FiveFilmsForFreedom (previously FiveFilms4Freedom) is a free, online, 10-day LGBTQ+ film programme from the British Council and the British Film Institute originally supported by the UN Free & Equal campaign. It launched in 2015 as the first global, online LGBT film programme of its kind. [1] The programme is a celebration of international LGBTQ+ short films selected from BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival, shared in a global campaign run by the British Council, which invites people all over the world to watch a movie and show that love is a human right. FiveFilms4Freedom was founded by Alan Gemmell and Briony Hanson, British Council Director of Film, in partnership with Tricia Tuttle, Artistic Director of BFI Festivals . [2] [3] [4]
FiveFilms4Freedom launched in 2015 and ran from 19–27 March. The festival screened five short films by American, British, Canadian and Danish Directors in 135 countries. [5] A 24-hour social media campaign on Wednesday 25 March asked people to watch one of the festival films and show that love is a human right. [2] [6] The festival achieved a total social media reach of 75m. [7] [8]
An Afternoon (En Eftermiddag) by Danish director Søren Green.
Chance by British director Jake Graf.
Code Academy by Canadian writer and director Nisha Ganatra.
Morning Is Broken by British director Simon Anderson.
True Wheel by American director Nora Mandray.
FiveFilms4Freedom 2016 ran from 16–27 March with a 24-hour social media campaign day on Thursday 17 March. The festival screened five short films by Directors from Brazil, Spain, the Philippines, and the UK. [9] FiveFilms4Freedom 2016 achieved a total digital reach of 140.5 million people with more than 1.5 million film views. [10] [1]
SWIRL by Filipino director Petersen Vargas.
XAVIER by Brazilian director Ricky Mastro .
BREATHE by Irish director James Doherty.
TAKE YOUR PARTNERS by Scottish director Siri Rødnes.
THE ORCHID by Spanish director Ferran Navarro-Beltrán.
On 17 March 2016 the British Council released a Global List of people promoting LGBTQ+ rights. [11] [12] [13] [14]
FiveFilms4Freedom 2017 ran from 16–26 March with a 24-hour social media campaign day on Tuesday 21 March. The programme screened five short films by directors from the UK to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK's 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which partially decriminalised homosexuality. [15] The films were viewed by over 1.7 million people in 202 countries including Afghanistan, China, Iraq, Russia, Uganda, and Yemen. [16]
Crush by director Rosie Westhoff.
Heavy Weight by director Jonny Ruff.
Jamie by director Christopher Manning.
Still Burning by director Nick Rowley.
Where We Are Now by director Lucie Rachel [17]
Source: [18]
FiveFilms4Freedom 2018 ran from 23–31 March. The programme screened five short LGBTQ+ films online, selected from BFI Flare, made by directors from all over the world to support the message 'Love is a human right. It achieved views from 152 countries.
Goddess by director Karishma Dev Dube.
Goldfish by director Yorgos Angelopoulos.
Handsome and Majestic by directors Jeff Lee Petry and Nathan Drillot.
Landline by director Matt Houghton.
Uninvited by director LSeung Yeob Lee
FiveFilms4Freedom 2019 ran from 21–31 March. In 2019 the programme was linked as part of Anyone//Anywhere: the web at 30, the British Council's global season looking at the impact of this invention on every aspect of our lives. It achieved 3.8 million views.
A Normal Girl (US) directed by Aubree Bernier-Clarke
Carlito se va para siempre/Carlito Leaves Forever (Peru/France) directed by Quentin Lazzarotto
Crashing Waves (UK) directed by Emma Jane Gilbertson
EG/I (Iceland) directed by Vala Ómarsdóttir and Hallfriður Thora Tryggvadottir
Ladies Day (UK) directed by Abena Taylor-Smith
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949.
BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. Organised and run by the British Film Institute, all BFI Flare screenings take place in the BFI Southbank.
Leon Lopez is a British actor, television and film director, singer-songwriter and occasional model, best known for playing the role of Jerome Johnson in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside from 1998 to 2002. He also played the role of Linford Short in the BBC's EastEnders in 2016. His first feature film as a director, Soft Lad, premiered at the East End Film Festival in 2015.
Paul Burston is a Welsh journalist and author. He worked for the London gay policing group GALOP and was an activist with ACT UP before moving into journalism. He edited, for some years, the LGBT section of Time Out and founded the Polari Prize.
The Iris Prize, established in 2007 by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBT film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within two years of the prize deadline.
Boy Culture is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Q. Allan Brocka, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Matthew Rettenmund. The film stars Derek Magyar, Darryl Stephens, Patrick Bauchau, Jonathon Trent, and Emily Brooke Hands.
Manchester Pride is a charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on LGBTQ+ rights.
The GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin is an annual film festival which takes place in Dublin, Ireland each Bank Holiday weekend in late July and early August. Founded in 1992, it has become Ireland's largest LGBT film event, and the country's biggest LGBT gathering aside from Dublin Pride.
Topher Campbell is a filmmaker, artist and writer who has created a range of works in broadcasting, film, theatre, television and performance. His works focus on issues of sexuality, masculinity, and the city, particularly in relation to race, human rights and climate change. Campbell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a past recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award (2005). He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Sussex for his work in the arts and Black LGBTQ advocacy. He is currently Programme Director of the Collaborative Theatre Making programme at Rose Bruford College in London.
The LGBT community in London is one of the largest within Europe. LGBT culture of London, England, is centred on Old Compton Street in Soho. There are also LGBT pubs and restaurants across London in Haggerston, Dalston and Vauxhall.
Trouser Bar is a 2016 British silent erotic comedy/fantasy film directed by Kristen Bjorn, photographed by Sam Hardy, and edited by Esteban Requejo. The executive producer and driving force behind Trouser Bar is British screenwriter, playwright and producer David McGillivray, who famously collaborated with directors including Pete Walker and Norman J. Warren.
Alan Gemmell is a Scottish Labour Party politician and diplomat, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Ayrshire since 2024.
Gillian Berrie is a Scottish filmmaker and co-founder of the Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films with director David Mackenzie.
Jake Graf is an English actor, screenwriter, director, and transgender rights activist. Graf specializes in short films dealing with transgender issues in an effort to normalize queer and trans experiences to a wider, more mainstream audience. Many of Graf's films emphasize the daily lived experiences of trans men.
The Pass is a 2016 film starring Russell Tovey and Arinze Kene. It was directed by Ben A. Williams, based on a play by John Donnelly. The film is about a relationship between two men who are English football players, and how their lives unfold over the course of a decade. The film was nominated at the 2017 BAFTA Awards, in the category of Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for John Donnelly and Ben Williams.
Bernárd J. Lynch is an Irish Catholic priest and psychotherapist based in London, renowned for his human rights work with HIV/AIDS and with the LGBTQIA community. He studied theology and philosophy with the Society of African Missions in Dromantine, near Newry and was ordained in 1971.
Cicada is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare. Fifer co-wrote the film with Sheldon D. Brown, both of whom starred in leading roles.
Peter Knegt is a Canadian writer, producer, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of five Canadian Screen Awards and his CBC Arts column Queeries received the 2019 Digital Publishing Award for best digital column in Canada.