LOVE IS A BASIC RIGHT!

Five Films for Freedom is our annual global digital programme celebrating LGBTIQ+ lives. In partnership with BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, the British Council makes five LGBTIQ+ themed short films available for the world to watch online for free, over 12 days. This is the eighth year we’ve run the programme. 

Running since 2015, the programme has been seen by 17 million people. The films have been watched in over 200 countries and principalities, including many parts of the world where homosexuality is criminalised, and in some cases, punishable by the death penalty.

Five Films for Freedom 2022 runs from 16–27 March 2022. 

This year’s filmmakers are from China, Croatia, India, Panama, and the UK. There’s some more information below. 

Our 2022 programme

  1. Frozen Out 
    (Hao Zhou, 5 mins, 2021, China/USA)

    An immigrant retreats to frozen prairies and forests, hoping to escape the anxieties of dislocation and find meaning in an endless expanse. Delivered as a letter to the protagonist’s sister in rural China, the film meditates on identity, self-exile, home, and ties to family.

  2. All Those Sensations In My Belly  
    (Marko Djeska, 13 mins 19 secs, 2020, Croatia)

    An animated documentary about the real life of transgirl Matia, who relates the story of her experience of the transition process, and the complexity of finding true love with a heterosexual man. 

  3. Sunday
    (Arun Fulara, 10 mins, 2020, India)

    When the middle-aged Kamble makes his weekly visit to the neighbourhood barber shop, it's not just for a shave. He can't wait to be touched by Jaan, the new barber-boy he has a crush on. It's the highlight of his otherwise dull existence as a married man leading a dual life in a society that abhors homosexuality. 

  4. Birthday Boy (Vuelta al Sol) 
    (Judith Corro, 7 mins, 2020, Panama)

    It's César's birthday and his parents expect him to wear clothes that make Cesar feel uncomfortable. Now he has to make a decision. Continue to please his family's expectations or be true to his identity as a trans man. 

  5. For Love
    (Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, 13 mins, 2021, UK)

    Illegal immigrant, Nkechi, lives happily in the shadows with her partner Martha, but when immigration officers turns up unexpectedly, they have to make difficult decisions about their future together. 
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