40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: “ìfé: The Sequel” Review

Across much of West Africa – and Africa more broadly – LGBTQ+ lives continue to exist under immense pressure. In countries like Nigeria, same-sex relationships are not only socially stigmatised but also legally criminalised, with laws such as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act reinforcing a culture of fear and invisibility. While there have been small…

40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: In Conversation with Lexie Bean, Director of “What Will I Become?”

Lexie Bean is a trans multidisciplinary artist whose work moves across writing, film, and community-based practice, always based on questions of identity, memory, and the body. For over fifteen years, they have worked closely with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, creating spaces for storytelling through books, performances, and visual work. Their practice is collaborative…

40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: “What Will I Become?” Review

Across both the United States and the United Kingdom, the mental health crisis affecting transgender young people has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Studies consistently show that trans youth experience significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts than their cisgender peers. In the U.S., research from organisations such as The Trevor Project has…

Yuen Woo-ping’s “Blades of the Guardian” Review

In Blades of the Guardians, director Yuen Woo-ping returns to the wuxia tradition with a film that emphasises the physical and moral foundations of the genre. Known internationally for influencing the style of cinematic combat – just look at The Matrix trilogy and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Yuen treats the film as a way…

Pavel and Pooh at Milan Fashion Week: Thai Stars on Gucci, Tod’s, Italian Food and Their Next Big Chapter – Exclusive Interview

Milan Fashion Week has a particular kind of chaos. Not the stressful kind, but the cinematic kind – alright, maybe a little stressful too. The kind where the streets around Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga feel permanently gridlocked, where espresso becomes a survival strategy, where publicists murmur into headsets like air-traffic controllers, and where…

28th Far East Film Festival: The New Poster is Here!

For a few days each spring, Udine turns into the hub of Asian cinema. The premieres, the talks, the packed schedules, the chance encounters between artists and audiences. These are the visible mechanics of any festival. But what truly gives it meaning is something less tangible: the people. A festival audience is a living, breathing…