
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London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare 18 to 29 March 2026

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