The people behind BFI Flare London’s LGBTQ Film Festival (and the biggest of its kind in Europe) have a long and commendable history of supporting and promoting new queer filmmakers.
For the past 4 years they have teamed up with The British Council for a scheme called #FiveFilms4Freedom which makes five LGBTQ+ themed short films available for the world to watch online for free, over an 11-day period each year. This is years it is from 21 – 31 March 2019.
The programme, which coincides with the BFI Flare Festival features work by emerging filmmakers from across the world. The aim is to encourage people to watch the films in solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities in places where freedom and equal rights are limited. They ask audiences to share the films using the hashtag #FiveFilms4Freedom in recognition of the fact that Love is a Human Right..
This year the films are :
CRASHING WAVES (UK) directed by Emma Gilbertson and produced by Amir Majlessi,
Two young working-class men explore the intimacy and vulnerability of relationships in a combative dance against the backdrop of an inner-city estate, risking all under the scrutiny of a tight-knit, ever-judging community.
CARLITO SE VA PARA SIEMPRE/CARLITO LEAVES FOREVER (PERU/FRANCE) Directed by Quentin Lazzarotto,
A short, poetic film following Carlito, a young man living in an indigenous village at the heart of the Amazonian jungle, who decided to leave and change his life forever.
LADIES DAY (UK) directed by Abena Taylor-Smith & produced by Loran Dunn
Amma, a young, black lesbian, spends the day in an Afro-Caribbean hair salon full of fun, sheen spray, gossip and laughter – but how will she deal with the casual homophobia?i
EG/I (ICELAND)
written/directed by Vala Omarsdottir,
Hallfríður Þóra Tryggvadóttirand
Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir
A young trans person living in a small town travels to the city searching for the freedom to be their self.
A Normal Girl directed by Aubree Bernier-Clarke & produced by
Shawna Lipton & Pidgeon Pagonis
1.5 per cent of people are born with an anatomy that doesn’t fit typical definitions of female or male. It is common practice for doctors to perform genital surgeries on intersex infants – often with disastrous results. A Normal Girl brings the widely unknown struggles of intersex people to light, through the story of intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis.
