The London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival’s Five Films For Freedom series is available to stream now (and for free)
BY SOPHIE PERRY. PHOTO BY LISA FOTIOS
The world’s largest LGBTIQ+ digital campaign, Five Films For Freedom, is online, ready to stream right now – until 29 March 2020. This year’s campaign marks six years of broadcasting new LGBTIQ+ films around the world, including to countries where being LGBTIQ+ remains illegal and is punishable by death.
The digital campaign sees the British Council make five short films from the BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival available across their social networks completely free of charge.
“Come together”
“Since its inception in 2015, Five Films For Freedom has given us the opportunity to share queer stories with millions of audiences across the world,” said Michael Blyth, Senior Programmer of BFI Flare.
“As LGBTIQ+ people in many countries continue the ongoing fight for basic human rights, this campaign offers an essential moment for global communities to come together in solidarity and ensure that our collective voices remain heard.”
Unfortunately, this year’s BFI Flare, the UK’s longest running queer film festival, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Festival organisers have however, created an alternative, digital version of the festival – BFI Flare At Home.
What are this year’s five films?
The 2020 Five Films For Freedom line-up sees filmmakers from around the world explore a wide range of LGBTIQ+ realities across both fiction and documentary films. The selection includes:
- 134 Irish drama capturing a family’s voyage through gender identity, modern adolescence and parental expectation. Director Sarah-Jane Drummey gives viewers an emotional glimpse into protagonist Jack’s journey to win the love and acceptance of their parents.
- After That Party Brazilian director Caio Scot tells the moving story of a man on a mission to find the perfect way to tell his father he knows the truth about his sexuality.
- Pxssy Palace UK documentary from Laura Kirwan-Ashman, co-founder of female film collective Sorta Kinda Maybe Yeah, offering a unique insight into the London-based QTIPOC (queer, trans, intersex, people of colour) collective and eponymous club night.
- Something In The Closet British writer and director Nosa Eke’s short film sees a queer teenager struggle with her sexuality as her desires begin to manifest themselves in unsettling ways.
- When Pride Came To Town Award-winning directors Julia Dahr and Julie Lunde Lillesæter provide a provocative yet heart-warming account of Norway’s rural Pride network through the eyes of 52-year-old Bjørn-Tore, shedding light on the ongoing battle for gay rights in one of Europe’s most liberal countries.
Since the campaign’s launch in 2015, the films have been viewed over 14 million times in 200 different countries. All films are available to view on the British Council Art’s YouTube channel until 29 March 2020.
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