BFI names Todd Haynes' Carol the best LGBT film of all time

The poll was initiated to celebrate the 30th anniversary of BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival

Todd Haynes' Carol has been named the best LGBT film of all time by the BFI; as part of a poll which marks the 30th anniversary of BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival.

With contributions from 100 film experts including critics, writers, and programmers; the poll of the top 30 LGBT films encompasses 84 years of cinematic history, with a global reach which includes Thailand, Japan, and Sweden.

Though it's arguable whether Haynes' 2015 work has been granted extra weight in its recency, it's utterly breathtaking portrait of a love pitted against the forces of '50s society certainly doesn't seem obviously misplaced.

"The Festival has long supported my work, from Poison and Dottie Gets Spanked in the early 1990s through to Carol which is screening on 35mm later this week in BFI Flare’s Best of Year programme," Haynes himself said of the news. "I’m so proud to have Carol voted as the top LGBT film of all time in this poll launched for the Fest’s 30th edition."

"Carol is in illustrious company with so many films I love, from Brokeback Mountain and Un Chant d’ Amour to Happy Together and My Own Private Idaho.”

Following close behind is Andrew Haigh's Weekend, recently banned in over 1,000 Italian cinemas; then by Wong Kar-wai's 1997 romantic drama Happy Together and Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, which won its director an Academy Award in 2006.

"Carol’s win excites us because it’s great to see a film about two women in love enjoy such prominence, particularly given cinema’s relative lack of lesbian content," said Tricia Tuttle, Deputy Director of Festivals at the BFI. "And it’s such an extraordinarily fine film which has had near universal praise from critics and curators."

"To see Carol enshrined in this way so soon after release is a testament to how beloved it is and how esteemed Todd Haynes is as a filmmaker. We also love to see British cinema so heavily celebrated, from Andrew Haigh’s Weekend at number 2 to My Beautiful Laundrette, Orlando, Looking for Langston, Victim and Beautiful Things, all making the Top 20."

BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival runs 16-27 March.