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Are your L Word DVDs worn out? writes Kaite Welsh Did your ex steal your copy of Aimee et Jaguar? Never fear, the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is on hand to provide you with some new favourites.

Forget Pride. Forget the parades and the stalls selling sex toys and dental dams, and forget snogging regrettable people in crowded dyke bars - the 24th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival hosted by the British Film Institute is shaping up to be the best LGBT event in 2010.

Kicking off the gala opening night is a special screening (and world premiere) of the BBC’s newest period drama offering, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister. Starring Maxine Peake, it tells the story of 18th century aristocrat Anne and her struggle to be find love with other women long before it was considered socially acceptable.

Lesbian & bi film buffs have a lot to enjoy at this year’s festival – as well as gems like And Then Came Lola, a funny, madcap day-in-the-life of dyke photographer Lola, there’s also The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, which tells the story of a folk singing comedy duo who were lesbian twins long before Tegan and Sara made it look cool.

Family shows six African American lesbians mutually agreeing to come out over the course of a month – if preview clips are anything to go by, this could be the next Better Than Chocolate.

Guaranteed to reduce even the most hard-hearted viewer to a bit of a sniffle, Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement is a tender documentary about the four decade long relationship between two women that has only now been legitimised thanks to growing tolerance for gay marriage. Watching a preview on Thursday night, I was left humbled by their struggle for the kind of acceptance we can so easily take for granted.

It may be a film festival, but there’s more to the LLGFF than the silver screen. 27th March is Dusty Springfield Day, complete with a lecture on La Springfield’s life and works entitled ‘We Love Dusty’. For those of you who don’t thrill with joy whenever you hear the bleache blonde bisexual chanteuse sing ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, the BFI will have a late bar and DJs throughout the festival.

There’s something for everyone, including late-night screenings of queer feminist porn and ‘I Can’t Even Draw Straight’, an evening of queer animated films. This year’s festival will also see a return of ‘My First Gay Disco’, a child-friendly disco for LGBT families

So grab the popcorn, hit the back row with your girlfriend, and settle down for a Sapphic cinematic treat.

The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival runs 17-31 March 2010, and will be touring the UK over the summer.

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