BFI Flare 2021

A socially awkward, environmentally conscious teenager named AJ is dragged to a coastal holiday park by her painfully 'normal' family, where she becomes unexpectedly captivated by a chlorine smelling, sun-loving lifeguard named Isla.

A troubled but well-intentioned father who has recently separated from his wife runs off with his trans son into the Montana wilderness after his ex-wife's refusal to let their son live as his authentic self.

A young police officer, Cristi, tries to find the balance between two opposing parts of his identity: that of a man working in a macho hierarchical environment and that of a closeted gay person who tries to keep his personal life a secret.

Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on a Soviet Air Force Base at the height of 1970's Communist rule.

Chicago's Black transgender icon Gloria Allen blazed a trail for trans people like few others before her. Born in 1945, she grew up amid the celebrated Black "sissy" balls on Chicago's South Side and transitioned after high school with the love and support of the women in her family - her mother Alma, a former showgirl and Jet centerfold who taught her about makeup, and her grandmother Mildred, a seamstress who designed clothes for her. Gloria overcame traumatic violence to become a proud leader in her community. Most famously, she pioneered a charm school for young transgender people that served as inspiration for the hit play Charm. Now in her 70s, Gloria is aging with joy and grace at a time when Black transgender women in America face escalating violence and make up the majority of transgender people killed each year. Luchina Fisher's directorial debut is not only a portrait of a groundbreaking legend, but also a celebration of unconditional love, the love Gloria received from her own mother and that she now gives to her chosen children.

In 1994, a closeted teen struggles to part ways with his 4 high school drama friends at their final slumber party before they leave for college.

"Cured" takes viewers inside the campaign that led to a pivotal yet largely unknown moment in the struggle for LGBT equality: the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. Combining eyewitness testimony with newly unearthed archival footage, the film reveals how a small group of impassioned activists achieved this unexpected victory.

REBEL DYKES is a full-length documentary about the explosion that happened when punk met feminism, told through the lives of a gang of lesbians in the riotous London of the 1980s.

A New York Times travel writer comes to Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The energy of the city and his relationship with a younger man brings him back to life.

The life and the impact of iconic German New Wave director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Harry has been partying for 48 hours when he meets Johannes on the dance floor of a club in Berlin. With 15 hours until his flight home, Johannes offers to help him print his boarding pass. This mundane task leads to a day together wandering the city. The contrasts in their lives and values force each one to confront their own truths. Boys Meet Boys is a feature length mumblecore about the journey of a brief encounter: the mark left by a fleeting moment of joy.

When two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens with lovers who don't fit--but do belong together?

A wealthy, Nigerian-American teen is pulled over by police, shot to death and immediately awakens, reliving the same day over and over, trapped in a terrifying time loop - forced to confront difficult truths about his life and himself.

Filmed verite style over five years, I Am Samuel is an intimate portrait of a Kenyan man torn between balancing duty to his family with his dreams for his future.

Isolated Claudia hides away on a remote property after her mother's death. Shocked when spirited local teen Grace appears in her garden, the pair find support and love in each other.

No Ordinary Man is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor the legacy of an unlikely hero.

Marcos is an experienced nurse. He works in the night shift of a provincial private clinic. He is applied and professional but has a secret: in some extreme cases he applies euthanasia. Gabriel, a new nurse, shakes the sector: he is young, intelligent and beautiful. Seduces everyone. He soon deciphers Marcos' secret by progressively taking control of his life. Marcos retracts until he discovers that Gabriel also kills, but capriciously. That revelation will force him to confront Gabriel, Marcos knows that only by exposing his true identity will be able to stop him.

A rookie drag queen reeling from a break-up escapes to the country, where he finds his grandmother in steep decline but desperate to avoid the local nursing home.

Grieving the death of her mother Lillian, Beth Tweedy-Bell wakes one night to find a portal to the past in the forest surrounding her family home. Swept away by visions of her idyllic upbringing with her three siblings and two loving Mums, Beth becomes mesmerized by the past, unable to see the dangers that lie ahead.

After skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn't heard from him since before Caz transitioned.

A trans girl and her mother move to a new town in order to start fresh, but quickly face dilemmas when the local high school needs a second parental signature for enrollment.

Depiction on the life of Tove Jansson, showing both her personal relationships, and the creation of the popular Moomin books.