BFI Flare: Find your tribe

And that's a wrap on the 37th edition of BFI Flare, which I've been covering for 25 years now. The range of films this year was excellent - and as always I missed a lot of things I'd hoped to see. This year I didn't manage to catch many short films, which are often my favourite part of the festival, mainly due to scheduling issues. But I saw 30 features (including best of year movies) and the Five Films For Freedom (see below). My best of fest list is below...

Drifter
dir-scr Hannes Hirsch; with Lorenz Hochhuth, Gustav Schmid 23/Ger ****
This is one of those films that frustrates you while you're watching it, then leaves you feeling like it's oddly unsatisfying, for a variety of reasons. Then on reflection it quickly becomes apparent that filmmaker Hannes has made an extraordinary movie about a young man searching for his identity and connection, and making many of the wrong decisions along the way. So the more you think about it, the film becomes increasingly provocative, involving and even moving. 

Loving Highsmith
dir-scr Eva Vitija; with Patricia Highsmith, Marijane Meake 22/Swi ***.
With this biographical documentary, Swiss filmmaker Eva Vitija film takes an engaging approach that focusses on author Patricia Highsmith's personal life more closely than her work as a writer. This means that the film is packed with lovely firsthand observations and anecdotes that contextualise Highsmith's writings. Cleverly augmented with voiceovers from her diary entries, this is an engaging portrait of how Highsmith's love for a series of women fuelled her books.

Five Films for Freedom
Another extraordinary collection of shorts was made available globally during BFI Flare in cooperation with the British Council, exploring a range of issues and ideas relating to people who identify as LGBTQIA+, especially in places where this is forbidden. From Guyana, Eating Pawpaw on the Seashore is a moving and haunting drama. Shot like a mini-feature, the triumphant Northern Ireland's Just Johnny maintains a comical tone while conveying a powerful message about unconditional love. From Cyprus, Buffer Zone is a wonderfully surreal look at inner yearning. All I Know is a mystery-drama from Nigeria that's quiet and disturbing. And from Korea, Butch Up is a sharply made snapshot of finding a place to fit in.

RICH'S BEST OF THE FEST

1. The Blue Caftan (Touzani, Mor)
2. Unidentified Objects (Zuleta, US)
3. Big Boys (Sherman, US)
4. Chrissy Judy (Flaherty, US)
5. Who I Am Not (Skovran, SA)
6. Drifter (Hirsch, Ger)
7. 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture (Roggio, US)
8. Golden Delicious (Karman, Can)
9. Lie With Me (Peyon, Fr)
10. Egghead and Twinkie (Holland, US)