BFI Flare 2026 | Best of Fest
Our amazing Flare Editorial Team gives you the scoop on the next 12 months of indie cinema you should keep an eye on
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UMNIA - Castration Movie chapter iii
What can I say, I need provocation in my cinema! Especially after interviewing Louise Weard, I felt like this film is cathartic culturally, and in a way only this series of films could attempt. Close runner-up is Queen of Coal, which moved me so, so much.
Ruby Hann - Another Man
Move over, Paul Mescal, this film has all the men with little silver earrings that the discerning viewer could ever need! What's more, Another Man is a funny and moving exploration of a thirtysomething life crisis. For fans of The Worst Person in the World, this is a film about uncertainty and fantasizing about having a different life.
Isla K. - Lunar Sway
Such a great example of surrealism in film! A bizarre and eccentric coming-of-age story, Lunar Sway is a must-watch, particularly for any fans of David Lynch. If you like Twin Peaks, you’ll love Lunar Sway, poignant in all its peculiarity.
Holly Perring - Julian
This film is for the girls loving girls who loved We Live in Time. It's a beautiful display of raw, unfiltered connection that is both overtaken by grief yet stronger than sorrow. It has stellar performances from both leads and is definitely one to change your day.
Lucie Neale - What Will I Become
[This] is such a special film with such a heartbreaking subject at its core - a film which shouldn’t ever have needed to be made. But, while the film is tragic in the sense that it discusses tragedy, it is also affirming, beautifully made, and incredibly thought-provoking.
