British Council To Make London's BFI Flare Short Films Available in 50 Countries

If you have ever wanted to head down to London for the UK's biggest LGBT Film Festival, you will be able to get a taste of it in your own home, all thanks to British Council's new digital festival FiveFilms4Freedom.



The British Council, featuring partnership from LGBT charity Stonewall, have revealed that they will be showcasing five short films through the BFI Player, making it available worldwide for the first time in the festival's history. On 25th March, FiveFilms4Freedom will become a 24 hour campaign, asking people everywhere to watch a film together over the course of the day. So if you want to show support to the best emerging LGBT talent out

The short films available will showcase talents from all over the world, including UK film makers Jake Graf and Simon Anderson. Each films is made from lesbian, gay and transgendered creative talent and range from sweet stories about first love to real life tales of activism. These films are:

• An Afternoon (En Eftermiddag) - Director: Søren Green - Mathias and Frederik are two friends who spend an afternoon together; Mathias has decided that this is the time to tell Frederik that he is in love with him. (pictured)
• Chance - Director: Jake Graf - Graf's self funded short film focuses on older gay love and overcoming loneliness as a chance encounter between Trevor and a mysterious stranger equally troubled by his own past, forces both men to start to live again.
• Code Academy - Director: Nisha Ganatra - Frankie masquerades as a boy in futuristic cyberspace to get the girl of her dreams.
• Morning Is Broken - Director: Simon Anderson - A beautifully shot coming-of-age drama set in the lush English countryside, following a young man’s struggle to come to terms with his sexuality at the end of his older brother’s wedding.
• True Wheel - Director: Nora Mandray - A documentary focuses on Fender Bender, an inspirational bicycle workshop for queer, transgender and women’s communities in Detroit.

James Taylor from Stonewall describes the importance of the festival: "fiveFilms4freedom not only
showcases some phenomenal talent, but also brings together the international LGBT community. In 77 countries around the world it is still illegal to be gay, and in five it is punishable by death, so the opportunity to showcase LGBT stories and filmmakers in more than 50 countries worldwide is fantastic.”

So remember to mark 25th March in your diaries, because something special will be happening. 

BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival will be running from the 19th to 29th March. To find out more information visit BFI Flare's website.