BFI Flare reveals 2015 line-up

The full line-up of this year’s BFI Flare (March 19-29) has been unveiled in London this evening.

As previously announced, the 29^th edition of the LGBT film festival will open with Justin Kelly’s I Am Michael, starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto.

It was revealed this evening that the festival will close with the European premiere of documentary Out To Win on March 29.

Malcolm Ingram’s film examines of the lives and careers of aspiring and professional gay and lesbian athletes from all over the world, featuring contributions from Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, David Kopay and John Amaechi, among others.

It marks Ingram’s return to the festival having previously screened documentaries Small Town Gay Bar and Continental. Out To Win will world premiere at SXSW on March 15.

Gala screenings

The Accenture Gala will be the European Premiere of David Thorpe’s Do I Sound Gay?, a documentary exploring the idea of whether there is a ‘gay voice’. Contributors include Margaret Cho, David Sedaris, George Takei and Dan Savage.

The Centrepiece Screening will mark the UK premiere of Stories Of Our Lives, directed by Jim Chu Chu, which won the Teddy jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival last week.

Created by the members of a Nairobi-based art collective — who have removed their names from the film for fear of reprisal — this anthology film that dramatizes true-life stories from the oppressed LGBT community in Kenya, where the film is banned for promoting homosexuality.

Do I Sound Gay? and Stories Of Our Lives were both first seen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Confirmed guests to date include Justin Kelly (I Am Michael), Malcolm Ingram (Out To Win), Jeffrey Schwarz and Tab Hunter (Tab Hunter Confidential), Mark Christopher (54: The Director’s Cut), Carol Morley (The Falling), Colin Rothbart (Dressed As A Girl) and Jonny Woo.

Rocky Horror

Special events at this year’s BFI Flare include a 40th anniversary screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the BFI IMAX followed by a Blue Room party; dressing up is definitely encouraged.

The subject of this year’s We Love… lecture series is Xena Warrior Princess, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series, followed by a Warrior Women after party.

Pioneering archive classic Different from the Others (1919) will screen at the V&A. The silent, German film centres on two male musicians who fall in love, but blackmail and scandal around the affair leads to tragedy.

A new Flare book club - Reading Between the Lines: Queer Books on Film - will offer the chance for discussion through screenings of key LGBT literary adaptations: Orlando, The Color Purple, Strangers On A Train and Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe.

The ‘Best of the Year’ selection will include:  bisexual comedy Appropriate Behavior; Peter Strickland’s lesbian drama The Duke Of Burgundy; and British hit Pride, which will be followed by a talk with some of the people on whom the film’s characters were based.

Mentor scheme

This year’s BFI Flare includes the launch of a new mentorship programme, in association with Creative Skillset, for five emerging LGBT filmmakers that have already made a short film and are in development on a feature.

The successful filmmakers will receive one-to-one meetings with a mentor; access to a roundtable discussion exploring the current global market environment for LGBT films; and access to a bespoke programme of industry talks among other things.

The deadline for application is Feb 23 [click here for more]

Also, following its introduction last year, the BFI’s VOD platform will again feature a selection of related titles under the Flare banner offering a flavour of the festival throughout the UK.

www.bfi.org.uk/player

Themed sections

Introduced last year, the festival will again group films into sections: Hearts, films about love and friendship; Bodies, focussing on sex, identity and transformation; and Minds, reflecting on art, politics and community.

Hearts

• 54: The Director’s Cut, Mark Christopher
• Alive!, Vincent Boujon
• Appropriate Behavior, Desiree Akhavan
• Atlantida, Ines Maria Barrionuevo
• Blackbird, Patrik-Ian Polk
• Broken Gardenias, Kai Alexander
• The Falling, Carol Morley
• Frangipani, Visakesa Chandrasekaram
• Futuro Beach, Karim Ainouz
• Girltrash: All Night Long, Alexandra Kondracke
• Hidden Away, Mikel Rueda
• Jamie Marks Is Dead, Carter Smith
• Of Girls and Horses, Monika Treut
• Match, Stephen Belber
• Portrait of a Serial Monogamist, Christina Zeidler, John Mitchell
• Summer, Colette Bothof
• Tiger Orange, Wade Gasque
• Zoe.Misplaced, Mekelle Mills

Minds

• Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, Catherine Gund
• Burn: From Hackney To Vauxhall
• Dressed as a Girl, Colin Rothbart
• Drunktown’s Finest, Sydney Freeland
• The Duke of Burgundy, Peter Strickland
• Everlasting Love, Marcal Fores
• Fulboy, Martin Farina
• The Golden Age of the American Male, Bob Mizer
• Mala Mala, Dan Sickles
• Mirco, Silvia Chiogna
• The New Girlfriend, Francois Ozon
• Something Must Break, Ester Martin Bergsmark
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Jim Sharman
• Shock Treatment, Jim Sharman

Bodies

• The Amina Profile, Sophie Deraspe
• Dear White People, Justin Simien
• Dior and I, Frederic Tcheng
• Girlhood, Celine Sciamma
• In The Turn, Erica Tremblay
• The Last One: Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Nadine C Licostie
• Pride, Matthew Warchus
• Regarding Susan Sontag, Nancy D Kates
• The Royal Road, Jenni Olson
• Steve Reinke: Recent Works
• Tab Hunter Confidential, Jeffrey Schwarz
• We Came To Sweat, Kate Kunath, Sascha Wortzel

Led by BFI head of cinemas and festivals Clare Stewart and BFI deputy head of festivals Tricia Tuttle, the festival is programmed by Brian Robinson, Emma Smart, Jason Barker, Jay Bernard and Michael Blyth.

The 2014 edition of the festival took place over 11 days at the BFI Southbank with more than 22,000 attendances across 140 programmes of screenings and events.