It was truly a delight to get back to exploring the offerings from this year’s BFI Flare film festival as part of our wide-ranging Best of Fest coverage, and as always, we were delighted to see some films screening that have already been featured on DN. We dove into the making of Naaman Azhari’s Threaded back in 2024 and were thrilled to see Are You Fucking Kidding Me?! by DN alum Zen Pace in the programme, as well as Heath Virgoe’s Hot Young Geek Seeks Blood-Sucking Freak which Jesse highlighted in our BFI Future Film Festival Best of Fest piece last month. Before I move on to my favourite selections from the festival’s 12 programmes, I want to highlight a few of the world premieres not to be missed which would have made it onto this list were it not for my needing to adhere to their reporting embargoes: Fødselsdage (Birthdays) by Adrian Jalily, Home by Donja R. Love and A Place to Belong by Theingi Win. There is so much to explore in Flare’s thematic strands, with a truly varied and standout programme proving that storytelling and queer voices resonate loudly and proudly through all forms of filmmaking. And now to guide the way through this cinematic embarrassment of riches, here are nine shorts that deserve top billing on your BFI Flare must watchlist.
NO!!! (NGGAK!!!) – Oktania Hamdani & Winner Wijaya
After recently being blown away by The Remarkable Life of Ibelin and Grand Theft Hamlet I delighted in Oktania Hamdani and Winner Wijaya’s short NO!!! where a young queer couple, bringing their hopes and dreams to life in a fantasy world are rudely interrupted by a call. Sekar’s mother, refusing to understand or accept her daughter’s reluctance, ploughs on in her mission to set her daughter up. NO!!!, which you’ll be able to watch online during the festival as one of Flare’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom in partnership with the British Council, is both hopeful and hopeless as individuals all over the world struggle to find their place IRL.
Soviet Fantasia – Penn Bálint
Experimental approaches to film are something we embrace wholeheartedly here at DN and I was instantly drawn to Bálint’s exploration of the immigrant experience in Soviet Fantasia. A teenager, leaving their home for England is forced to examine changes and truths in themselves whilst facing an unknown, foreign future. It is chaotic, surreal and pleasantly off-kilter and constantly keeps you guessing where the film will go next – not dissimilar to the semi-autobiographical origins of the film.
Your Love is Burning – Balkis Guetta
Wander through the streets of Morocco following Izgar, a young activist who is on a poetic but heartbreaking journey of self-reflection. Guetta adopts tight close ups, highlighting the turmoil and struggles a rejected community have to live through simply to exist as they are. Your Love is Burning is outwardly a quiet film, but we are privy to Izgar’s inner thoughts and reflections alongside verses from a poem by Emir Abdelkader. It is a powerful portrait of a young, admirable fighter refusing to stop asking questions.
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Pietra – Cynthia Levitan
Two women from different worlds but living intimately close to each other struggle to find connection in Levitan’s playful stop-motion short Pietra. The textures and details of a rising cake and discarded flowers are a visual delight. Largely dialogue-free but full of music and housing an emotive soundtrack which is sure to stir hearts. Pietra will pull on your heartstrings and is a joyous example of acceptance and understanding.
Marleen – Jop Leuven
Maybe I’m most impressed by the simplicity yet impact delivered or perhaps it’s that it was written and directed by a male but Marleen is a bare, honest and relatable short where Leuven follows one woman, through therapy as she opens up about the relationships through her life and how they shaped her. It is sharp and witty, and the breaking of the fourth wall in the final scene is something that hooked its teeth into me, Marleen is an intimate drama I wanted more of.
Pink – Yassa Khan
Families are a bit like the lottery – some of us win, most of us don’t. Khan’s short, based on a true story, not only critiques the polemics of generational trauma but is a refreshing take on the coming out story, often dismissed as more passé queer narrative fair Pink gets it right, with surreal moments breaking from the hash reality of the night. Tigers can’t change their stripes but there is always a chance they might adapt.
Wrong Bathroom – Ragini Bhasin
Wrong Bathroom is unfortunately a battle occurring in so many bathrooms all over the world, some of which we’d falsely assumed the need to fight was over. While it may be dispiriting to think that toxic masculinity and peer pressure are perennial issues, Bhasin’s Gabe is truly outstanding as the ballsy protagonist and the casualness of the whole encounter took me off guard in all the right ways. This film is honest – even if the implications of that don’t sit right.
Stay Still or I Love You (Quedate Quieto o Te Amo) – Federico Luis
A hauntingly heartbreaking and candid look at the reality of life for a young drifter who just wants to feel safe and loved – despite the risks or consequences. Luis opens his Argentinian-based short with two young guys running through a tired-looking city to seek refuge under a bridge, setting the scene for what is to come. Love and tragedy collide with divine moments of emotion. Stay Still or I Love You left me devastated but not surprised by what unfolded. Perhaps a sentiment we are all feeling with current events.
The Eating of an Orange – May Kindred-Boothby
A Sundance special jury award for animation direction The Eating of an Orange by Kindred Boothby is a sensuously erotic animated journey of discovery amongst conformity. When uniformity seems the only acceptable option, a lone rebellious woman finds herself lost in the soft, juicy creases of an orange and a secret land opens up. She breaks the mysterious ranks of identical inhabitants around her which hold her hostage as she endeavours to break through. The metaphors are ripe and the animation captivating.
You can find more unmissable films like these in our Best of Fest collections.
