A Messy Guide to BFI Flare 🏳️🌈
+ NEXT PARTY & WRITING SESSIONS
BFI Flare runs from the 19th to the 30th of March! Scroll down to hear our resident queer film festival superbabe Jess MH’s take on that!
BUT we simply can’t wait that long to see you all again - so get your tickets now to our CLASSIC MESSY PARTY on the 13th March at our weird and wonderful venue, Vout-O-Reenee's!
For this month’s party we’re offering an ✨ extra special offer ✨ on HEADSHOTS by Casey J. Newell, a Nashville-based cinematographer. Whether you need a new photo for a website or your dating profile, you can now book your 10 minute headshot session with a fun Messy backdrop which includes 1x retouched photo and a high res album of the rest. This is SHOWBIZ baby, it’s time to look the part.
PLUS! In huge news, our weekly writing sessions hosted by Messy writer-in-residence Santiago Guerra are BACK due to VERY popular demand, now 12pm-4pm EVERY F*CKING SATURDAY at the BFI Cafe & Bar on the Southbank. Bring along your laptop (or notepad if you’re fancy) and be surrounded by other writers quietly tapping away.
NOW! Onto all things 🏳️🌈 Cinema!
The annual BFI Flare is one of the only dedicated LGBTQIA+ film festivals in the UK and very close to our hearts. Every year they present features, shorts and events by and for the queer community, from Argentina, to Norway, South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and much more.
We thought we’d give you some of our Messy recs:
I Saw the TV Glow (Writer/Director: Jane Schoenbrun)
This was my favourite film of the past year which I managed to watch at Sundance London and have not been able to shut up about since. This is a heartbreaking drama, a love letter to fandom culture and a horror about the passage of time. I urge you to watch this film.
Watch I Saw the TV Glow on the 30th March <3
Dreams in Nightmares (Writer/Director: Shatara Michelle Ford)
To kick off the festival, this film is in the special presentation and follows three friends who embark on a journey to find their missing bestie. It’s a fresh take on the road trip genre which focuses on Black queer experience and friendship.
Catch Dreams in Nightmares on the 23rd or the 24th March or watch it on the 21st with the Industry pass!
Hot Milk (Writer/Director: Rebecca Lenkiewicz)
Adapted from the amazing Deborah Levy’s Booker Prize-nominated novel of the same name, the story follows a mother and a daughter seeking a diagnosis for a mysterious condition in a Spanish seaside town. And a love affair with a seamstress.
You can watch Hot Milk on the 25th, 27th or the 29th March!
Ponyboi (Writer: River Gallo, Director: Esteban Arango)
If you’re looking to cleanse the palette after the Anora sweep at the Oscars and want to explore more narratives about the life of sex workers, Ponyboi might be it. The film follows an intersex sex worker over one night after encountering a gangster. Grace Barber-Plentie writes for the BFI: ‘Ponyboi is both a high-octane neo-noir and a reflective depiction of the intersex experience.’
Watch Ponyboi on the 27th or the 28th March!
Drive Back Home (Writer/Director: Michael Clowater)
Family relationships, especially for a queer person, can be complicated. This film follows a man who is forced to trek a thousand miles to pick up his brother from jail in Toronto and their journey back home. Starring Alan Cumming and Charlie Creed-Miles, this film better be a ride.
You can watch Drive Back Home either on the 23rd or the 25th March.
Our special mentions:
The Wedding Banquet (Writers: Andrew Ahn, James Schamus, Director: Andrew Ahn)
A gay man makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatments for her. Plans evolve as Min's grandmother surprises them with a Korean wedding banquet.
Black Fruit (Writers: Lamin Leroy Gibba, Sophia Ayissi, Naomi Kelechi Odhiambo, Lisa Tracy Michalik, Sarah Claire Wray, Directors: Elisha Smith-Leverock, David Ụzọchukwu)
A sharp as tender look at the complicated lives of Lalo and Karla, two Black and queer best friends in Hamburg, working out who they really want to be in this 8-part series.
Winter Kept Us Warm (Writers: David Secter, Ian Porter, John Clute, Director: David Secter)
This recently restored 1965 homo-romantic college drama, inspired by the French New Wave, is acclaimed as Canada’s first gay film release.
Cherub (Writer/Director: Devin Shears)
A poignant, dialogue-free character study of a lonely, overweight man who has internalised the belief that he is invisible and unlovable.
I’m Your Venus (Director: Kimberly Reed)
The memory of a ballroom legend lives on as Venus Xtravaganza’s families unite to reopen the cold-case investigation into her murder.
Some FANTASTIC shorts you shouldn’t miss:
We’ll Go Down in History (Directors: Cameron Richards, Charlie Tidmas) - part of the Sporty Spice! strand
Two years in the life of TRUK United, a trans & non-binary football team, a beacon for positive change and trans inclusivity in football.
By our very own Cameron from the Messy community!
Wild Oats (Writer: Kate Hammer, Director: Rosa Duncan) - part of the Shorts from the UK & Ireland strand
A day of work on the farm makes it impossible for Rhona to focus on fantasies of her pop-star crush.
Blackout (Writer/Director: Chris Urch) - part of the Queer and Now strand
When a young man living in a high-rise is disturbed by domestic violence in the flat next door he comes to realise that violence isn’t always on the outside – sometimes it’s with us all along.
Strawberry Shortcake (Writer/Director: Deborah Devyn Chuang) - part of the Between Worlds strand
Reality and dreamscape become increasingly blurred in an uncomfortable, Lynchian and violent Freudian loop for teenage Lolo and her mother.
Soviet Fantasia (Writers: Penn Bálint, Zsófi Kemény, Director: Penn Bálint) - part of the Day Dreamers strand
Hajnal needs to get out of here. In this surrealist fantasy, they prepare to leave their home country for England.
Networking, industry panels and free events at the BFI:
Industry Opening Reception - IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY
20th March | 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM | Blue Room
This is an opportunity to meet other delegates at the BFI Flare, chat, connect and hopefully meet future collaborators!
Show Me the Money
21st March | 2PM | Blue Room
Funding is the biggest questions hanging over any filmmaker, and we usually need a lot of it. This panel is all about the different funding opportunities in the UK, funder’s goals and preferences and the ever-changing landscape of film financing. Speakers include the BFI, Doc Society & Film4.
Networking Happy Hour - IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DIRECTORS UK
21st March | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM | Blue Room
Writers need directors; directors need writers. Similarly to the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for screenwriters, Directors UK is a professional association of UK screen directors. This event should be useful to anyone who is a director or plans to work with one, to know how this org functions!
Meet the Programmers
22nd March | 2PM | Blue Room
You write a film, you shoot said film, you edit it; then what? Getting your shorts/features to festivals is a task of its own and understanding how festivals curate their selections can be very, very useful, especially when you have limited festival budget. On this panel, LGBTQIA+ film festival programmers share their processes and how they make their curatorial decisions.
Keeping It Short: A Short Film Creative Workshop
23rd March | 2:30PM | BFI Reuben Library
This is a lil session on writing short films for emerging LGBTQIA+ screenwriters, led by BFI Flare programmer and playwright Rhianna Ilube. Shorts are a wonderful way to see your work play out and a great starting point for many filmmakers, so write those scripts; and maybe you can start here.
Working with a Script Editor
23rd March | 4PM | Blue Room
Script editor? Don’t know her. But this job is a massively important part of any script. No film is made in a vacuum, and being a writer can often feel very lonely, like you’re carrying the whole world of your narrative on your shoulders. A script editor is your friend, your champion, your mentor. Learn what they do.
Networking Happy Hour - IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMEN IN FILM AND TV
24th March | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM | Blue Room
As a women-led and women-forward community, we are big fans of Women in Film & TV, a leading membership organisation for women working in creative media in the UK. This is your chance to connect with other women and take projects off the ground.
The Markers talk - Rebecca Lenkiewicz
25th March | 4PM | NFT4
Rebecca started as a playwright and a screenwriter, having co-written Ida, written Colette, Disobedience and She Said. The adaptation of Hot Milk is her directorial debut and we can’t wait what she’ll share about her journey from one practice to another.
Queer Freedom: Now and Then
26th March | 6:30PM | NFT3
This is a programme of shorts celebrating disabled and autistic filmmakers. Curated by Oska Bright’s Matthew Hellett, this event will dive deep into the intersection of disability, sexuality and identity, all while elevating the voices of LD and autistic filmmakers.
LGBTQIA+ Gamers – Queer and in Control
29th March | 2PM | Blue Room
Games have always been influential to the LGBTQIA+ community—from Dungeons and Dragons to The Sims. This panel discusses LGBTQIA+ creatives exploring their relationship to queerness and computer games.
See you all very soon,
The Messy Women x