BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival Spin-off Will Become First Global Digital Gay Film Fest

The BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival kicks off tomorrow with the gala premiere of James Franco and Zachary Quinto in I Am Michael. However there are plans to ensure that things aren’t just limited to London, as the BFi ‘fiveFilms4freedom‘ will become the world’s first digital, global, LGBT film festival.

The British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities has announced that five short films from BFI Flare will be available to audiences around the world for the first time through BFI player, the British Film Institute’s online video service.

On Wednesday 25 March, fiveFilms4freedom will become a 24-hour campaign asking people everywhere to watch a film together over the course of one single day, and will be promoted through the British Council’s network in more than 50 countries and regions including across the Americas, China, India, Israel, Kosovo, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the Middle East. The idea is that this will be a chance for audiences, wherever they are, to enjoy a taster of LGBT cinema; to find out a little bit more about emerging LGBT filmmakers from around the world; and to show support for freedom and equality everywhere. fiveFilms4freedom is produced in partnership with Stonewall, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans equality charity.

The five films represent a cross section of contemporary LGBT short film. The films are made by lesbians, gay men and transgender filmmakers, and range from sweet short stories about first love to documenting activism. They are polished, rough, funny, sad and inspiring and each has a different voice. The films are:

• An Afternoon (En Eftermiddag) Director Søren Green’s new short film is a sensitive exploration of nascent sexuality. Mathias and Frederik are two friends who spend an afternoon together; Mathias has decided that this is the time to tell Frederik that he is in love with him.
• Chance Jake Graf’s self-funded short film premieres at BFI Flare. It focuses on older gay love and overcoming loneliness as a chance encounter between Trevor and a mysterious stranger equally troubled by his own past, forces both men to start to live again
• Code Academy Canadian writer and director Nisha Ganatra is best known as Producer/Director of Transparent, the Golden Globe-winning TV series. In Code Academy, Frankie masquerades as a boy in futuristic cyberspace to get the girl of her dreams.
• Morning Is Broken Director and writer Simon Anderson’s 2014 film is a beautifully shot coming-of-age drama set in the lush English countryside, following a young man’s struggle to come to terms with his sexuality at the end of his older brother’s wedding.
• True Wheel Director Nora Mandray’s 2015 documentary focuses on Fender Bender, an inspirational bicycle workshop for queer, transgender and women’s communities in Detroit.

Alan Gemmell, Director fiveFilms4freedom, British Council comments,  “fiveFilms4freedom is a ground-breaking LGBT film festival supporting freedom and equality all over the world and showcasing some of our finest short filmmakers.  By bringing together the British Council and films from BFI Flare we are promoting LGBT cinema in countries that make up fifty percent of the world’s population.  On 25 March we are asking the world to watch a movie together and show that love is a basic human right.”

BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival runs from 19-29 March 2015, and will also attempt go beyond London’s borders not just with fiveFilms4freedom, but also by offering other gay-themed films to British audiences via BFI player, while some of the movies from Flare will screen at select cinemas around the country.