Introduction I returned to the BFI’s Flare Festival 2025, which is now forty years old (it began life, of course, as a lesbian and gay
Category: Film
Screen talk event with makers of the film ‘Emilia Pérez’
Like most of my tweeps, this trans-identified male came to my attention following his hysterical tizzy to Cannes when he won Best Actress, in typical AGP fashion, taking the full throttle approach in an appeal for pity. You might think from watching the clip, that he would be scenery chewing in Emilia Pérez, but in fact easily manages a nuanced performance.
Review: Conclave
Contains spoilers including reference to ending.
Conclave, in addressing the Western culture war, comes down very firmly on the right side of history and serves as a reminder to dissenters that we’re on the naughty step.
Review of film: Emilia Pérez
On the one hand, there is your typical AGP bingo, our man Manitas always knew he was trans, he’d been suicidal about having to live a lie, etc and so on. I’d expected that. And like a lot of gangster movies, there is more sympathy for the violent quasi-psychopathic character than is really reasonable. I might have expected that too. Ultimately Manitas (even as Emilia) can’t bear that his wife goes off and creates her own life with a new man, taking the children with her. Again, no surprises there. And of course, Manitas as Emilia is at the centre of all the women’s lives, particularly Rita whose existence is very much as a simp – she exists just for him, her love unrequited.
Review of documentary: Will & Harper
Plodding with no illuminating moments. ‘Will Ferrell and his close friend, former head writer at SNL, Harper Steele embark on a cross-country road trip together
Review of film: Anhell69
The Chronic Youth Film Festival is curated by the Barbican Young Film Programmers, whose intake apparently changes on a yearly basis. I suppose that avoids anyone getting -gasp- old. The two young women who presented the screening looked as if they were early-twenties, so not that young. Not proper Village of the Damned anyway. A young man with a camera crouched nearby, snapping away, as they gave their introductory speech, stood stiffly together, no doubt having flashbacks to prefecture and assemblies.
The Lies They Tell 
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