ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
A Flare for sexual freedom and diversity
ABIGAIL YARTEY picks out the highlights of the BFI festival celebrating LGBTIQ+ films
FANTASY SPACE: Tribute
KEITH RICHMOND relishes a superbly conceived modern version of Aeschylus’ drama of murderous family succession
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a minimalist installation that prompts intriguing connotations
FIONA O’CONNOR questions the achievement of this year’s Orwell prize winner for political fiction
LEO BOIX reviews two powerful Latin American novels in which myth and crime fiction expose the deadly consequences of patriarchy, clandestine abortion and state violence
New releases from Laura Veirs, The Waterboys, and Yard Act
Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
FOLLOWING the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the British Film Institute’s Flare festival of LGBTIQ+ films moved online and drew an enthusiastic response from audiences.
Celebrating the sixth year of the #fivefilmsforfreedom campaign, Flare highlighted some of the most compelling LGBTIQ+ narratives broadcast internationally, including countries where LGBTIQ+ rights are not recognised.
By moving online, the festival drew people together in a time of anxiety to celebrate talent, spark debate and promote sexual freedom. With independent film-makers now facing something of an existential threat globally, some of the films such as Queer Qorma and Drag Ball have not yet been released but are still worth watching out for in future.
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