BFI Flare 2019: Labyrinths of Desire

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BFI FLARE

L o n d o n  L G B T Q +  F i l m  F e s t i v a l  2 0 1 9

"Films about finding a connection, whether in the street, a bath-house, nightclub or on an app." BFI Flare

Festival veteran Brian Robinson curates shorts program Labyrinths of Desire. So what's a hit, and what's a miss?

Darío (director: Manuel Kinzer) is first up. The titular Darío, a dreamy 17-year-old lives in Barranquilla, Colombia, with his harridan of a mother. He's living for his carnival dance group, so much so that the attentions of an even dreamier admirer go unheeded. Kinzer's film is an absolute joy, and you'll be sure to fall in love with Darío. I did.

We're off to Taiwan next for Gentleman Spa (director: Yu Jhi Han).

Hao has self esteem issues. He also works in a gay bath house with sexy massuers. "Not many films feature fat people the protagonist," Yu Jhi Han says, "and even fewer gay films do. I'd like to make a film about ordinary people, like you and I, experiencing the pangs and trepidations of love."

Hao-Zhe Lai's character (also named Hao) is a lovable loser, and the focus on body positivity is timely.

My Loneliness Is Killing Me (director: Tim Courtney) is the highlight of this collection. "[It's] a film that will relate to anyone who shares the fear of living or dying without human connection and intimacy," Courtney says. Luke Elliott is fabulous as Elliott,  a sort of English Noah grappling with effeminophobia. There's a satisfying sting in its tale, too: wait for the end.

Enter (directors: Manuel Billi and Benjamin Bodi) probably ensured a sell-out house with its trailer, which hints at a mass of naked, writhing bodies.

Despite abundant sex, it manages to be moribund and a trial of patience. If you enjoy protracted conversations with someone who's smashed out of their head on drugs, yet believes they're being deeply profound, this is for you.

Foreign Lovers (director: Timothy Ryan Hickernell) wraps things up (and compensates for Enter's pretensions).

Foreign Lovers interrogates the notion of love at first sight. "I was coming off a career enhancing experience and then was suddenly unemployed, un-inspired, and spending most of my time in solitude," Hickernell says. "I was seeking affection from strangers on apps. The winter blues. When no one could see this dance show I had been dying to see I took myself out. A beautiful Italian dancer captured my attention during the performance. Serendipitously our paths crossed at a bar down the street just as I was leaving. A two day love affair ensued. Then and there I had been awoken. I knew I found my story."

Gloriously romantic, you'll swoon.

READ ALL MY REVIEWS FROM BFI FLARE

KAOS reports every year from the
BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival.