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The BFI’s annual festival of LGBTQIA+ cinema is a major fixture in London’s cultural calendar, and the announcement of the festival’s full programme is always hotly anticipated in the Time Out office.
Now in its 39th year, the 2025 edition of the festival takes place at the BFI Southbank and online from 19-30 March. This year’s programme is as jam-packed as ever, featuring more than 130 films from 41 different countries, including 34 world premieres. And that’s on top of the panel discussions, workshops, talks and after-hours events that make the BFI’s riverside headquarters such a buzzy place to be over the twelve day festival.
As previously announced, the festival will open with the international premiere of Andrew Ahn’s joyful reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic The Wedding Banquet, fresh from its well-received world premiere at Sundance.
Award-winning writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford’s second feature film, road trip drama Dreams in Nightmares, will feature as a special presentation in the middle of the festival, with Brazilian psychosexual drama Night Stage closing out the festival.
Other highlights on the programme include Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s atmospheric adaptation of Deborah Levy’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Hot Milk starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps, Trương Minh Quý’s Un Certain Regard-nominated romance Viet and Nam.
It’s also a strong year for feature-length documentaries, which include Peaches Goes Bananas, an intimate portrayal of the Canadian electroclash star, and I’m Your Venus, a tribute to murdered Paris is Burning star and ballroom legend Venus Xtravaganza.
As usual, the features programme is divided into three main thematic strands, Hearts, Minds and Bodies, while the shorts programme consists of twelve themed screenings, including Brief Encounters, Karma’s A Bitch! and Let Trans Kids Bloom.
There’ll also be a chance to revisit some of the best queer film releases over the last twelve months with the usual Best of Year strand, which features hits including Luca Guadagnino’s Queer and Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow.
Tickets for BFI Flare 2025 go on general sale on Tuesday 25 February for BFI Members, and on general sale from Thursday 27 February. You can check out the full programme on the BFI website here.
Find more great things to do next month with our roundup of the best London events in March.
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