So, without further a do here’s the best of queer cinema at the 68th BFI London Film Festival.
Queer Cinema at BFI London Film Festival 2024
Sebastian – Director Mikko Makela
A 25-year-old London-based writer is researching their debut novel and thus begins their double life as a sex worker. Under the pseudonym Sebastian, Max meets men via an escort platform. The book soon has a publisher offer him a deal, but as Max delves deeper into his alter ego, the line between his true self and Sebastian begins to blur.
A Nice Indian Boy – Director Roshan Sethi
Starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni, A Nice Indian Boy is a charming and warm-hearted celebration of love and acceptance. Naveen meets Jay, and their whirlwind romance quickly leads to an engagement. But there’s an issue as Naveen has yet to introduce Jay to his family. He isn’t quite sure what they were expecting. A Nice Indian Boy puts a fresh queer and Indian spin on the tropes of the rom-com.
Queer – Director Luca Guadanigno
Luca Guadagnino and Challengers writer Justin Kuritzkes transport us to Mexico City in the 1940s with their adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel. Daniel Craig is dazzling as William Lee, an outcast American expat who becomes infatuated with an elusive younger man, Drew Starkey, while living in Mexico City.
Viêt and Nam – Director Minh Quy Truong
Subterranean chambers glittering with anthracite provide an intimate refuge for two young miners, Viêt and Nam. The presence of their naked bodies weighed down by the gravity of the past is further afflicted by distorted optimism for the future. Stunningly framed and understatedly cathartic, Trương’s hypnotic second feature unearths the effable sorrow found in lost fragments of national history.
Baby – Director Marcelo Caetano
Wellington has just returned to São Paulo after a stint in juvenile prison. He discovers his parents have disappeared. While unsure of his next step, he encounters Ronaldo, an older hustler. The two embark on a fluid, passionate, and caring relationship, allowing Wellington to experience different sides of hustling life and redefining what ‘family’ means.
Emilia Perez – Director Jacques Audiard
Karla Sofia Gascon, who made history as the first trans best actress winner at Cannes, stars alongside Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana in this incredibly entertaining and unexpectedly moving musical odyssey set in Mexico.
The Room Next Door – Director Pedro Almodovar
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton shine in Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, an exquisite and moving adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through.
I’m Your Venus – Director Kimberly Reed
In this acutely moving documentary, the families – biological and ballroom – of Paris Is Burning star Venus Xtravaganza come together to celebrate her legacy. During the filming of Paris Is Burning, one of its brightest stars, Venus Xtravaganza, was murdered. No culprit was ever found. 35 years later, her brothers unite with the House of Xtravaganza to find justice for her.
Seeking Mavis Beacon – Director Jazmin Jones
Jazmin Jones’ film is a vibrant mash-up of investigative documentary, cyber-feminism, memes, and dreams, exploring what it means to be a Black woman in cyberspace.
Sex – Director Dag Johan Haugerud
Two male colleagues find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by surprising experiences. Both are in monogamous heterosexual marriages, and the fallout between them and their loved ones is explored across a series of expertly performed interactions.
Misericordia – Director Alain Guiradudie
French provocateur Alain Guiraudie returns with typically uncategorisable entertainment—a rural homecoming story mixing passion, crime, mushrooms, and bedroom farce to dizzily involving effect. Here, a young loner returns to his village, triggering a chain of intrigue involving a jealous son, intrusive cops, and a priest with a very unorthodox take on guilt and transgression.
Queens Of Drama – Director Alexis Langlois
Sparks fly when Mimi Madamour and Billie Kohler meet at auditions for a TV talent contest. Their mercurial romance will span several years, define their careers and include a legendary meltdown chronicled decades later by Steevyshady, Mimi’s obsessive fan. Full of noughties references, trashy Euro-pop songs and outrageous lyrics, Alexis Langlois’ feature debut is queer pop culture at its messy finest.
Three Kilometres To The End Of The World – Director Emanuel Pârvu
Emanuel Pârvu’s Cannes Queer Palm winner is an uncompromising and urgent drama. It examines bigotry and the suffocating, often nefarious nature of small-town dynamics. Seventeen-year-old Adi is his parents’ pride. When he is brutally beaten in a homophobic attack, Adi’s sexuality comes as a surprise and exposes him to unspeakable indignities.
Good One – Director India Donaldson
17-year-old Sam lives in idyllic upstate New York. She is forced to take the lead as she navigates the competing egos of her father and his long-term buddy. Donaldson creates a slow-burn coming-of-age story that explores the power dynamics between the three leads, the situation forever altering Sam’s perception of the men in her life and her position in the world.
Layla – Director Amrou Al-Kadhi
The question of how love alters our identity lies at the heart of this debut from one of London’s best-loved drag queens. Amrou Al-Kadhi’s first feature considers the relationship between Palestinian-British drag performer Layla and their white, straight-laced new love interest, Max. Thrown together by fate, their enjoyment of each other is increasingly complicated by urgent questions of difference.
Four Mothers – Director Darren Thornton
Edward is a queer, up-and-coming novelist forced to balance press commitments with caring for his ageing mother. Pressure to go on a US book tour is mounting. But when his three closest friends, desperate to feel young and carefree again, go off on an impromptu Pride holiday, they leave their ageing mothers in Edward’s care.
Main Feature Image: Nice Indian Boy (image supplied by BFI)
