BFI Flare 2018 reviews
BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), Flare is the biggest LGBTQ+ film festival in Europe.
Reviews by Petit Printemps
ELENA
Review
It’s a story of a young girl living with her super religious grandmother, working in the city and getting exposed to how life could be. She begins to bends the rules, and follow what feels right, even though she has been warned before about following the rules.
Now she has to choose, does she break away from her norm?
MAI
Gossip in the village square and a long-held secret between friends.
* CATALAN, SPANISH – LGBT – SPAIN – 7 min
* Year of production: 2017
Review
I really like the colours and the music of this short. 50s style clothing, small village feel with the elder women sitting on a bench watching the world go by. We see two young girls being cute and silly in the fields. The three women talk about the young girls and how they come from big cities like Barcelona to enjoy the countryside, and how they are not normal and the men chase them all over.
But what you find out in the last minute of this beautiful short, a surprise will make your heart skip a beat and leave you with tears in your eyes.
WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’
Review
Kate finds herself in the washroom after her best friend’s wedding. After a heartwarming moment with the mother of the bride, recognizing her love for her daughter, she assures her that she will find the right girl. Has she already?
Cute and sweet short that will leave us all smiling.
UK Industry Selections
GIRL UNDER YOU
Review
This short starts with a couple having hot sex with visible scratch marks all over one of the women’s back.
Meanwhile we can also see this lesbian couple sharing intimacy, which most lesbian scenes don’t focus on… laying down, looking into each other’s eyes, whispering and giggling.
After all, that’s what really gets you, isn’t it?
SOUL MATE
Review
At first it seems just like another Dracula story; girl offering herself to the mysterious Dracula. But then we find out that they have history. Surprise Surprise, the Dracula had stolen her heart and her life, but couldn’t even remember her name?!
Well guess what, she’s back because of her unfinished business.
But what if she didn’t want her to leave this world?
MONTAGE OF THE MIND
A MONTAGE OF THE MIND
A Montage Of The Mind is an experimental film exploring how ones mind gets from A to B and back again whilst wondering off into vivid tangents. The film exhibits my inner journeys & struggles, dealing with subject matter such as feminism, mental health, homosexuality, gender politics and much more.
* UNITED KINGDOM – ENGLISH – LGBT – 14 minutes
* Year of production: 2017
Review
This short film starts with close up shots of faces and bodies and continues in a dream like sequence of images and poetry style narrative. It consists of a stream of consciousness focused on gender, masculinity and body image with visual symbolism including a dildo being used as a gun as a means of protection. This is a film to make you think and perhaps to make you uncomfortable.
