Celebrating Four Decades of Diversity: Flare's Tribute to Diva Culture by Toby Rose

BFI Flare celebrates 40 years as a queer film cornerstone festival. Over the last 4 decades Flare has established listed itself as the biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival in Europe and is one of the longest-running and most significant queer film events globally. 

Widely regarded as a "top tier" queer film happening it takes place annually at BFI Southbank. For ten days this flagship cinema showcase of British cinema is a celebration of diversity on the big screen - the 40th anniversary year being anything but an exception. With typical bravado - one might say, Flare - the event kicked off March 18th with Hunky Jesus. 

This documentary chronicles San Francisco’s sexy and seditious alternative Easter happening know as …..Hunky Jesus. Fronted by the ever colourful Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, it is a day in the park for the folks of San Francisco as they choose a very alternative Messiah. Calvacading across the stage are a wild range of queer representations of Our Lord. Certain contenders ignited outcry even in this very liberal ancestral gay and lesbian home. The envelope is certainly pushed - for example the oiled up and star of the Haus of Jesus surrounded by disciples with a distinctly gogo boy look. Easter with the Magic Mike vibe was not a hit with traditionalists.

When Flare came into being in 1986 it was a very different time. While homosexuality had been decriminalised gays rights had many battles left to fight. Gay Marriage was still a dream. Flare’s first edition arrived with the name  "Gays' Own Pictures" and - then as now - took place at London's National Film Theatre. The symbolism of the event being staged at the national showcase for UK film was indeed potent. 

At the same time the launch was the time of the trauma of the AIDS crisis. Significantly the festival tackled the issue of the moment. Featuring in the programme of this seven-day, small-scale season was Buddies, one of the first films about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The UK’s first major queer film festival was born at a time when the lesbian and gay community faced an unprecedented health crisis. Since then the festival has continued to give  a voice to struggles across the LGBTQ community from gay parenting to trans rights. bian and Gay Film Festival in 1988, it became BFI Flare in 2014 to better represent diverse sexualities and gender identities. It showcases global queer cinema annually.

As it celebrates 40 years Flare continues to carry the torch for queer style. Illustrating the flamboyance of Flare was Madfabulous, telling the story of a Victorian aristocrat who lavished his fortune on the creation of a distinctly gender fluid stately home - featuring pink poodles. Madfabulous puts the frills in costume drama. 

For the launch befrocked folk filled the BFI lobby and corridors and the NFT1 cinema for the World Premiere. Merchant Ivory this is not. Screen International noted prancing pouting protagonist Paget, Fifth Marquess of Anglesey, with a penchant for wearing flowing frocks was, “Seduced by pretty trinkets, blow-out parties and his artistic impulses, Paget shocks the pearl clutchers around him.” 

Forty years on Flare retains the capacity to shock. The 2026 edition unspooled 65 feature films and 62 shorts. 2025, the saw 29,831 audience attendances across screenings, events, and BFI Player, with a 92% occupancy rate. Flare 2026 might well top this number. After 4 decades this queer cinema gathering has become a cornerstone in the calendar, a serious, thoughtful, lively and celebratory platform for the most diverse of queer cinema - still diva and decadent four decades on.