BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival has announced its closing night and special presentation films
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGES BY ESIHLE NDLELENI/JEN RAOULT
If you love watching LGBTQIA+ stories told onscreen, then you’re likely well aware of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. And if you’ve somehow not discovered the UK’s largest queer film event yet, well, then, this is a fantastic year to experience your very first Flare. This edition of Flare marks the festival’s 40th anniversary, and there are lots of queer and sapphic delights on screen to look forward to.
The festival recently announced that Jennifer Kroot’s riotous documentary Hunky Jesus would be this year’s opening night gala film. And now, BFI Flare has also announced both its closing night and special presentation films.
So many iconic queer films have been screened at previous years’ closing galas. But I’m A Cheerleader (1999), Lady Like (2024) and Night Stage (2025), to name a few. And at this year’s closing ceremony (28 March), Flare attendees can look forward to a screening of writer-director Sandulela Asanda’s Black Burns Fast.
In Black Burns Fast, audiences will meet the “adorkable and studious” Luthando who is prepared for a normal academic year at a South African boarding school that she attends on scholarship. But when a new girl arrives, Luthando struggles to suppress her desires. This threatens not only her relationships but also what she thought she knew about herself.
“I’m so excited to close BFI Flare with Black Burns Fast! In making this film, I wanted to reclaim my youth as a girl, and create a Black experience that was queer, joyful and dynamic,” Sandulela has stated. “It’s ended up being more than that and I can’t wait to share this adorkable group of girls and their world with you all!”
And on 26 March, for Flare’s special presentation, festival attendees can watch another coming-of-age film at the festival, Paloma Schneideman’s Big Girls Don’t Cry. This one follows 14-year-old Sid Bookman’s transformative summer in rural New Zealand. Sid is in the awkward space between childhood and adolescence. She’s navigating her sexual curiosity, and she’s desperate for acceptance. She finds herself drawn to a group of wealthy out-of-towners who she tries to emulate, leading to chaos.
“We’re so excited and privileged to have our UK premiere at BFI Flare, which feels like a perfect home for our gentle but at times challenging film,” Paloma has said. “Big Girls Don’t Cry is a story built from small details and liminal moments, and British cinema has long shaped my love for that kind of nuanced and character driven storytelling.”
The 40th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival runs from 18 to 29 March 2026 at BFI Southbank. The programme will be revealed on 17 February. You can find out more at whatson.bfi.org.uk.
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