The UK’s largest queer film event returns to the BFI Southbank (and to the BFI Player online) for its 40th edition from March 18-29, with its usual jam-packed line-up of world premieres, feature films, documentaries and shorts programmes, plus all manner of talks, panels, workshops, free events and after-hours fun.
The 2026 festival will open with the world premiere of American documentary maker Jennifer Kroot’s riotous new film Hunky Jesus, which follows social justice movement the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as they prepare to host their legendary annual Easter Sunday drag contest in San Francisco.
The mid-festival Special Presentation will be Kiwi director Paloma Schneideman’s ‘tender, unflinching’ coming of age drama Big Girls Don’t Cry, following 14-year-old Sid over one transformative summer in the early 2000s. And the festival will close with Black Burns Fast, South African director’s debut feature, following nerdy student Luthando through her sexual awakening at a prestigious boarding school.
Other highlights to look out for include the world premiere of Madfabulous, Welsh director Celyn Jones’s quirky period drama based on the life of irreverent socialite Henry Cyril Paget, the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, starring It’s A Sin’s Callum Scott Howells, Stud Life director Campbell X’s long-awaited second feature Low Rider, and Barbara Forever, NYC documentary-maker Brydie O’Connor’s portrait of trailblazing photographer Barbara Hammer.
Alongside the usual Hearts, Bodies and Minds strands, in celebration of the festival’s 40th anniversary, there’ll also be a brand new strand of programming, Treasures, revisiting LGBTQ+ classics from across the decades, including landmark queer art film Pink Narcissus and African-American director Cheryl Dunye’s pioneering feature film The Watermelon Woman.
Those wanting to delve deeper into the world of queer filmmaking can also check out an impressive programme of talks and workshops, including a Screen Talk with Russell T Davies, the legendary writer behind Queer As Folk and It’s A Sin, and Heartstopper Forever!, a talk with the writer Alice Oseman and executive producer Patrick Walters exploring the creative journey behind the groundbreaking Netflix series.
There are also plenty of events celebrating this landmark year for Flare, including a special exhibition on 40 Years of BFI Flare down the road at King’s Cross free-entry museum Queer Britain, and a free panel featuring past and current Flare programmers, who will reflect on the films and voices championed by the festival over its first four decades
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For more gems from one of the biggest fixtures in the calendar for London cinephiles, check out the full schedule on the BFI website.
