International premiere of The Wedding Banquet to open the 39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival

The 39th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (19 to 30 March) today announces its opening night gala is the international premiere of Andrew Ahn’s touching dramedy The Wedding Banquet. Andrew Ahn is expected to be in attendance on the opening night of the festival, Wednesday 19 March, at BFI Southbank. 

From director Andrew Ahn comes a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating the disasters and delights of family expectations, queerness, and cultural identity. Angela and her partner Lee have been unlucky with their IVF treatments, but can’t afford to pay for another round. Meanwhile their friend Min, the closeted scion of a multinational corporate empire, has plenty of family money but a soon-to-expire student visa. When his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris rejects his proposal, Min makes the offer to Angela instead: a green card marriage in exchange for funding Lee’s IVF. But their plans to quietly elope are upended when Min’s skeptical grandmother flies in from Korea unannounced, insisting on an all-out wedding extravaganza. 

With a pitch-perfect cast of multigenerational talent that includes Bowen Yang, Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-Chan, Joan Chen, and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-Jung, this fresh reimagining of Ang Lee’s beloved, award-winning romcom teems with humour and heart in a poignant reminder that being part of a family means learning to both accept and forgive.

Co-written by Andrew Ahn and James Schamus, co-writer of the original film; the BFI Flare opening gala follows the film’s world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film is produced by Anita Gou, Joe Pirro, Caroline Clark and James Schamus.

The BFI Flare 2024 programming team are Grace Barber-Plentie, Diana Cipriano, Zorian Clayton, Jaye Hudson, Rhianna Ilube, Darren Jones and Wema Mumma.

“Andrew Ahn is a filmmaker we’ve long admired”, BFI Flare programmers said, “we’re delighted to welcome him to London to open our 2025 festival with this joyous and heartfelt ode to love and community.”

“I’m incredibly excited for The Wedding Banquet to have its international premiere at BFI Flare, a festival that celebrates and cultivates queer talent”, said Ahn. “I’m honoured to be a part of a cinema legacy that includes filmmakers like Amrou Al-Kadhi and Hong Khaou. I’ve fallen in love with London on my many previous visits, so it feels fitting to bring this love story to the city.”

The full programme for BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival will be revealed on Tuesday 18 February at 11am.