Our annual online programme of short films, in partnership with BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, celebrates global stories in support of LGBTQIA+ communities across the world.
Five Films For Freedom champions the power of storytelling to spark understanding and change. The programme showcases diverse voices and perspectives that remind us that, no matter where or who we are, the need for love and self-expression is universal.
Five Films for Freedom 2025
This year's programme ran between 19-30 March. We brought you inspiring and moving stories of love, courage, secrets and betrayal by filmmakers from Indonesia, New Zealand, the UK and USA/China:
Dragfox
By Lisa Ott (UK)
Struggling with their gender identity, eleven-year-old Sam feels alone and confused, not quite sure how to express the way they feel. That is until a mischievous neighbourhood fox (marvelously voiced by Ian McKellen) jumps through their window late one night, taking Sam on an all-singing, all-dancing journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
If I Make it to the Morning
By Andre Shen (USA/China)
Accompanied by her overbearing mother, Chinese teenager Ziyi spends the final night of her cross-State college tour at her cool aunt’s apartment in New York. But as Ziyi starts to think this could be the perfect place to live and study, an unexpected revelation suddenly brings tension to the group.
NGGAK!!!
By Oktania Hamdani and Winner Wijaya (Indonesia)
As they play an online game together, loved-up girlfriends Sekar and Bebi laugh, chat and send each other memes. But their simple bliss is shattered when Sekar’s mother phones to tell her she is to be set up with a potential partner. Can Sekar make her mother understand that she has already found the one?
We'll Go Down in History
By Cameron Richards and Charlie Tidmas (UK)
The story of TRUK United, a grassroots, proudly trans football club formed in January 2021. Filmed over two years, this heartfelt documentary captures the highs and lows of the pioneering UK team on and off the pitch as they strive to create a safe haven for their community in the face of rising transphobia.
If you missed thie 2025 programme—or just want to relive the highlights—you can still watch the trailer and meet the filmmakers in the videos below.