BFI Flare 2025 is about to begin! The Loud and Clear Reviews team made a list of 10 movies to watch at London’s LGBTQIA+ film festival, from anticipated queer films to hidden gems!
BFI Flare 2025 is here! But what are the movies to watch at London’s LGBTQIA+ film festival? We are here to help: the Loud And Clear Reviews team made a list of 10 very promising films that you should add to your watchlist, from anticipated releases to hidden gems! As always, these queer movies will be screened in person at the BFI Southbank, with some also available to stream on the BFI Player. BFI Flare 2025 will take place on 19-30 March 2025, and tickets are on sale now! So without further ado, let’s take a look at what our writers Bethany Lola and Daniel Allen recommend. Find their recommendations below, in alphabetical order, and come back soon for our reviews!
Dreams in Nightmares
Special Presentations
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
Starring: Denée Benton, Mars Storm Rucker, Dezi Bing
Countries: USA and UK
A spontaneous road trip always makes for an entertaining watch. Whether it’s Little Miss Sunshine, Thelma and Louise or Unpregnant, there’s something so special about watching friends and family bond as they drive along the open road. When Kel (Mars Storm Rucker) goes missing, Z (Denée Benton), Lauren (Dezi Bing) and Tasha (Sasha Compère), a group of lifelong friends, must go on a trip of a lifetime across Midwestern United States to hopefully locate her. Dreams in Nightmares gives us all of the tropes we know and love, this time with a cast of young queer breakout stars. (Bethany Lola)
Manok
Hearts Strand
Director: Yu-jin Lee
Starring: Yang Mal-bok, Sung Jae-yun, Park Wan-kyu
Country: South Korea
Manok (Yang Mal-bok) is a lesbian bar owner, which is a very big hit with the locals. But when she has to return to her small hometown, she is faced with her ex-husband, who reminds her of her despondent past. Her life is at a crossroads, and Manok must decide whether or not to return to her true self where she’s made a life for herself, or turn her hometown into more of a safe space where she can feel authentic once again. Manok is a vibrant story, both visually and in its narrative, which showcases that even though you can’t choose where you’re from, you have the chance to change everything for the better. (Bethany Lola)
Power Alley
Best of Year Strand
Director: Lillah Halla
Starring: Ayomi Domenica Dias, Loro Bardot, Grace Passô
Country: Brazil
Power Alley had a limited theatrical release last year and is having its BFI Flare debut in the Best of Year category alongside Queer, Will & Harper and I Saw the TV Glow. Lillah Halla’s feature debut stars Ayomi Domenica Dias in her breakout role as Sofia, a 17-year-old facing one of the hardest choices of her life. When an unwanted pregnancy arises, Sofia must navigate her life whilst she seeks out an illegal abortion. Her sporting career is on the line, but so is her mental health, so she must figure out what’s the most important, and how far she will go to do what’s right for her. Power Alley discusses the rights women deserve in Brazil, where abortion is illegal. (Bethany Lola)
Queens of Drama
Minds Strand
Director: Alexis Langlois
Cast: Louiza Aura, Gio Ventura, Alma Jodorowsky
Countries: France and Belgium
Alexis Langlois’ highly anticipated debut feature Queens of Drama hits the BFI for a second time after a string of sold out screenings at the BFI London Film Festival last year. The glittery, futuristic musical is a follow up to Langlois’ series of shorts released over the past couple of years which are all set in the ‘glittercore universe’. Queens of Drama follows a queer romance between two singers, Mimi Madamour (Louiza Aura) and Billie Kohler (Gio Ventura), as they navigate what fame means to them. With sparkling visuals and a soundtrack guaranteed to make you want to get up and dance, Queens of Drama promises a very fun time. (Bethany Lola)
Summer’s Camera
Hearts Strand
Director: Divine Sung
Starring: Kim Sia
Country: South Korea
A world premiere, Divine Sung’s dreamy debut Summer’s Camera has two love stories in one. After the recent death of her father, Summer (Kim Sia) refuses to use the last roll of film in his camera. Things change though when she gets her first crush, her school’s football star Yeonwoo. When she gets the film developed, Summer discovers her father had a relationship with a local hairdresser named Maru. As these two stories collide and Summer falls deeper in love with Yeonwoo, she tries to deal with her grief by finding Maru. (Daniel Allen)
To Our Friends
Hearts Strand
Director: Adrián Orr
Countries: Spain and Portugal
A coming-of-age documentary that blurs the line between fact and fiction, Adrián Orr’s nostalgic To Our Friends (A Nuestros Amigos) celebrates that carefree spot between the worries of adolescence and the rest of our lives. In Madrid, Sara Toledo (also one of the film’s four screenwriters) spends her post-high school days with her friend Pedro. She also makes new friends at a theatre club and falls in love with a girl named Paula. But where will the future take her and Pedro? And will it be impacted by differences between social classes? (Daniel Allen)
Việt and Nam
Minds Strand
Director: Trương Minh Quý
Cast: Phạm Thanh Hải, Đào Duy Bảo Định
Countries: Philippines, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Vietnam, United States
Trương Minh Quý’s sophomore feature is a hypnotically spiritual drama shot on 16mm and is set in the deep underground coal mines of Vietnam. Việt and Nam are two miners who have embarked on a secret, intimate romance while on the job. But Nam is haunted by the past and is set on leaving the country for pastures new. Meanwhile, Nam joins his mother on a journey to find the remains of his father, who was killed as a soldier in the 1970s. Set at the start of the 21st century, Trương uses this sensual story to examine his home country’s painful memories of war and its search for a brighter future. (Daniel Allen)
The Wedding Banquet
Opening Night Gala
Director: Andrew Ahn
Cast: Han Gi-chan, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Bowen Yang, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung
Country: USA
From director Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), this remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy is the Opening Night Gala at this year’s BFI Flare festival. And it looks to be a modern queer update of the film complete with an all-star cast. Korean art student Min (Han Gi-chan) is worried about his boyfriend Chris’ (Bowen Yang) non-commitment. Their friends Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) are a lesbian couple struggling to afford their IVF treatment. Min offers Angela an arrangement: they will marry so Min can get a green card, and he will give them the IVF money. But then Min’s grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung) arrives to organise a lavish party. Dìdi’s Joan Chen also stars. (Daniel Allen)
Where You Find Me
Bodies Strand
Directors: Willi Andrick, Juan Bermúdez, Isis Rampf, Anna Schröder
Starring: Isabella Krieger, Thea Ehre, Paula Essam
Country: Germany
Where You Find Me is set with a backdrop of the Berlin music scene, where a group of unlikely friends continue to learn the ropes of what it means to be queer in spaces that sometimes don’t favour their sexualities. Bea (Isabella Krieger), a gynaecologist who just wants women to be valued and respected, meets Alex (Thea Ehre), an owner of a trans club in Berlin who also just wants basic human rights for all women. The two bond over their shared devotion to women’s rights, and together with the help of their friends, they challenge the spaces which they are in to better the lives of everyone around them. Where You Find Me is a story of self love and self expression. (Bethany Lola)
Winter Kept Us Warm
Hearts Strand
Director: David Secter
Cast: John Labow, Henry Tarvainen, Joy Tepperman
Country: Canada
BFI Flare is not only the home of the best new releases in LGTBQ+ cinema; it also plays host to a few re-releases and restorations every year. One of those in 2025 is a microbudget college drama from sixty years ago that is quietly significant. Because not only is Winter Kept Us Warm the first English Canadian film ever to be screened at Cannes (specifically, in Critics’ Week), but it is also Canada’s first-ever gay film, from a time when homosexuality was still illegal. Inspired by the French New Wave and shot by students from the University of Toronto, David Secter’s film follows students Doug (John Labow) and Peter (Henry Tarvainen) as they develop a quasi-romance during one snowy winter. (Daniel Allen)
BFI Flare 2025: 15 More Queer Movies to Watch At the Festival
- A Few Feet Away
- After The Snowmelt
- Assembly
- Drive Back Home
- Four Mothers
- Heightened Scrutiny
- High Tide
- I Like Who I Like
- I’m Your Venus
- I Saw The TV Glow
- Lucky, Apartment
- Outerlands
- Ponyboi
- Rent Free
- The Silence Of My Hands
Also at BFI Flare 2025: Night Stage (Ato Noturno), Hot Milk,
BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQIA+ film festival, will take place on 19-30 March 2025 at BFI Southbank and on the BFI Player.
