BFI Flare is an event that celebrates and showcases the best of LGBTQ+ cinema every year without fail and is one which has grown exponentially in recent years.

Since its establishment thirty-two years ago, BFI Flare has shown some of the greatest LGBTQ+ films of modern times, including ÔÇÿMoonlightÔÇÖ, ÔÇÿCarolÔÇÖ, and the lesser known gems such as ÔÇÿLovesongÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿThe PassÔÇÖ. Year upon year, Flare has offered the opportunity to countless people to discover the wonder that is queer cinema, and it is perhaps through Flare that many who may never have ventured into this world have developed an interest in the stories of LGBTQ+ people. Flare have worked tirelessly to bring diverse cinema to wide audiences and, each year, they not only deliver the biggest and brightest of the yearÔÇÖs, or the past yearÔÇÖs, LGBTQ+ themed films but also ensure that small, modest features are given a platform. For many, independent filmmakers, Flare gives them a chance where they may otherwise not have found one; where their tales of LGBTQ+ identity and romance are able to be told, and on a rather large scale, too.

BFI Flare is both a bold, beautiful celebration of queer film and the perfect opportunity for storytellers, directors, and writers to get their work out there, be it low-budget and independent, or high-profile and highly anticipated. To have been able to attend the festival was an honour and I look forward to what Flare will produce in the years to come.

By Hannah Ryan / @_hannahryan