Watch LGBTQIA+ short films during Five Films for Freedom screenings
- The British Council and BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival launch the 9th edition of the world's widest-reaching LGBTQIA+ digital showcase
- The British Council in the Philippines partnered with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) to run limited screenings of the films in Cinematheque locations throughout the country
- The films are also available for free across the world from 15-26 March through British Council Arts YouTube channel
- All I Know by Obinna Robert Onyeri (Nigeria/USA)
- Butch Up! by Yu-jin Lee (South Korea)
- Eating Papaw on the Seashore by Rae Wiltshire and Nickose Layne (Guyana)
- Just Johnny by Terry Loane (UK – Northern Ireland)
- Buffer Zone by Savvas Stavrou (UK/Cyprus)
Global audiences are encouraged to show solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities around the world where freedom and equal rights are limited by watching the films via the British Council Arts YouTube channel and through other channels in countries with access restrictions.
Since 2015 and with the programmes live for less than 100 days, Five Films for Freedom films have been viewed 20 million times by people in over 200 countries and principalities, including all parts of the world where homosexuality is criminalised, and all countries where the death penalty is in place.
“Five Films for Freedom promotes rarely heard LGBTQIA+ stories from around the world, and makes them accessible to a global audience, particularly for people living in cultures where they cannot live or love as they would like.
“People can support this campaign through the hashtag #FiveFilmsForFreedom to drive home the message that love is a human right, no matter how we identify or where we are.”
“We are delighted to once again be partnering with the British Council on Five Films for Freedom. This global campaign is an essential part of the BFI Flare programme, and it’s a privilege to share the work of these hugely talented filmmakers with millions of people around the world, many of whom do not have the same level of access to LGBTQIA+ film, or the rights to express themselves freely. This year’s campaign remains as vital and urgent as ever.”
FILM SYNOPSIS
Two friends meet for dinner, one goes to meet a stranger for a hook-up date while the other goes home. We follow a man’s search for his friend that puts him at risk of revealing life-altering secrets they both share.
Obinna is a Los Angeles based filmmaker, born in Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Film at the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Directing Fellowship award and the George Burns and Gracie Allen Scholarship.
Two young soldiers across enemy lines fall in love and find escape from their oppressive environments through music.
"Stop being miserable." After hearing her ex's last words to her, Mi-hae, a lead singer of an independent band, cannot get herself to sing the band's most popular song, Oppa's Girl.
Yu-Jin Lee studied film directing at the Korea National University of Arts. Her first short film, A Good Mother, was the most talked about queer film of the year in Korea.
A coming-of-age film about Asim and Hasani, two queer Guyanese boys, navigating their feelings in a homophobic society.
Rae studied literature and linguistics at the University of Guyana. As a playwright, he won Best New Guyanese play at Guyana’s National Drama Festival in 2015, he recently won the Guyana Prize for Literature in Drama, 2022, for his play Don’t Ask Me Why. Nickose is a playwright, poet and actor. studied Theatre Arts at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago.
Maria and Dermot's straightforward family life takes a sudden turn when their son Johnny announces that he wants to wear a dress for his Holy Communion. Both parents are keen to do what is best for Johnny, but their different opinions almost pull the happy family apart.
Terry was born and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and studied photography at Ulster University. He began designing for film in 1996 on the Oscar-nominated short Dance Lexie Dance, and in 1998 he wrote and directed his first short film comedy, CLUCK. His latest feature as director, The Last Rifleman, starring Pierce Brosnan and John Amos, is released this year. The film was written by former Hollyoaks actor Gerard McCarthy who came out last summer as non-binary.
ENDS
Every year we invite audiences everywhere to watch the five films online in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities in places where freedom and equal rights are limited, and to spread the word using the hashtag #FiveFilmsForFreedom.
The 2022 edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival saw a successful return to BFI Southbank, with the programme presented in venue for the first time since 2019 and a selection of titles online via BFI Player. The programme screened with 56 feature premieres and 84 shorts screened from 42 countries. In a continued partnership between BFI Flare and British Council, the eighth edition of the global campaign Five Films For Freedom, a landmark initiative presenting 5 films for free to audiences globally, inviting everyone everywhere to show solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities in countries where freedom and equal rights are limited. The 2022 digital campaign attracted over three million views from around the world. Since its launch in 2015, Five Films For Freedom films have been viewed by 20 million people online, in over 200 countries and principalities.
The 2023 edition runs from 15-26 March, presenting 28 World Premieres (across features and shorts) with 58 features and 90 shorts from 41 countries, and for the first time will present BFI Flare Expanded, a selection of four immersive art and virtual reality works from boundary-pushing LGBTQIA+ artists. bfi.org.uk/Flare