BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Fest From March 23–April 1

The 26th edition of BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will kick off at the BFI, London SE1 from March 23 to April 1, 2012.

The 10-day-long festival programmers are Jason Barker, Michael Blyth, Nazmia Jamal, Brian Robinson and Emma Smart.

The festival’s opening gala is Cloudburst, which stars Oscar-winners Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as septuagenarian lesbians on the run from a nursing home. Closing gala is North Sea Texas, a beautiful story of adolescent longing.

Other highlights include some of 2011's great gay cinema moments, such as Weekend and Potiche, or brush up on your cross-dressing classics, when Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich both go androgynous in, respectively, Queen Christina (1933) and Morocco (1930).

There are documentaries on everything from same-sex ballroom dancing to openly gay bishops. Or relish the chance to see Sparatcus on a big screen — with the previously cut, rather steamy bath scene between Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis restored, naturally.

There are plenty of chances to party too, with club nights in the bar, a spangled Glam Night, or the "queer peepshow of delights," Cruising for Art.